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COPYRIGHT DEPOSE 



To my beloved daughter 

MARY ELIZABETH LOGAN TUCKER 

this volume is affectionately dedicated 
by her devoted mother 



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"No country seems to owe so much to its wo^ en as /^ mer i ca 
— to owe to them so much of what is best in its soc^i institutions 
and in the beliefs that govern conduct." — Prof. Ja mks Bryce! 



THE 

PART TAKEN BY WOMEN 

IN 

AMERICAN HISTORY \ 

BY 

MRS. JOHN A. LOGAN 



WITH SPECIAL INTRODUCTIONS BY 



MRS. DONALD McLEAN 
Ex-President D. A. R. 

MRS. HARRIET TAYLOR UPTON 
Ex-Treasurer Suffrage Associa- 
tion of America. 

MRS. M. M. NORTH 

Nat. Special Press Correspondent 
Woman's Relief Corps. 

MRS. CORNELIA B. STONE 

Ex-President Daughters of the 
Confederacy. 



MRS. MATTHEW T. SCOTT 
President D. A. R. 

MRS. C. E. SEVERANCE 

President first Woman's Society 
ever organized and known as 
"The Mother of Clubs." 

MRS. SARAH D. LaFETRA 

President Woman's Christian 
Temperance Union of District 
of Columbia. 

MRS. KATHARINE G. BUSBEY 
Sketch of Author. 



Published by 
THE PERRY-NALLE PUBLISHIN 
Wilmington, Del., U. S A. 
1912 



1 






Copyright- 1912 

By 

Mrs. John A Logan 






©CI.A30!M)(i4 



PREFACE. 

In the preparation of this volume, the editor x\as gained 
infinite pleasure by reason of the fact that in making the research 
necessary, she has familiarized herself with the stupendous work 
performed by the women of America. Before taking up the vork 
she labored under the impression that she knew something about 
the achievements of the women of her own country. Now she 
confesses she had no conception of the voluminous results they 
have achieved or the extent of their prodigious labors. She was 
not aware that women were the authors of so many movements for 
the welfare of mankind and the advancement of civilization. 

To scan the meagre published records that have previously 
been made should awaken limitless pride in our countrywomen who 
have been so quick to discover the possibilities in the scope of 
woman's sphere and so indomitable in the prosecution of the 
development of those possibilities. 

The writer has found that those women, who have done the 
most for the church, the state, in philanthropy, in charity, in 
education and in patriotism, have been the best wives and mothers. 
Their hearts have been full of love of God, of Country, and of 
mankind; they have not been idlers while the world moved on. 

The only regret experienced is that the editor has not been 
able to secure the data for sketches of every woman who has done 
something for the betterment of mankind. She appreciates that 
very many have been omitted who are entitled to a place in this 
volume because of the impossibility of procuring names ana 
information which it would have been a pleasure to present. 

It is with profound gratitude that the editor acknowledges 
the extreme kindness of friends all over this broad land who fcave 
so generously furnished data for sketches herein ; to Hon: Herbert 
Putnam, Librarian of the Library of Congress, and his able assist- 
ants who have so courteously allowed the use of the books of the 
Library, from which has been gathered much of the information 

(v) 



/ 



VI 



Preface 



used, the editor desires to tender thanks. Appended herewith is a 
partial list of books consulted : 

Distinguished Women. — Mrs. Hale. 

Women of tke Reformation. — Mrs. Annie Wittenmeyer. 

Ladies of the White House. — Laura C. Holloway. 

Queenly Women Crowned and Uncrowned. — Ed. by Prof. 
S. W. Williams. 

The World's Women. — Richmond. 

The World's Congress of Representative Women. — M. W. 
Sewall. 

American Women. — F. E. Willard. 

Little Pilgrimages Among the Women Who Have Written 
Famous Books.— E. F. Harkins and C. H. L. John- 
ston. 

Girls Who Became Famous. — Sarah K. Bolton. 

Biographical and Critical Studies. — Baskerville. 

The Younger American Poets. — Rittenhouse. 

Southern Literature. — Manly. 

Kentucky Pioneer Women. — Laney. 

Representative Southern Poets. — Hubner. 

Selections from the Writings of Connecticut Women. 

Prominent Women of Texas. — Brooks. 

Pioneer Women of the West. — Ellet. 

Women of America. — Larus. 

Eminent Missionary Women. — Mrs. J. T. Gracey. 

The Women of America. — McCracken. 

A Belle of the Fifties. 

Queens of American Society. — Ellet. 

History of American Stage..— T. Allston Browne. 

The History of Woman Suffrage. — Stanton, Anthony and 
, Gage. 

\ Who's Who in America. 
\ Catholic Who's Who in America. — Miss Curtis. 

Nseven Great Foundations. — Leonard P. Ayers. 

yHAT America Owes to Women. — Ed. by Lydia Hoyt 
Farmer. 









FOREWORD. 

American women and students of American history nave j 
deplored the meagre credit which has been given to Vomen for 
the part they have taken in the progress and achieven^ n t s £ 
America as a Nation. \ 

The women citizens of our country — native and adopts 

have worked with indefatigable energy, unswerving loyalty^ vatv<3 
marvelous intelligence for the betterment and progress of W 
people. Sections have not always agreed upon policies but th e 
women of all sections have labored with untiring devotion for wh a t 
seemed to them must bring the greatest good to the greats 
number. 

Appreciating the fact that scant tribute has been paid to the 
women of America and that no concrete record of their achieve- 
ments existed, I have for several years, by conscientious and 
laborious research through all available sources, including the 
Congressional Library at Washington — one of the three greatest 
libraries in the world — endeavored, and, I believe, with success, 
to bring together the names of the women well known, and to 
rescue from oblivion those unheralded and unknown, and thus 
form a compendium of all names and achievements of the women 
who have taken a part in the vital affairs of our country. 

The result of my efforts has been the writing of the book 
entitled "THE PART TAKEN BY WOMEN IN AMERICAN 
HISTORY." 

I have, I believe, in this book, given an impartial portraiture 
of the part taken by women in American history, of those who 
have contributed to the development of our country in Art, Sc'ence, 
Literature, Music, Religion, Education, Philanthropy, Patriotism, 
Domestic Science, Club and Home Life, and to the various efforts 
women have made for the uplift of all mankind. 

The names of paternal ancestors adorn the pages of historr 
because of their wisdom in the adjustment of the affairs of peace, 

(vii) 







vl]1 Foreword 

and their heroic deeds in time of war, but little is known of our 
maternal ancestors — of the women who shared so patiently and 
courageously the privations, struggles and sacrifices for the Repub- 
lic in war and in peace, from the landing of the Pilgrims from the 
Mayflower until tne present time. 

In cosmopolitan America, women of every race under the sun 
have had opportunity to "show the world the rarest excellence of 
woman in t' ne exercise of the largest and truest liberty the world 
Ass ever k nown -" ft can ^ e added that her achievements are 
un p rec jdented, enabling her to stand side by side with the noble 
men of the Nation in every onward and upward movement for the 
advancement of civilization and Christianity. 

"THE PART TAKEN BY WOMEN IN AMERICAN 
HISTORY" begins with those women of our country's earliest 
daY s » gi vm £ a correct chronicle of their lives; followed by a true 
history of such of their descendants as have, to the present time, 
uone anything in any line for the advancement of American civili- 
zation, enumerating them as follows: 

Aboriginal women. 

Women of the Mayfloiver. 

Women of Colonial Days. 

Women's part in the Revolution or War of Independence. 

Women's endurance during the continual conflict with the 
Indians during the early days of the Republic. 

Women's co-operation in building the pioneer churches, estab- 
lishing schools and the laying of the foundation of our social 
relations. 

Women's part in the extension of the spirit of humanity, 
philanthropy, Christianity and civilization to the uttermost parts 
of the earth. 

Women's part in the pioneer's shibboleth "Westward the 
course of the empire takes its way" sharing in all the privations 
and ihndships of the pioneers. 

Women's part as missionaries of Christianity, morality and 
education. 

Women's part in bringing about peaceful settlement of the 
conflict between the United States and Mexico in 1848. 

The prodigious sacrifices of the women, north and south, 
during the Civil War. 







CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Preface v-vi 

Foreword vn-ix 

Concerning the Author — Mrs. John A. Logan 1-17 

Aboriginal Women of America 18 

Women Pioneers 22 

Women of the Revolution 105 

Women from the Time of Mary Washington 205 

Women in the Civil War 3°5 

Women Nurses of the Civil War 3°9 

The Woman's Relief Corps, Auxiliary to the Grand Army 

of the Republic 34° 

Women of the Woman's Relief Corps 347 

National Association of Army Nurses of the Civil War 357 

Army Nurses of the Civil War, 1861-1865 3 60 

Women of the New South 377 

Introduction to Club Section 386 

Federation of Women Clubs 389 

Women's Clubs in Cincinnati 39° 

Arts and Crafts 39 1 

Home Culture Clubs 393 

The Washington Travel Club 395 

The Woman's National Press Association 39 6 

The Woman's National Rivers and Harbors Congress 397 

Bunker Hill Monument Association 40° 

National Society Daughters of the American Revolution 421 

Women of the Confederacy 485 

The United Daughters of the Confederacy 486 

Women in the Missionary Field 5°7 

Women as Philanthropists 5 2 3 

Woman Suffrage 54 

History of Woman's Suffrage Organization 55 2 

(») 



^ Contents 

Women Reformers -g- 

Women Sociologists r Q ~ 

Catholic Women in America fa? 

Jewish Women of America 6^ r 

Jewish Women's Work for Charity 637 

Women as Temperance Workers 6>^ 

Woman's Work for the Blind 6 Q 5 

Christian Science 70I 

Women Educators 70 g 

Women in Professions ^5 

Artists 74Q 

Actresses 77Q 

Lecturers 7 g . 

Playwrights and Authors ygg 

Women Inventors gg 2 

Women in Civil Service ggq 

Women in Business gg~ 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

Mrs. John A. Logan (Photogravure) Frontispiece 

PAGE 

Calumet Place — Home of Mrs. John A. Logan 1 

Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers 24 

Massacre at Fort Mimms 64 

The Battle of Bunker Hill 105 

Molly Pitcher at the Battle of Monmouth 176 

Mary Washington House — Fredericksburg, Va 205 

Mary Washington Monument — Fredericksburg, Va. . . 224 

Louisa May Alcott as a Hospital Nurse 357 

Memorial Continental Hall, Washington, D. C 421 

Winnie Davis Monument in " Hollywood," Richmond, 

Virginia 485 

Distinguished Women Orators 592 

Distinguished Women Poets 800 



Concerning the Author — Mrs. John A. 

Logan. 

Katherine G. Busbey. 

America is changing beneath our eyes. Yesterday's books 
of impressionalistic views concerning her are antiquated; 
descriptions of ten years ago are hopelessly out of date ; between 
the writing of a book descriptive of America's national psychol- 
ogy and its publication half the conclusions should be changed. 
The only way, therefore, to really interpret America is through 
a study of the biographies of those who have lived and wrought 
and made America what she is. 

From the biographies of America's strenuous sons the 
world would seem to conceive of America as a nation definitely 
organized for one purpose, straining every nerve and sinew 
to attain that end, until "business," the foreign critic tells us, 
is the all-absorbing interest, by the side of which nothing else 
counts at all. But, interwoven with the history of this nation 
joyously set out on the commercial conquest of the world, is 
the life of America's splendid womanhood — not always as 
the foreign eulogist would extol her for her physical superior- 
ity — but the American womanhood working in peace and quiet- 
ness whether through the fierce energy of the pioneer mother 
or, later in our history, supplementing now by the subtlety of 
nature and now by gift of grace, man's material or martial 
labor for the country's welfare. In speaking of the higher 
existence above our industrial energy some one has said, "in 
America the women alone live," and certainly no better vision 

(0 



2 Part Taken by Women in American History 

of what American life stands for with all other interest ruth- 
lessly swept aside, can be gained than that which comes in 
looking through the biographies of American women. But 
to make these lives of value as a national interpretation — not 
a mere unilluminated statistical array — the task must rest in 
the hands of an American woman with the sympathy and 
understanding which can come only from having touched at 
first hand and at various points the typical life of American 
womanhood. And this is Mrs. John A. Logan's pre-eminent 
qualification as the author of this volume. With no attempt 
at eulogy except such expressions as sincere admiration and 
deepest personal affection must inspire, I shall present such 
leading phases of Mrs. Logan's bravely wrought, richly-spent 
career that they may illustrate how, apart from the prominence 
which the reflected glory of her illustrious husband gives her 
name, this American woman's mind, vitality, private tragedies, 
and the strange and varied forces shaping her magnificent 
character, all bear testimony to a life given to high causes 
and to her ability unselfishly to appreciate and to portray so 
that it may survive the inexorable years, the work — brave, 
influential, patriotic, and imaginative — of other American 
women in which our national pride exalts. 

First then, Mrs. Logan even at an early age playecl her 
heroic part as the child of pioneers in Southern Illinois. Her 
father was often called from the hearthstone to meet the hostile 
Indians in the northern part of the state, and when the Mexican 
War broke out this spirited patriot, Captain John M. Cunning- 
ham, again gave his good right arm to his country's cause. 
Mrs. Logan, then Mary S. Cunningham, was the eldest of 
thirteen children, sheltered and loved in that pioneer home- 
stead, and during the long absences of her father at the front 
she shared with her mother all the hardships and dangers of 
frontier life, relieving her parent of every task which was 



Concerning the Author — Mrs. John A. Logan 3 

within the range of her strength and forging in her own girlish 
body the steel fibres of character which were to stand her in 
such good stead in the stress of military and political life as 
co-worker with her distinguished husband, and in the tempta- 
tions of that lighter world of diplomacy and wit into which 
her personal popularity placed her as a star. 

An early biographer of Mrs. Logan has written, "Beyond 
a fine constitution, a comely presence, a tendency to a highly 
moral standard in childhood fostered by early beneficent influ- 
ences, and an abiding faith in the goodness of God, Mary 
Logan cannot be said to have been specially endowed . . . 
she was simply a good, honorable girl, who early became imbued 
with the conviction that the secret of success in life is the 
faculty of seizing promptly an opportunity . . . Every 
opportunity for self-help that has passed her way she has been 
wise enough to improve to its uttermost and the consequence 
is that Mrs. Logan has played her prominent part in the drama 
of national life bravely and well, and will remain in the hearts 
of the many until the inexorable prompter rings down the 
curtain upon the last act of her well rounded career." 

This, though undoubtedly a just estimate, can hardly be 
judged overgenerous, since it fails to mention the great asset 
that Mrs. Logan's charming personality has always been. 
Moreover, the pioneer girl, Mary S. Cunningham, became a 
strikingly handsome woman, a woman who has always com- 
manded attention by her appearance and bearing as well as 
through her talents. And yet a glimpse of her earlier public 
life written by Mrs. Logan herself gives the following modest 
summary of that period : 

"My father being made registrar of the LanH Office at 
Shawneetown, Illinois, under the Pierce administration, we 
subsequently removed to that place. I attended school at the 
Convent of St. Vincent, near Uniontown, Kentucky, graduat- 



4 Part Taken by Women in American History 

ing at that school in 1855. I came home and soon after met 
my husband, General John A. Logan, who had served during 
the War with Mexico with my father, and to whom I am said 
to have been given by father when I was a child. We were 
married on the twenty-seventh day of November, 1855. My 
husband was at that time a promising young lawyer, and we 
removed to Benton, Franklin County, Illinois, when he was 
appointed prosecuting attorney for the third judicial district 
of the State of Illinois, which embraced sixteen counties. In 
those days we were not furnished with official blanks for every- 
thing, as is the case to-day, and I began to assist my husband 
in writing indictments for minor offenses, and in that way 
gradually drifted into taking part in everything he did. We 
had the same struggle that all young people without money 
had in those early days, but the fact that in 1858 my husband 
was elected to Congress shows that we were not altogether 
unsuccessful." 

What lies between those moclest lines is the fact that the 
young wife immediately on marriage installed herself in the 
place of companion and helpmeet to her ambitious husband, 
not only in the housewifely sense, but as secretary and assist- 
ant in his office work, and in this work she acquired that mar- 
velous facility for handling large numbers of letters, briefs, 
etc., which enabled her years later to cope with the enormous 
correspondence of General Logan while he was representing 
his country in Congress, and at that critical time when the 
national crisis made secrecy in regard to the affairs of her 
public servants an imperative necessity. While, as for the 
"success" of the political career which it was Logan's ambi- 
tion to achieve even in these incipient stages, as ever after, 
Mrs. Logan's personality was an asset too large to be accu- 
rately estimated. The superb strength of the young woman 
and her loyal resourcefulness were nowhere better illustrated 



Concerning the Author — Mrs. John A. Logan 



than in the way she met the first great crisis of their united lives. 
In i860 General Logan was re-elected to Congress and 
Mrs. Logan spent that memorable winter of tension and dread 
in the affairs of state in Washington with him. Scarcely had 
they returned home when came the news of the fall of Sumter, 
and, in response to President Lincoln's Proclamation conven- 
ing an extra session of Congress, General Logan was forced 
to hurry back to Washington. Mrs. Logan remained at their 
home in Marion, Williamson County, Illinois, realizing more 
and more acutely the difficulty, even the danger, of her position 
in that community, which was settled largely by southerners 
or persons of southern descent. These constituents were 
thoroughly in sympathy with the southern cause and grew 
more and more restive to know what Logan's course would 
be. His speeches in the House of Representatives revealed his 
determination to adhere to the Union, and when word was 
brought that at the Battle of Bull Run instead of remaining 
in Washington he had joined Colonel Richardson's Michigan 
Regiment and fought with it all day, these people of Southern 
Illinois were in a ferment of discontent over their Congress- 
man's action. The day arrived for General Logan to reach 
home and so great was the excitement in Marion that all busi- 
ness was suspended. The adult population was about one 
thousand and every one of these people who could get about 
the streets roved to and fro with loud declamations against 
any course which would drive them to fight for the negroes. 
It was known that besides these excited but order-loving citi- 
zens, there had been a large accession of desperate char- 
acters, drawn thither by their anxiety to join in any san- 
guinary fray. Passion was at fever heat, and General Logan, 
speeding there, was the avowed victim. Trembling for the 
safety of her husband Mary Logan jumped into a buggy and 
drove to Carbondale, twenty-two miles distant, but the nearest 



6 Part Taken by Women in American History 

railway station, where her husband must alight. Here she 
found that his train had missed connections and would not 
arrive for some hours. Desirous of informing the populace 
that the cause of delay was accidental, and not dilatory tactics 
on her husband's part, she turned her tired horse's head and 
drove rapidly back to Marion. Evening had fallen when she 
reached there and the crowds of the day had been increased 
by numbers of farmers from the outskirts. The atmosphere 
was charged with the dangerous explosive of revolt. 

At first sight of her buggy the riotous crowds surrounded 
it and demanded to know why her husband had failed to 
appear. Her voice was inaudible above the din and Captain 
Swindell, Sheriff of the County, and Colonel White, then Clerk 
of the Court, exerted themselves unavailingly to pacify the 
mob. It was not until the Sheriff stood up in her buggy and 
urged the crowd to disperse, assuring them that Logan would 
be there to address them in the morning, that the deafening 
clamor could be quelled and Mary Logan released from her 
position of peril. 

Then rejecting all offers of a substitute to convey to her 
husband the condition of affairs, as well as all her father's 
pleading to return to her home and rest for the night, Mrs. 
Logan trembling with fatigue and anxiety, once more 
set out alone on the long drive to Carbondale, twenty- 
two miles distant. At two in the morning the train arrived 
and Mrs. Logan rapidly reviewed the situation to her husband. 
"Very well," said he quietly as he got into the buggy, "Now, 
Mary, you get out and stay here and rest in Carbondale with 
friends for a few days. If there is any danger in Marion I 
don't want you to be there." But Mrs. Logan was not of that 
calibre; she smiled up at him, took the whip and reins and 
started the horse. "My dear, I did not marry you to share 
in the sunshine of life and desert you when clouds gathered 
above us," she said simply. 



Concerning the Author — Mrs. John A. Logan 7 

When General Logan rose to speak the next morning there 
were in the crowd who listened, more than a score of men 
who had sworn to take his life if he declared for the Union. 
But John A. Logan mounted the wagon drawn up in the 
public square and proceeded by the force of his eloquence, his 
reasoning, his persuasion and by the outpouring of the passion- 
ate patriotism to turn so completely the tide of feeling that 
on getting down he immediately enlisted one hundred and ten 
men for the first Company of the Regiment which he proposed 
raising for the defense of the Union. Within ten days one 
thousand and ten men were enrolled as their country's defend- 
ers for three years, or until peace was declared, and he received 
from Governor Yates a commission as Colonel of the Thirty- 
first Illinois Infantry Volunteers. During this period and 
while the regiment was being organized, Mrs. Logan acted as 
his aide-de-camp, carrying his dispatches from Marion and 
other points to Carbondale, the nearest telegraph station, alone 
during the day and at night accompanied by no more formal 
escort than a village lad named Willie Chew. 

Logan saved Southern Illinois to the Union, but what 
measure of credit for that great exploit should be accorded 
his plucky wife, women of America may judge ! 

During his campaigns in the war which followed, Mrs. 
Logan took every opportunity offered to be near her husband. 
She followed him to many a well-fought field and endured the 
privations of camp life as thousands of other patriotic women 
did, without murmur, only too glad to share her husband's 
perils or to minister to the sick and wounded of his regiment 
for the sake of being near him. 

When the troops were ordered from Cairo — on the expedi- 
tion to Fort Donelson and Fort Henry — Mrs. Logan returned 
to Marion. The pay of our Colonels and Officers of higher 
rank was at that time small and uncertain and perhaps one 



8 Part Taken by Women in American History 

of what has been called, "the biggest little things" of Mrs. 
Logan's noble life was when she, in these hard war times, 
brought into play all her acuteness and economic skill to 
respond to the continual demands upon her for the relief of 
the families who found it impossible to live on the pay of their 
soldier husbands who had volunteered in defense of their coun- 
try. With heart and soul, Mary Logan, the woman who had 
graced Washington society, and who had also known the excite- 
ment of war at the front, became a cultivator of the land, 
raising wheat, corn and cotton on their small farm in South 
Illinois. And no unusual sight during the cotton picking 
season was Mrs. Logan riding into town on a load of cotton, 
thus preventing, by her supervision, the loss by the wayside 
of a single pound of it, as it was sold in those days at one 
dollar per pound. Arriving at the cotton gin in town, she 
would peer over the shoulder of the weigher, and producing 
her memorandum book, would compare his figures with her 
own. Nobody ever swindled her and her cotton speculations 
"panned out" well. This labor was the least of her troubles. 
The constant anxiety for the safety of her husband during the 
hazardous campaigns of the war and the tax upon her sym- 
pathies in responding to the appeals of the soldiers' families, 
were burdens almost insupportable for the delicate woman Mrs. 
Logan then was. 

The war over, General Logan returned home and shortly 
there ensued that exciting canvass for the successor to Gov- 
ernor Yates ; John M. Palmer, ex-Governor Richard J. Oglesby 
and John A. Logan being the rival candidates. Three abler 
men it would be hard to find. All three had held military com- 
mands during the Civil War and all three had distinguished 
themselves. All three, therefore, had ardent friends who 
desired their election to the Senate, but, to quote from one 
of the Springfield, Illinois, newspapers of that day, " 'Black 



Concerning the Author — Mrs. John A. Logan 9 

Jack' Logan had one surpassing advantage over his competi- 
tors, that being Mrs. John A. Logan." Indeed, Mrs. Logan, 
ever passionately eager to assist her husband, had accompanied 
him to the Capital and there had begun her career as a potent 
factor in this, his first candidacy for the Senate. When upon 
the assembly of the Republican caucus, Logan was found to 
have more than three to one votes over his rivals and the 
announcement was made that John A. Logan was Senator, 
among the first to reach his late opponent's hand was Gov- 
ernor Oglesby and he followed his congratulations with a sly 
gallantry to the effect that perhaps it was not that the people 
loved Oglesby less, but Mrs. Logan more. 

In 1877 occurred General Logan's next fight for the Sen- 
ate, and again Mrs. Logan, assisted now by her beautiful and 
versatile daughter, displayed those admirable qualities of 
diplomacy, tact, and practicality which had always proved so 
potent. John A. Logan, himself, made more frequent refer- 
ence than anyone else to his wife's diplomacy, affection and 
unwavering loyalty as a devoted wife and helpmate. 

Great strength of character was now required on the part 
of Mrs. Logan to avert an occurrence which she, with her 
honest, sane view of life, would have regarded as a catastrophe 
— a severance of her individuality from that of her husband's. 
Mary Logan proved herself equal to the occasion ; her conduct 
was admirable in its poise and self-effacement. When the 
public men of the day applauded her wifely enthusiasm, Mrs. 
Logan quietly remarked that she saw no reason why she should 
not be with the General in his political campaigns in the same 
capacity in which she had been near him at Belmont, Fort 
Donelson and Pittsburgh Landing — as a faithful helpmate and 
companion. She sent carefully worded regrets to all offers 
which came to her to lecture, to give readings, to contribute 
for the press on political subjects, and she indignantly denied 



io Part Taken by Women in American History 

that report — before the allure of which many a brilliant woman 
has fallen a victim to vanity — that she wrote her husband's 
speeches for him. And yet, despite all protests by Mrs. Logan, 
the sentiment of her influence in matters political — the Gen- 
eral's military career was his own beyond dispute — grew to 
such an extent that it almost reached the point of a similar 
situation, a century earlier, when the old Scotchman, Davy 
Burns, who erected the first house in Washington, said testily 
to the immortal George: 

"And prithee, Mr. Washington, who would you have been 
if you hadn't been lucky enough to marry the widow Custis ?" 

Mrs. Logan's life during the General's senatorial career 
in Washington, full of success, adulation and social prestige 
as it was, was not without its trials; bores, borrowers and 
false claimants of relationship being numerous; even cranks 
and fanatics were not unknown intruders in her home, while 
the cruel charges of wealth dishonestly obtained by Senator 
Logan, which often found publication in a certain class of 
newspapers, were a source of acute suffering to his sensitive 
and proud wife. But Mrs. Logan's loyalty kept her head high 
in noble patience and belief, and in seeking his vindication she 
was one with the General as in every other matter, and when 
he was triumphantly acquitted of any infamous connection 
with the Credit Mobilier enterprise even his accuser conceded, 
"All honor is due to Logan for his truly statesmanlike con- 
duct, and all honor to his wife, who stood staunchly by her 
husband's side in his scruples of conscience." 

It was at Mrs. Logan's suggestion that Senator Logan 
applied for the back pension for Mrs. Lincoln, which was 
granted to the martyred President's wife; and it was she who 
suggested the establishment of Decoration Day. The circum- 
stances attending the issuance of Order No. 1 1 — Commander- 
in-Chief G. A. R., are as follows: 



Concerning the Author — Mrs. John A. Logan ii 

Colonel Charles Wilson, editor of the Chicago Journal, 
and a party of prominent women from Boston and Chicago, 
came to Washington in February, 1868, and invited General 
and Mrs. Logan to go with them to Richmond to visit the 
historic ground around that city. His duties in Congress 
prevented General Logan from going, but Mrs. Logan went, 
and when she returned, she told her husband of the simple 
decoration on the Confederate graves. This touched him 
deeply, and he at once alluded to the custom, which prevailed 
among the Greeks, of honoring the graves of their dead with 
chaplets of laurel and flowers. As Commander-in-Chief of 
the G. A. R., he immediately issued the order for the annual 
decoration of the graves of the loyal deceased. He also inter- 
ested himself in getting the bill through Congress, setting 
apart a day for the honoring of the graves of dead soldiers 
as a legal holiday, and he succeeded in accomplishing this 
design of his patriotic heart. 

It was a terrible blow when this strong man, of whom she 
was so proud, was stricken down with illness, and after a short 
illness was taken from her, and Mrs. Logan was left alone in 
the stately colonial mansion which she had struggled so hard 
to possess, worked so long to adorn and joyfully opened to 
the public on all occasions in the hospitable regime of this 
statesman's career which now lay broken. Face to face with 
the misery of a broken tie, of a lost love, and a severed com- 
panionship, Mrs. Logan's strong heart and courage faltered. 
But quickly came that inspiration for work and constant occu- 
pation of mind which had impelled all her moves in life, and 
her achievements since General Logan's death have been of 
a character to mark Mrs. Logan one of America's foremost 
daughters even if naught of distinction had gone before. Mrs. 
Logan had children; other relatives too were dependent upon 
her and her financial circumstances were not easy, for General 



12 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Logan had enriched the nation's honor roll more than her 
statesman pay roll had enriched him. So Mrs. Logan bravely 
determined to test her talent in the literary world. While 
gathering her mental poise after the shock of General Logan's 
death, she took the two charming daughters of the late George 
M. Pullman, of Chicago, on a tour of Europe, but her serious 
work was taken up immediately upon her return. She began 
her literary career writing for a number of periodicals, and 
then for six years she edited, in Washington, The Home Maga- 
zine, almost a pioneer in that type of helpful, entertaining, 
literary journals devoted to the interests of the women of the 
country. In this work Mrs. Logan scored a success which 
left even her most ardent admirers breathless, working up an 
ardent patronage of three hundred thousand subscribers and 
giving it a standing by the absolute reliability of its house- 
hold information, and literary merit which no magazine of 
that order has been able to outdo. Into this work Mrs. Logan 
threw herself with all the ardor of her vital, vigorous nature. 
In every one of the several departments of the Home Magazine 
she imprinted the stamp of her brilliant individuality. She 
herself worked indefatigably to make it a journal of the very 
highest class in its realm, and she gathered around her a 
corps of special writers who gave of their varied intellectual 
gifts to lend a charming variety of knowledge and color to its 
pages. Mrs. Logan's wonderful executive ability was ably 
evidenced in the office of the Home Magazine, and to work 
with and for her became a labor of love and enthusiasm. The 
Home Magazine was a phenomenal success during the half 
dozen years she remained at its helm, but when she gave up 
her place, for good and sufficient reasons, it suffered at other 
hands the natural reverses of fortune which inevitably attend 
neglect and mismanagement. 

Mrs. Logan's specialty, however, in literary work has been 



Concerning the Author — Mrs. John A. Logan 13 

the essays and articles which she has published and is still 
publishing. These are splendid examples of the way in which 
a brilliant woman, free from the modern mania for hysterical 
viewpoint and hyperbolic phrase, can direct public attention 
to national wrongs and the teachings of history. Her style 
in these articles is crystal clear and gently didactic and the 
heart interest of a broad-minded, sympathetic woman lies as 
the undernote even in her most scathing arraignment of our 
national foibles. 

Mrs. Logan's interest in the soldiers of our Civil War 
has never lapsed. To many people these soldiers have figured 
merely as old men in need of charity, but Mrs. Logan, remem- 
bering them as the brave, strong boys who went to the front 
in that terrible conflict to return broken and scarred, has always 
given them the admiration due exalted heroes as well as the 
material help which needy cases called for. A member of 
the Woman's Relief Corps, for many years she made it her 
sacred duty to attend the reunions of the Grand Army all 
over the country and her receptions at these gatherings have 
ever been enthusiastically warm. While visiting Boston to 
dedicate the post named in honor of her husband, a beautiful 
jeweled badge was given her and glorious speeches were 
delivered as sincere tributes to her as well as to her husband. 
The poet Whittier contributed the following stanza to his poem 
celebrating the occasion: 

"What shall I say of her who by the side 
Of Loyal Logan walked in love and pride, 
Whose faith and courage gave a double power 
To his strong arm in freedom's darkest hour? 
Save that her name with his shall always stand 
Honored alike throughout a grateful land." 

At Milwaukee, August 27, 1889, fifteen thousand Grand 
Army veterans passed before Mrs. Logan in review and the 



14 Part Taken by Women in American History 

enthusiasm caused by her presence in the city was so great 
that the remark was frequently heard to the effect that if Mary 
Logan were a man civic honors would be easy to her. Beloved 
of the common soldiers, even the greatest of generals found 
pleasure in her intellectual companionship. When asked if 
there was any truth in the story that General Grant had once 
given her a cigar during a conversation, Mrs. Logan replied 
with her serene smile and added, "It was as fine a tribute to 
the feminine intellect as was ever made to a woman. General 
Grant and I were discussing a political topic from different 
points of view. The General became absolutely absorbed, but 
recognizing that I had the best of him in the argument, he 
suddenly offered me a cigar in an absent-minded sort of way. 
When he realized what he had done he laughed and apologized, 
but I thanked him for the compliment and said I should look 
upon that cigar in the light of a surrender, man to man, as 
when an officer hands his sword to his captor." 

Mrs. Logan's immense reception of the Knights Templars 
occurred in Washington, October 10, 1889, and it was esti- 
mated that between ten and twelve thousand persons passed 
by her as she stood at the head of a long line of prominent 
women who assisted her in greeting the honorable Sir Knights. 

The great reception in the rotunda of the Capitol to the 
Union veterans occurred September 20, 1892, and at this won- 
derful gathering in the historic hall, Mrs. Logan and her family 
were the centers of attraction. 

At the Hamline Church, February, 1893, Mrs. Logan 
delivered a strong address under the auspices of the colored 
Y. M. C. A., entitled "The Colored American in Industrial 
Pursuits." In this speech she urged the colored people to take 
advantage of their present great opportunities and thus secure 
good positions in life through their own talent and education. 

President Harrison appointed Mrs. Logan one of the 



Concerning the Author — Mrs. John A. Logan 15 

women commissioners of the District of Columbia to the 
Columbian Exhibition held in Chicago, in 1893. She sat in 
the carriage beside the Duchess of Veragua in the great proces- 
sion and was warmly received as a member of American 
Royalty wherever she appeared. 

Moreover, Mrs. Logan had found time to carry out 
successfully the plans of one of the grandest charities of 
Washington, the Garfield Hospital, having been president of 
the board for many years, during which time she and the 
charitable people associated with her built up one of the best 
hospitals in this part of the country. In fact Mrs. Logan's 
public activities have been, to quote in all reverence that 
comprehensive summary, "too numerous to mention." 

She was consulted at every step in the erection of the two 
statues of General Logan, one in Washington and one in 
Chicago, and they are both worthy expressions of what a 
nation's pride in a great chief should be. A touching feature 
of the ceremonies dedicating these memorials was the unveil- 
ing of the statues by Mrs. Logan's grandson. It was John A. 
Logan, 3rd, a tiny lad, then, wearing a sailor's uniform, who 
was the principal actor in the unveiling of the statue on the 
beautiful lake front in Chicago. At a given signal the child 
pulled the cords holding together the eight flags which had 
concealed the heroic figure, and, amid cheers from thousands 
of throats, the boy disclosed the statue of his grandfather. The 
child, a little appalled at the enthusiastic tumult, nestled to his 
grandmother's side again and asked, "Grandma was he as 
big as that?" 

"Yes," answered Mrs. Logan in a tear-choked voice, "he 
was as big as that." 

The Washington monument surmounting a wonderful base 
with the scenes of General Logan's life in bas relief, was 
unveiled by another grandson, little George E. Tucker, who 



16 Part Taken by Women in American History 

has since passed to join his valiant soldier grandfather in the 
Great Beyond. The Chicago statue of General Logan is by 
St. Gaudens, and it is considered by many that the great 
sculptor, who was, like the great soldier he modeled, of humble 
origin, put the greatest vitality of his great art into that spirited 
figure. It was Mrs. Logan who suggested for the pose that 
psychological moment in the General's career when, having 
seized a flag from a color bearer, he waved it aloft as he dashed 
forward to meet the foe, on the 22nd of July, 1864, in the 
memorable battle in which the gallant McPherson lost his 
life. One of the greatest memorials to General Logan 
and his brave son, is the priceless collection of mementos 
now in the Logan Memorial Room in the Capitol Building, 
at Springfield, Illinois. The collection comprises General 
Logan's battle flags, swords, sashes, badges, engraved testi- 
monials, autograph pictures of fellow-statesmen, of historic 
scenes, and many hundreds of other personal belongings and 
souvenirs of the great soldier. This collection of wonderful 
interest to the nation filled, for years, the private Memorial 
Hall in Mrs. Logan's Washington home. A few years ago, 
with beautiful generosity, she donated the bulk of this collection 
to the State of Illinois, and it is now sacredly housed in a 
memorial room in the Capitol at Springfield. 

Mrs. Logan's own monument is the abiding affection and 
veneration in which she is held by those who have known her 
friendship in Illinois and Washington. No one who has ever 
come a stranger to Washington and at once felt Mrs. Logan's 
right hand of fellowship bidding them enter the enchanting 
circle of her home and friendship, but has gone forth feeling 
that the world was perhaps a kindlier place than they had 
imagined, and that if America can turn out women like Mrs. 
John A. Logan, American republicanism is a success whatever 
may be its material future. I know, because I was once one 
of the many so befriended. 



Concerning the Author — Mrs. John A. Logan 17 

Though many years have passed since the days of girl- 
hood, Mrs. Logan still retains much of the vivacity of her 
youth; with it is combined a most beautiful and ennobling 
dignity, the crown of her long active years before the public. 
The alertness of her carriage and the acuteness of her mentality 
give one the impression of indomitable youth, but the depth 
of grief which at times dims her dark sparkling eyes, the yearn- 
ing sympathy of the lines in her fine face as others tell her 
of their sorrow, reveal the suffering that the storm of life 
has brought and that she has weathered so bravely and so 
well. The death of her only son in the Philippines, leading 
a gallant charge, tore the mother-heart asunder. But if her 
toll to the nation's glory seemed at that time ever-heavy, she 
never for one instant allowed it to depress her patriotic 
spirit. Strong, alert, sympathetic, Mrs. John A. Logan still 
dedicates her best thoughts and endeavors to her country and 
the women of that glorious land. 



Aboriginal Women of America. 

We find among all the accounts of the aboriginal women 
of North America that the status of these women was much 
better before the advent of the white settlers. The Indians 
were divided into what was known as jens, organized bodies 
of consanguineal kindred, and these into tribes. Different cus- 
toms prevailed in the different tribes. The early settlers 
divided them into what was called the Five Nations, and in 
many of these the line of descent was through the mother. The 
father was so little considered that the children would not 
provide for him if he became disabled or too old to make 
proper provision for his family. The life of a woman was 
rated at a higher value than that of a man and we have Father 
Raguneau's statement that among the Hurons thirty-five gifts 
were considered compensation for the death of a man and forty 
for the death of a woman. Women frequently took part in the 
councils of their nation, and, we are told, frequently led the 
warriors to battle. There is even an account of a woman having 
been made chief of her tribe, "Queen of Pamunkey," who was 
the widow of Totapotamoi, a great Indian chief in the Virginias. 
She had been summoned to the council to give a promise of 
assistance, and is described as a woman of commanding 
appearance and of intellectual powers, remarkable in her race. 
We also read of "Queen Esther," who was a noted Indian 
woman and took a prominent part in the massacre of Wyoming, 
in 1788. She was a half-breed woman. Her mother, Catherine 
Montour, had been captured by the Senecas, and it is told that 
she was sent to the council of the Indian commissioners and 

(18) 



Aboriginal Women of America 19 

delegates from the Sixth Nation, held at Lancaster, Pennsyl- 
vania, in 1744, and was made much of by the ladies of 
Philadelphia. During the Wyoming massacre the name of 
Mrs. Mary Gould, wife of James Gould, is mentioned for 
conspicuous heroism. 

A noted character, and the one with which we are the most 
familiar, is Pocahontas, the daughter of Powhatan. Every 
one has read of her saving the life of John Smith. It remains 
a debatable question even to this day whether it was her love 
for him, or because she desired to adopt him as her brother — 
which was permitted in those days by the Indians to those 
captured — which made her exert herself so conspicuously in 
his behalf. Suspicion by many historians has been cast upon 
the wily chief Powhatan, who might through Smith's adoption 
have opened an avenue for the establishment of more friendly 
relations with the whites. Some years later Pocahontas was 
herself captured by one Captain Argall, who bought her from 
some Potomac Indians, and it is stated the price paid was a 
copper kettle. Soon after her capture she married John Rolfe, 
and was taken by him to England. Here she again met Captain 
Smith, who showed scant appreciation of her sacrifices for him. 
After she was presented at the Court of King James, she was 
given the name of Lady Rebecca. She died in England, in 
1 61 7, leaving one child, by Rolfe, and it is said that through 
this child her blood flows in the veins of some of the best 
families in Virginia. 

In the Seminole War, Osceola, the great chieftain, was the 
son of an Indian woman by a white man by the name of Powell. 
Little is known of his mother except that she was a very remark- 
able character, and it is believed it was through her influence 
that her son was selected as chief. 

Before the dawn of the last century the influence and power 
of these aboriginal women among their tribes was fast dis- 



20 Part Taken by Women in American History 

appearing and the position of woman retrograding. To the 
lowering of the standard of morality was largely due her 
changed position. We find among the Pueblo Indians, how- 
ever, that the matter of divorce was in the discretion of the 
woman. At the time of the occupation of North America by 
the English and French, there was a very remarkable Indian 
among the Ottawas, Pontiac, who was not only the chief of his 
own tribe, but had made other tribes acknowledge him as their 
leader. After the defeat of the French on the plains of 
Abraham, the English took possession of Detroit and the 
Indians were so harshly treated that great trouble arose and 
the Indians threatened to drive out their new rulers. The 
Indians proposed to capture Detroit, which was then a fort and 
not a city. The plans for the attack were fully agreed upon 
and Pontiac was to call a council with Major Gladwin who 
was in command of the fort at Detroit, and here by a signal 
from Pontiac all the officers were to be murdered and the 
entire garrison meet a like fate, or that of captivity. Among 
one of the tribes was a girl named Catherine, with whom Major 
Gladwin was in love. She, having heard of the plans of Pontiac 
and his followers, went to her lover, told him of the plot on the 
part of the Indians, and the entire garrison was saved, the 
Indians being taken instead. Through this girl's loyalty to her 
white friends, the English supremacy in North America was 
saved. We have a story of another Indian whose services to 
the white settlers were invaluable, that of Sacajawea, known as 
the "bird woman." She was made a captive by the Black Feet 
when a child and sold into slavery by them to a Frenchman, one 
Chabonneau. When Lewis and Clark reached the Mandan 
villages, they found this Indian woman, who acted as their 
guide and interpreter along the Upper Missouri across the 
divide into the mountains, until she finally again found her own 
people, the Shoshones, who through her gave their services to 



Aboriginal Women of America 21 

the explorers further on toward the Pacific. One of the most 
valuable services rendered by this woman was that of saving 
the valuable records and instruments of these explorers. The 
story which has lived in song and poetry of Hiawatha is sup- 
posed to have had its foundation in fact. 



Women Pioneers. 

The Guiding Hand of Deity, as in all things, can be seen 
in the ultimate landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, New 
England. 

The persecutions inflicted by the bishops and zealots upon 
dissenters from the mother church, who were denominated 
"Separatists" caused them to seek a new field where they hoped 
to be allowed to worship God according to the dictates of their 
own consciences. 

After many unsuccessful attempts, they finally left Eng- 
land, in 1608, and took up their abode in Amsterdam, Holland. 
There are many conflicting traditions and reports as to the 
welcome they received in Dutchland. There was, beyond 
question, disinclination on the part of the Ruler and the people 
to extend to them cordial hospitality, lest the friendly relations 
might be interrupted between England and Holland. They 
were, however, allowed to remain at Amsterdam until, of their 
own volition, they removed to Leyden, the principal manu- 
facturing town of the Netherlands. They hoped by this change 
to better their condition and secure employment for the artisans 
among them who had had training and experience in the 
factories in England. They endured unspeakable hardships, 
disappointments and the loss of many of their numbers in Hol- 
land. They had gained little but respite from persecution by 
leaving their homes in England. 

Their saintly Bishop, John Robinson by name, hoped that 
at Leyden, with more lucrative resources, through the pos- 
sibility of securing employment, they might eventually obtain 

(22) 



Women Pioneers 23 



permanent homes and probably increase the number of fol- 
lowers of their creed. They soon found, however, that Leyden 
offered little encouragement. 

Meanwhile, they heard marvelous stories of the American 
Continent and of the opportunities it offered for material 
prosperity, absolute freedom of conscience and perfect religious 
liberty. 

It had been impossible, handicapped as they were by 
untoward environment, for them to save any money or extend 
their privileges in any manner. Chained by necessity to daily 
arduous labor for existence, and enfeebled by illness and mis- 
fortunes, they were well nigh exhausted when relief came in 
the form of agents seeking colonists for America, and 
"Merchant Adventurers" trying to procure settlers for rich 
plantations in the new country. The povery of these noble 
people is evident from the hard terms to which they were 
obliged to submit in their contracts with the agents and the 
"Merchant Adventurers" to procure passage to the Land of 
Hope and Liberty. 

After months of negotiations, the Pilgrims finally 
embarked on the Speedwell, a craft scarcely sea-worthy for the 
voyage from Delfshaven to Southampton to join the proposed 
expedition. They reached that port after perilous experiences, 
which had the effect of discouraging very many of the party, 
causing the dispirited to abandon their leaders on their arrival 
at Southampton. 

However, the indomitable spirits of such men as Robert 
Cushman, John Carver, and others were not to be dissuaded 
from their purpose. Hence, after another long period of wait- 
ing and tedious negotiations with the "Merchant Adventurers" 
and agents of companies interested in securing colonists for the 
New World, the Mayflower was chartered between the 12th 
and 22nd of June, 1620. Captain Thomas Jones was in com- 



24 Part Taken by Women in American History 

mand of the ship; John Clarke as first mate or pilot, an 
experienced navigator, having crossed the Atlantic many times 
previously; Robert Coppin was second mate or pilot — he had 
been once at least on a voyage to the New World; Master 
Williamson, purser; Dr. Giles Heale, from discovery by the 
Mayflower descendants, was, doubtless, surgeon of the 
Mayflower. 

There were on board one hundred and two souls. The ship 
was poorly provided with means of defense, having but three 
pieces of ordnance and some small arms and ammunition. But 
these brave souls, some of them with families, and their meagre 
household effects, dared to set out for a land where they hoped 
to secure not only religious liberty but opportunity for amassing 
fortunes. 

Alack ! with all their religious fervor and heroism "a man's 
a man for a' that," and it required skilful management on the 
part of the wisest to adjust the many difficulties and dissolve 
the innumerable conspiracies that were continually being 
formed between the zealous but unreasonable religionists and 
the agents of the "Merchant Adventurers" to change the plans 
of the leaders of the sect, whose chief object was to establish a 
colony of their own faith. 

Floating the English Union Jack, the Mayflower was 
piloted by Thomas English, the helmsman of the shallop of the 
Mayflower, into Plymouth harbor and safely anchored on the 
stormy night of Sunday, December 16, 1620, thus ending the 
long voyage of the Pilgrims from Plymouth, England, to 
Plymouth, New England, in one hundred and fifty-five days. 
Looking back across the centuries that have intervened, it would 
be difficult to imagine the emotions that swelled the hearts of 
those devout people as they stepped upon the soil of the promised 
land upon which they had builded so many bright hopes. From 
the Log of the Mayflower, given by Dr. Azel Ames, we learn 



Women Pioneers 25 

that there disembarked from the Mayflower one hundred and 
three souls on that bleak Sunday, December 16, 1620, — seventy- 
five men and boys and twenty-eight women and girls. Sad to 
relate, one-half of that number were laid "beneath the sod of 
their new home before it was clothed by the Spring's verdure." 

History and tradition have made heroes of many of the 
men, and they were entitled to -far more glory than they have 
ever received for their heroic daring. Alas! of the women 
who shared the burdens and displayed equal courage with the 
men, little to their credit has been preserved by tradition or 
history. But when one recalls that in those days women had 
not the privileges they have now, one realizes that their self- 
denial, heroism, patience and long-suffering were accepted as 
a matter of course and no note was taken of it by their selfish 
liege lords. 

In the enlightenment of the twentieth century, one 
recognizes that the women were the martyrs of that long and 
perilous voyage. It was the women who kept the weary vigils 
through sunshine and storm ; it was the wives and mothers who 
were the nurses and comforters of their families; they cooked 
and cleaned and helped to keep the Mayflower habitable. There 
were, doubtless, times when weaker women would have been a 
burden to the men, who had hourly difficulties to overcome, 
which taxed their courage and strength almost to the point of 
exhaustion. 

When at last they landed, they received a cold reception, 
not only on account of the inclemency of the midwinter weather, 
but because the natives were far from cordial in their greetings 
to strangers whom they suspected had designs upon what they 
considered their country. They had watched the inroads upon 
their domain and invasion of their rights by those who had 
preceded the Pilgrims, and regarded this new intrusion as 
boding ill for them. However, these brave people set to work 



26 Part Taken by Women in American History 

religiously to win their way to the confidence and toleration of 
the savages to whose country they had fled for liberty. 

History has long since told the story of the Puritan 
victories under the banner of the Cross, and of the constant 
additions to their numbers as soon as the news of the successful 
landing of the expedition and their auspicious prospects was 
wafted across the seas to the Old World. At the time, they 
did not fully appreciate the limitless scope of the blessings their 
labors, endurance and wisdom under the guidance of the Infinite 
would bring to the unborn millions of human souls of all land 
who have continually, to this day, sought freedom of though'., 
personal rights, and religious liberty in our great American 
Republic, whose foundation was laid by the Pilgrims who cai ; e 
to our shores in the Mayflower. 

It has long since been admitted that mothers have alw; ys 
had all to do with the instilling of principles and developing 
the character of children. Upon this hypothesis, it is easy to 
account for the sterling qualities which have characterized New 
England men and women and given them the leadership in i, .e 
early days of the Republic in religious education and patriotism. 
Their Puritan mothers, with their deep religious convictions 
and conscientious scruples as to the discharge of every duty 
of life, instilled in their offspring their own exalted religious 
principles. These sons and daughters, as time has rolled on, 
have followed the course of the Empire and set up altars to 
Almighty God and their Country wherever they have halted to 
establish homes. 

As civilization has step by step pushed forward its bound- 
aries from the Atlantic to the Pacific, the same principles of 
religion and patriotism have inspired the succeeding generations 
until the American Republic represents the full fruition of the 
tree of liberty planted so firmly on Plymouth Rock by the 
Pilgrims. 



Women Pioneers 27 



Unless one has attempted a research of the records, they 
cannot possibly realize how little has been written of the 
achievements of the women of the American Nation, notwith- 
standing the fact that since the landing of the Pilgrims women 
have stood side by side with the men in the marvelous develop- 
ment of the resources of the New World and the advancement 
of modern civilization. 

The correct explanation of this curious phenomenon lies in 
Hhe indisputable truth that the brave women who embarked on 
ihe Mayflower as the wives and daughters of the adventurous 
.Pilgrims had always been subservient to the male members of 
their families. The Pilgrim Fathers, laboring under the 
i ifluence of fanaticism, believed that the Old and New Testa- 
1. ents placed women under the domination of men. Acting 
ujjon this conviction, they appropriated the fruits of their 
women companions' self-sacrifice, intuitive knowledge, inven- 
tive genius, wise suggestions and natural diplomacy as their 
very own, without giving the women any credit whatever or 
1. king any note or acknowledgment of the influence and aid 
of the women who shared in all of the trials and hardships of 
the perilous voyage across the seas and in establishing homes 
in the wilderness of the New World. 

The examples of the Pilgrim Fathers were followed by I v 
their sons for generations. The men, in keeping the records 
and in 'handing down the traditions, naturally neglected to 
"render unto Csesar that which was Caesar's." The few women 
shared nobly in the indescribable hardships and suffering 
experienced by the indomitable spirits who made the first settle- 
ments on the shores of New England. Neither history nor 
tradition has accorded to these women the meed of praise so 
justly their due. It is left to one's imagination to picture their 
patience, forbearance, fortitude, quick perception, dauntless 
courage and intelligence in discharging the duties that fell upon 



28 Part Taken by Women in American History 

these women as wives, mothers, nurses and companions of men 
imbued with the idea of their superiority and whose selfishness 
was prodigious. Trained in the rough school of pioneer strug- 
gles which required physical strength, brute force, daring 
courage, and contempt for weakness, one can readily under- 
stand that they were unmindful of the finer feelings and 
tenderness which are the natural fruits of civilization, and that 
the men accepted the help of the women as their legitimate 
rights. 

When at last an era of success dawned, it was natural that 
the men as the leaders of the adventurous settlers of the New 
World should have all the glory and that the prodigious labors 
and sacrifices of the women should be overlooked. Half a 
century had passed before women were accorded any measure 
of their deserts. During the two-thirds of a century since 
women had any recognition, they have step by step won their 
way to equality in all respects, save perhaps physically, to the 
men, though the privilege of suffrage and representation is not 
accorded in every state because the women themselves disagree 
upon the expediency of being given the right of suffrage. With 
this exception, every avenue is open to women in this "land of 
the free and the home of the brave." 

So well and intelligently have women improved their 
opportunities that to them belongs the credit of greatly 
expediting the progress of Christianity, education, and civiliza- 
tion. The natural intuitions of women in the discovery of the 
good in all things and their keen perception as to how to develop 
that good are admitted. Julia Ward Howe wrote in the preface 
of a book "Woman is primarily the mother of the human race. 
She is man's earliest and tenderest guardian, his life-long 
companion, his trusted adviser and friend. Her breath is the 
music of the nursery; the incense of the church." Woman's 
mission and sphere is thus graphically portrayed by the gifted 
pen of one of the noblest women of our race. 



Women Pioneers 29 



The majority of women have exemplified this aphorism by 
the faithful performance of their duties as wives, mothers and 
members of society. In three or four decades they have 
succeeded in demonstrating their abilities in fields other than 
domestic drudgery to which they were assigned in the earlier 
days of the Republic through the misconception of Bible truths, 
fanaticism and the prejudices of the unenlightened. The 
barriers erected by the Puritans have been broken down and 
women during the last half century in almost equal numbers 
with men have contested successfully for the honors in science, 
literature, music, art, political economy, education, the profes- 
sions of law, medicine and theology, and also in many of the 
vocations of life which are based on industrial principles — to 
say nothing of her achievements in the higher realms of 
Christianity, humanity, philanthropy and in the solution of the 
problems of social purity, domestic science, municipal admin- 
istration, cultivation and betterment of the conditions of 
mankind. 

The majority of women as "mothers of the race" have the 
advantage in that they have the power to transmit to their 
offspring principles which inspire high ambitions, noble 
instincts, pure thoughts and inclination for right living. They 
have in their keeping the infant minds which they can mould 
and train for noble or ignoble lives. Unfortunately, the 
influence of mothers does not invariably abide in their children, 
but in most cases it is felt from the cradle to the grave by the 
children they have borne and reared properly. 

The object of this book is to furnish examples worthy of 
emulation by future generations. It is the desire of the author 
to record the heroism, triumphs over adversity, and obstacles 
raised by ignorance and prejudice, and to emphasize the intel- 
lectual attainments, faithfulness, patience, tenderness, mercy, 
love and holy ministrations of the women of the American 



30 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Nation, and to accord full credit to individuals, as far as we 
possibly can, to those who have been instrumental in elevating 
women to the plane which is their rightful inheritance. 

The Early Period of Settlement. 

Jamestown was founded May 13, 1607, and the first woman 
of whom we have any mention in that settlement was Mistress 
Forest and her maid, Ann Burrs, and she is supposed to have 
been the first English woman married on American soil. The 
terrible sufferings of these settlers from starvation and want is 
a matter of history, and not more than sixty of the original 
five hundred souls remained after what is known as the "Starv- 
ing Time," and it is a most remarkable fact that of these sixty 
survivors a large proportion were women. In 1621 it became 
evident that a new lot of settlers must be brought out to 
America if this new colony was to survive. Sir Edwin Sandys, 
at the head of the London Company, who had charge of the 
interests of the Virginia settlers, adopted the plan of sending out 
wives, respectable young women, to these planters, and in one 
year he sent over one thousand two hundred and sixty-one new 
settlers, and on one voyage ninety women were sent to become 
the wives of these hardy pioneers. Being of a thrifty turn this 
English company did not do this from a purely disinterested 
motive, as they required pay from each man who thus secured 
a wife, and the price fixed was one hundred and twenty pounds 
of tobacco, about eighty dollars of our present money. The 
contract, however, was permitted to be a free one on the part 
of the woman, and she could not be forced into contracting a 
marriage objectionable to her, but history tells us that no maiden 
remained unmarried out of this first venture. 

In November, 1620, the Pilgrim fathers landed from "The 
Mayflower" at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts, and Mary Chil- 



Women Pioneers 31 



ton, it is said, was the first to place her foot upon American soil. 
The day after the arrival of these Pilgrims, the first child was 
born. The parents were William and Susanna White. The 
son was named Peregrine, which signifies Pilgrim. There are 
very few records of any women of conspicuous effort or 
influence at this time. Longfellow's poem, "The Courtship of 
Miles Standish" is familiar to us all and presents a more or less 
authentic picture of the lives of the women of that day in 
New England. 

The wives of the Pilgrims were: Mrs. Katherine Carver, 
Mrs. Dorothy Bidford, Mrs. Elizabeth Winslow, Mrs. Mary 
Brewster, Mrs. Mary Allerton, Mrs. Elizabeth Hopkins, the 
two Mrs. Tilley, Mrs. Tinker, Mrs. Rigdale, Mrs. Rose 
Standish, Mrs. Martin, Mrs. Mullens, Mrs. Susanna White, 
Mrs. Sarah Eaton, Mrs. Chilton, Mrs. Fuller, and Mrs. Helen 
Billington. The daughters of these Pilgrim mothers were: 
Elizabeth Tilley, Remember Allerton, Mary Allerton, Con- 
stance Hopkins, Damaris Hopkins, Mary Chilton, and Priscilla 
Mullens, and Desire Minter may be listed as a "Mayflower" 
daughter. "Mrs. Carver's maid" must also be mentioned 
among the women of the Mayflower, and even the little "bound" 
girl, Ellen More, is worthy of place in this distinguished group. 

KATHERINE CARVER. 

Mrs. Katherine Carver, it has been supposed by some, was a sister of Pastor 
Robinson. This supposition rests, apparently, upon the expression in his parting 
letter to Carver, where he says : "What shall I say unto you and your good wife, 
my loving sister?" Neither the place of Mrs. Carver's nativity nor her age is known. 

DESIRE MINTER. 

Desire Minter was evidently a young girl of the Leyden congregation, 
between the ages of fourteen and seventeen, who, in some way (perhaps through 
kinship), had been taken into Carver's family. She returned to England early. 

"MRS. CARVER'S MAID." 

"Mrs. Carver's maid," it is fair to presume, from her position as lady's 
maid and its requirements in those days, was a young woman of eighteen or 



32 Part Taken by Women in American History 

twenty years, and this is confirmed by her early marriage. Nothing is known 
of her before the embarkation. She died early. 

MARY BREWSTER. 

The wife of Elder Brewster, the "Chief of the Pilgrims," was about fifty-one 
years of age at the time of the landing of the Mayflower. She was the mother 
of three sons; the two younger, Love and Wrestling Brewster, accompanied their 
parents to the new land. 

ELIZABETH (BARKER) WINSLOW. 

Mrs. Elizabeth (Barker) Winslow, the first wife of the Governor, appears 
by the data supplied by the record of her marriage in Holland, May 27, 1618, to 
have been a maiden of comporting years to her husband's, he being then twenty- 
three. Tradition makes her slightly younger than her husband. 

ELLEN MORE. 

Ellen More, "a little girl that was put to him" (Winslow), died early. She 
was a sister of the other More children, "bound out" to Carver and Brewster. 

MRS. DOROTHY (MAY) BRADFORD. 

Mrs. Dorothy (May) Bradford's age (the first wife of the Governor) is 
fixed at twenty-three by collateral data, but she may have been older. She was 
probably from Wisbeach, England. The manner of her tragic death (by drowning, 
having fallen overboard from the ship in Cape Cod harbor), the first violent death 
in the colony, was especially sad, her husband being absent for a week afterward. 
It is not known that her body was recovered. 

MARY (NORRIS) ALLERTON. 

Mary (Norris) Allerton is called a "maid of Newberry in England," in the 
Leyden record of her marriage, in October, 161 1, and it is the only hint as to 
her age we have. She was presumably a young woman. Her death followed 
(a month later) the birth of her still-born son, on board the Mayflower in Plymouth 
Harbor, February 25, 1621. 

REMEMBER ALLERTON. 

Remember Allerton, apparently Allerton's second child, was, no doubt, born 
in Holland about 1614. She married Moses Maverick by 1635. and Thomas Weston's 
only child, Elizabeth, was married from her house at Marblehead. to Roger Conant, 
the first "governor" of a "plantation" on the Massachusetts Bay territory. 



Women Pioneers 33 



MARY ALLERTON. 

Mary Allerton, apparently the third child, could hardly have been much 
more than four years old in 1620. She was probably born in Holland about 1616. 
She was the last survivor of the passengers of the Mayflower, dying at Plymouth, 
New England, 1699. 

SUSANNA (FULLER) WHITE. 

Susanna (Fuller) White, wife of William, and sister of Dr. Fuller (?), 
was apparently somewhat younger than her first husband and perhaps older than 
her second. She must, in all probability (having been married in Leyden in 1612), 
have been at least twenty-five at the embarkation eight years later. Her second 
husband, Governor Winslow, was but twenty-five in 1620, and the presumption 
is that she was slightly his senior. There appears no good reason for ascribing 
to her the austere and rather unlovable characteristics which the pen of Mrs. 
Austin has given her. 

ALICE MULLENS. 

Mrs. Alice Mullens, whose given name we know only from her husband's 
will, filed in London, we know little about. Her age was (if she was his first 
wife) presumably about that of her husband, whom she survived but a short time. 

PRISCILLA MULLENS. 

Priscilla Mullens, whom the glamour of unfounded romance and the pen 
of the poet Longfellow have made one of the best known and best beloved of the 
Pilgrim band, was either a little older or younger than her brother Joseph — it is 
not certain which. But that she was over sixteen is probable. 

ELIZABETH HOPKINS. 

Nothing is known concerning Mrs. Elizabeth Hopkins, except that she was 
not her husband's first wife. Some time apparently elapsed between her husband's 
marriages. 

CONSTANCE (OR CONSTANTIA) HOPKINS. 

Constance (or Constantia) Hopkins was apparently about eleven years old 
in 1620, as she married in 1627, and probably was then not far from eighteen 
years old. 

DAMARIS HOPKINS. 

Damaris Hopkins, the younger daughter of Master Hopkins, was probably 
a very young child when she came in the Mayflower, but her exact age has not 
been ascertained. Davis, as elsewhere noted, makes the singular mistake of saying 



34 Part Taken by Women in American History 



she was born after her parents arrived in New England. She married Jacob 
Cooke, and the ante-nuptial agreement of his parents is believed to be the earliest 
of record in America, except that between Gregory Armstrong and the widow 
Billington. 

HUMILITY COOPER. 

Humility Cooper is said by Bradford to have been a "cosen" of the Tilleys, 
but no light is given as to her age or antecedents. She was but a child apparently. 
She returned to England very soon after the death of Mr. and Mrs. Tilley, and 
"died young." 

BRIDGET (VAN DER VELDE) TILLEY. 

Mrs. Bridget (Van der Velde) Tilley was her husband's second wife, con- 
cerning whom nothing is known, except that she was of Holland, and that she 
had, apparently, no child. 

ELIZABETH TILLEY. 

Elizabeth Tilley is said, by Goodwin and others, to have been fourteen years 
old at her parents' death in 1621, soon after the arrival in New England. She 
was the child of her father's first wife. She married John Howland before 1624. 
Historians for many years called her the "daughter of Governor Carver," but 
the recovery of Bradford's MS. "historie" corrected this, with many other mis- 
conceptions, though to some the error had become apparent before. 

MRS. CHILTON. 

Mrs. Chilton's given name is declared by one writer to have been Susanna, 
but it is not clearly proven. Whence she came, her ancestry, and her age, are 
alike unknown. 

MARY CHILTON. 

Mary Chilton was but a young girl in 1620. She married, before 1627, John 
Winslow, and was probably not over fourteen when she came with her parents 
in the Mayflower. 

SARAH EATON. 

Mrs. Sarah Eaton, wife of Francis, was evidently a young woman, with 
an infant, at the date of embarkation. Nothing more is known of her, except that 
she died in the spring following the arrival at Plymouth. 

ELLEN (OR "ELEN") BILLINGTON. 

Mrs. Ellen (or "Elen") Billington, as Bradford spells the name, was evidently 
of comporting age to her husband's, perhaps a little younger. Their two sons, 



Women Pioneers 35 



John and Francis, were lively urchins who frequently made matters interesting 
for the colonists, afloat and ashore. The family was radically bad throughout, 
but they have had not a few worthy descendants. Mrs. Billington married Gregory 
Armstrong, and their ante-nuptial agreement is the first such record known in 
America. 

One of the most powerful influences exercised by the women pioneers was 
the influence for religion. Every pioneer woman was transfused with a deep, 
glowing, unwavering religious faith, and through all the terrible trials of those 
earliest days, as well as through those of the generations which followed, their 
faith never wavered, and at all times proved a bulwark of strength in seasons 
of trouble. 

In 1630, we find the name of Lady Arabella Johnson, wife 
of Isaac Johnson, among those who came with the fleet of 
eleven ships to Massachusetts Bay, driven out of England by 
the religious persecution of the time. In this same colony of 
Pilgrims came one, Ann Dudley, the daughter of an old servant 
of the Count of Lincoln, father of Lady Arabella Johnson, and 
married to one Simon Bradstreet, who afterward became 
Governor of Massachusetts. She was a Puritan of the strictest 
Puritan type. She became quite famous as a poetess, and there 
were but few writers of that day. Governor Winthrop's wife 
was one of the early authors and when she lost her mind it was 
claimed by her Puritanical feminine friends that this was 
caused by her deserting her domestic duties and meddling with 
such things as were proper only for men. 

Some idea of the severity of those days can be gained 
through the fact that in 1634, there was enacted a law which 
forbade any person, either man or woman, to make or buy any 
"woolen, silk, or linen with any lace on it, silver or gold thread, 
under the penalty of forfeiture of said clothes. Gold and silver 
girdles, hat bands, belts, ruffs, and beaver hats were prohibited, 
the planters being permitted to wear out such apparel as they 
were already provided with." Five years later another law 
prohibited "immoderate great breeches, knots of ryban, broad 
shoulder bands, and rayles, silk ruses, double ruffles and capes," 



36 Part Taken by Women in American History 

and should any person wear such apparel they were fined ten 
shillings, or any tailor make a garment of these materials he 
was fined ten shillings. Notwithstanding the strict ideas of 
those days the story is told of one Agnes Surriage, a servant 
and mere drudge, scrubbing the floor of the tavern at Marble- 
head, attracting the attention of young Sir Harry Frankland, 
collector of the Port of Boston. He became so infatuated with 
her beauty that he had her educated by the best masters in 
Boston and instructed in religion by Dr. Edward Holyoke, 
president of Harvard College, but did not honor her with his 
name until the terrors of the earthquake in 1755, in Lisbon, 
brought him to a realization of her position, and they were 
married. She became Lady Frankland and was later received 
with great honor in England. He was appointed Consul-Gen- 
eral at Lisbon, but died in 1768, in England, and Lady Frank- 
land returned to America. During the Revolution she suffered 
exile as a Tory. She later married John Drew, a rich banker, 
and died at the age of fifty-eight, having been one of the most 
prominent figures in Colonial history. 

In 1689, Mr. Paris came to Salem from the West Indies, 
bringing with him two colored servants, John an Indian, and 
Tituba his wife. Like all people of their race, they were full 
of superstitious belief in second sight, and so infected the 
village of Salem that many young girls were brought under 
their influence and learned to go into trances and prate all 
manner of foolishness. This brought about the belief that they 
were possessed of witches. Chief among these young people 
were Mary Walker, Mary Hubbard, Elizabeth Booth, Susan 
Sheldon, Mary Warren, and Sarah Churchill, young girls still 
in their teens, with Ann Putnam and Mary Lewis, the latter two 
being most prominent. Mrs. Ann Putnam, about thirty years 
of age, and, it is supposed now, of unsound mind, was a beauti- 
ful and well-educated woman. She became the leader in this 



Women Pioneers 37 



mischief. Tituba, the Indian hag, had associated with her two 
old women by the name of Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne. 
They were finally brought to Boston for trial and they 
implicated two respectable women of the community, Martha 
Corey and Rebecca Nurse. This mania became almost an 
epidemic. Men were even accused and the best women 
were not saved from the accusations of this evil-minded 
coterie. Susan Martin was accused on the ground that she 
walked on a country road without getting her skirts and feet 
muddy and must be a witch. A special court finally had to be 
appointed by Sir William Phipps, the first Governor, to try these 
women, when nineteen suffered death. Charges were even 
brought against Lady Phipps, the wife of the Governor. The 
death blow to this panic was given when some people of 
Andover on being accused brought suit for defamation of 
character in the courts. 

ANNE HUTCHINSON. 

When the ship "Griffin" arrived in the port of Boston, on 
the 1 8th day of September, 1634, that band of Puritan settlers 
who set forth from the embryo town to meet and welcome the 
newcomers would have been very much disturbed and 
astonished if they had known that there was one among that 
ship's company who was to bring great trouble to the feeble 
Colony and still greater calamity upon herself. Anne Hutch- 
inson was to play the most conspicuous part in a great religious 
controversy; it was something more vital than a mere theo- 
logical dispute; it was the first of many New England 
quickenings in the direction of social, intellectual and political 
development; in fact New England's earliest protest against 
formulas. Its leader was a woman whose name should be 
written large as one of the very few women who have really 



38 Part Taken by Women in American History 

influenced the course of events in American history. It is 
indeed curious that at that time, when women held such an 
inferior position in the intellectual world, heads of councils of 
state and hoary-headed ministers should have allowed them- 
selves to be involved in controversy in which their chief 
adversary was a woman. 

Anne Hutchinson was born at Alford, in Lincolnshire, not 
far from Boston, England, on the 28th of July, 1591, so that 
she must have been forty-three years old when she came to 
Boston, though her comely figure and attractive face and 
engaging manners gave her a much more youthful appearance. 
Her father was a college man and her mother was a great-aunt 
of the poet Dryden, and was also related to the family from 
which descended the famous writer, Jonathan Swift, so Anne 
from both parents inherited intellect and force. Her marriage 
with William Hutchinson was the result of pure and dis- 
interested love, for he had no right to heraldic devices. Of 
this husband little need be said. He is described by contem- 
poraries as a man of very mild temper and weak parts, and 
wholely guided by his wife. Perhaps this was fortunate, con- 
sidering his wife's strong and dominant will. 

Things might have gone well for Mistress Hutchinson 
in the Colony had she not fallen into some heated disputes on 
certain religious subjects with one of her fellow-voyagers on 
board the "Griffin." This resulted in her adversary's, the 
Rev. Zechariah Symmes, gaining a deep and bitter animosity 
toward her. No sooner had they landed than he took occasion 
to denounce her as a prophetess — a dangerous accusation in 
those days. Regardless of her "Reverend" foe she immediately 
began to teach her new strange doctrines to those about her. 
And almost all of Puritan Boston fell under the spell of her 
eloquence and her magnetic charm. The women crowded her 
home to hear her read from the Scriptures and explain texts, 



Women Pioneers 39 



and, it must be admitted, criticised the preachers, for this 
powerful woman was not afraid to express her opinion with 
dangerous candor. Boston was really at that period under a 
religious despotism. Looking back upon those times, it seems 
strange that the early Puritan settlers, beset as they were with 
bodily danger and physical hardship, should have spent so 
much of their time in splitting hairs upon theological subjects. 
It was, nevertheless, significant of an intellectual unrest, which 
was to result in people doing their own thinking. This has 
always been a marked characteristic of the American — one of 
which we are justly particular, and it should be remembered 
that this young woman was its pioneer. Mistress Anne Hutch- 
inson taught that the Gospel of Christ had superseded the law 
of Moses that no matter what sin overtook one who had received 
the gift of the "Crest of Love," he was still one of the elect ; that 
the spirit of the Holy Ghost dwells in a "Justified Person," and 
other things that nobody understands and nobody is foolish 
enough to bother about in these days. In 1634, Mistress 
Hutchinson and her followers and the ministers of the Boston 
Church wrangled over these confusing and unnecessary 
doctrines until it is very likely they themselves became very 
much mixed up. It is what historians call the Antinomian 
Controversy. Antinomy being opposed to the law, Winthrop 
and Endicott considered it a very dangerous heresy. Mistress 
Anne was finally brought to trial for her teachings — a thing she 
could hardly have failed to expect, for though she was a gentle 
and patient nurse to the sick, a fond wife and mother, and a 
Godly woman, still she was transgressing her right in openly 
setting up a new creed among, the people with whom she had 
chosen to dwell. Among the ministers there were two of whom 
she earnestly approved, the Rev. Mr. Cotton and Joseph 
Wheelwright, her brother-in-law. But the preachings and 
teachings of all the others she earnestly condemned, which made 



40 Part Taken by Women in American History 

these narrow-minded spiritual ministers her mortal enemies. In 
1637, the Rev. John Cotton, who had appeared to share Anne 
Hutchinson's opinions to some extent, changed his course and 
the way was prepared for her accusation and trial. This trial 
was before the Court of Magistrates, at Cambridge, November, 
1637, and to quote from Jared Sparks, "It will be allowed by 
most readers to have been one of the most shameful proceedings 
recorded in the annals of Protestantism." The scene must have 
been an impressive one — the dignified Governor Winthrop, 
grave, strong, courteous, but already convinced of the culprit's 
guilt; Endicott, who, as Hawthorne says, "Would stand with 
his drawn sword at the Gate of Heaven and resist to the death 
all pilgrims thither except they traveled his own path" ; Brad- 
street, Nowell, Stoughton, W'elde, all her judges and her 
enemies. As the biting north wind swept cold gusts through 
the bare room in which the assemblage sat on that November 
day, the defenseless woman must have felt that the cold gale 
that blew from the gloomy wilderness on the desolate shore 
was no more chilling than the hearts of her judges. She was 
ill and faint, but she was allowed neither food nor a seat during 
that long exhausting day, until she fell to the floor from weak- 
ness, while first one and then another of them plied her with 
questions. And, as Anne Hutchinson answered these questions 
clearly and sensibly, quoting passages from the Scriptures to 
prove that she had done nothing unlawful, nothing worthy of 
condemnation, perhaps she may have felt, even among her 
enemies and with no hand stretched out toward her, a thrill of 
pride in her heart that she, a woman without the influence of 
wealth or station, was pitting her intellect against that of the 
wisest men in the Colony. No matter what the issue should be 
the fact of her trial was an acknowledgment of her power and 
influence — a power and influence never before nor since equaled 
in this country. 



Women Pioneers 41 



Of an intensely spiritual nature and of rare elevation of 
purpose, Anne Hutchinson stood that day for the principle of 
liberty of speech, and the seed planted almost three hundred 
years ago has grown into the glorious religious and intellectual 
freedom of to-day. 

At the conclusion of the trial, when she heard the verdict 
of banishment, Anne Hutchinson, turning to Winthrop said 
boldly, "I desire to know wherefore I am banished." He 
replied, with high-handed superciliousness, "Say no more, the 
court knows wherefore and is satisfied." 

Joseph Welde was the brother of Rev. Thomas Welde, who 
had been her bitterest enemy, and he had called her the 
"American Jezebel," so she had little to expect in the way of 
consideration and comfort. But the banished woman had 
followers and the court found it expedient to issue an order 
that "All those whose names are under written shall upon warn- 
ing give all such guns, pistols, swords, pewter shot and matches 
over to their custody upon penalty of 10 pounds." This shows 
that the magistrates feared violence from those who believed 
in Mistress Hutchinson and loved and revered their teacher. 

Having been excommunicated from the Boston Church, 
and admonished for her grievous sins she was ordered to leave 
Massachusetts by the end of March. And on the twenty-eighth 
of that month Anne Hutchinson set forth upon her journey to 
Aquidneck, R. L, where she hoped to commune with God and 
her fellow-beings according to the dictates of her conscience. 
Many Bostonians followed her and amid the forests of Rhode 
Island she found for a little while a peaceful life. But even 
here she was not spared from her old persecutors, who still 
feared that a new sect might arise in their neighborhood. Mrs. 
Hutchinson, whose husband had died, determined to go into the 
Dutch Colony of the New Netherlands where the magistrates 
did not care quite so much what the colonists believed, and 



42 Part Taken by Women in American History 

eventually she planned her settlement in the solitude of what 
is now called Rochelle. A swamp in the vicinity of her cottage 
still bears the name of Hutchinson's river and we may imagine 
how as the evening shades closed in upon them the settlers 
would gather around their leader, who read from the Scriptures 
and exhorted them to continue steadfast in the faith she had 
delivered to them. As the candle-lights shone and flickered on 
her strong face with its lines of struggle and of sorrow and 
was reflected in the deep, dark eyes, she seemed a woman who 
had fled away to this remote spot divinely inspired. 

But she had chosen a bad time to come to this part of the 
country, for while safe from the men of her own race, who had 
given her nothing but injustice and persecution, she was 
surrounded by dangers from the natives. Governor Kieft, the 
Dutch Governor, had by cruel treatment aroused the Indians 
to sullen resentment. Not long after the arrival of Anne 
Hutchinson and her little colony, savage hostilities broke out. 
Suddenly, when the New Netherlander were unprepared, an 
army of fifteen hundred swarthy warriors swept over Long 
Island, killing, burning and torturing the settlers on Manhat- 
tan Island and carrying their savage warfare to the very gates 
of the fort. 

Far out across the Harlem River, Anne Hutchinson's weak 
settlement of sixteen souls was at the mercy of the merciless 
Indians. The chief who had entered the land of this section 
according to tribal laws had sent to find out the strength and 
weakness of the colony. The messenger was treated with the 
hospitality which it was a part of Anne Hutchinson's religion 
to show to the "Stranger" who came within her gates. But 
the Indian spy was the messenger of death, for that night the 
colony was attacked and every one of that little settlement 
perished by clubs or tomahawks. Anne Hutchinson and her 
children with the exception of one, perished in the flames of 



Women Pioneers 43 



her cottage, the cries of the massacred mingling in her dying 
ears with the savage shouts of the fiendish murderers. The 
little girl eight years old, who escaped was sent back by the 
Dutch to New England, where a good many of her descendants 
live. 

It was the custom of the Indians to take the name of a 
person they had killed, and the chief who led this attack called 
himself after the massacre, "Anne's Hoeck," which is ground 
for the belief that the great chief himself was her murderer. 
The neck of land at Pelham, N. Y., bears to this day the name 
of Anne's Hoeck or Anne's Hook. 

This brave woman's death was the end of the theological 
tragedy of early Boston, but it was the beginning of that 
religious freedom we enjoy to-day. 

MARGARET BRENT. 

Not long after King Charles made the grant of land to his 
friend, Lord Baltimore, a woman of queenly daring and 
republican courage found her way to the new colony and into 
the councils of its leading men, and her name, Margaret Brent, 
stands for the most vigorous force in the early history of 
Maryland. She was born in England, about 1600, and died at 
Saint Mary's, Maryland, about 1661. A writer of this time 
has said about her, "Had she been born a queen she would have 
been as brilliant and daring as Elizabeth ; had she been born a 
man she would have been a Cromwell in her courage and 
audacity." 

However, she might not have exerted quite so much influ- 
ence over these first Maryland colonies had she not stood in the 
relationship she did to the Governor of Maryland, Leonard 
Calvert, the brother of Lord Baltimore. There are some who 
think that Margaret Brent was an intimate friend or kins- 



44 Part Taken by Women in American History 

woman of Leonard Calvert, and there are others who believe 
that she was his sweetheart. But at any rate an atmosphere of 
doubt and mystery still lingers about the names of Margaret 
Brent and Leonard Calvert and their old-time relationship. 

It was in the year 1634, that Leonard Calvert came to 
America bringing over three hundred colonists, some twenty 
of them men of wealth and position. These three hundred 
English colonists sailed into wide Chesapeake Bay and up that 
broad river, the Potomac, till they reached the place where a 
little river joins the waters of the larger, and there they founded 
their city, calling both city and river Saint Mary's. 

Four years after the coming of Leonard Calvert, Margaret 
Brent arrived in the city of Saint Mary's. It was in November, 
that Mistress Margaret first saw Maryland, then brilliant in 
the beauty of Indian Summer. The orioles were still singing 
in the forests, the red wild flowers were blooming in the 
crevices of the rocks and the trees still kept their foliage of red 
and gold, and the English woman is said to have remarked that 
the air of her new home was "Like the breath of Heaven;" 
that she had entered "Paradise." 

Margaret, with her brothers and sisters, seem always to 
have had a prominent part in the affairs of the colony. 
Immediately after their arrival they took up land in the town 
and on Kent Island built themselves a Manor House and carried 
on a prosperous business. Margaret became as wise as her 
brothers or even wiser in the intricacy of the English law. We 
hear of her registering cattle marks, buying and selling property 
and signing herself "Attorney for My Brother." The early 
records of the American Colony afford rare glimpses of 
Mistress Margaret Brent as a person of influence and power. 
She was indeed a woman of pronounced courage and executive 
ability. She knew people and was able to manage them and 
their affairs with remarkable tact. Moreover, although she was 



Women Pioneers 45 



no longer very young, she could still please and fascinate, and 
so it is not surprising that she became in effect if not in fact 
the woman ruler of Maryland. She is supposed to have shared 
the exile of Governor Calvert when rebellion drove him from 
the colony, but with fearlessness and daring she seems to have 
appeared in the colony at the time when her home was 
threatened by raids under Clayborne, the claimant of Kent 
Island. Two years passed before Governor Calvert was able 
to put down the rebellion and return to his colony and he did 
not live long to enjoy the peace that followed. He died in the 
summer of 1647, and there was wondering as to whom he 
would appoint his heir. Thomas Green, with a few others of 
the Governor's council, and Margaret Brent were with him just 
before he died. He named Thomas Green as his successor as 
Governor. Then his eyes rested upon Margaret Brent, perhaps 
with love, perhaps with confidence and admiration. There was 
no one in the colony so wise, so able, so loyal as she. Leonard 
Calvert had always known that. Pointing to her, so that all 
might see and understand, he made the will that has come down 
to us as the shortest one on record: "I make you my sole 
executrix," he said, "Take all, and pay all." And after he had 
spoken those words of laconic instruction, he asked that all 
would leave him except Mistress Margaret. One cannot know 
what passed between Leonard Calvert and Margaret Brent in 
this last interview, nor what they said, for Margaret Brent 
never told. 

But, "Take all and pay all," he had said, and Margaret 
Brent determined to carry out his command to the letter. The 
first thing that she took was his house. There was some dispute 
as to her title to it, but Mistress Margaret did not wait for this 
dispute to close ; she at once established herself in the Governor's 
mansion, for she was well acquainted with the old letter by 
which possession is nine points. Then having secured the house 



46 Part Taken by Women in American History 

she collected all of Governor Calvert's property and took it 
under her care and management. 

This would have been enough for most women but Mis- 
tress Margaret was not so easily satisfied. She was determined 
to have all that was implied in the phrase, "Take all and pay 
all," so we soon find her making claim that since she had been 
appointed "Executrix" of Leonard Calvert, she had the right 
to succeed Leonard Calvert as Lord Baltimore's attorney and 
in that character to receive all the profits and to pay all the 
debts of his lordship's estate and to attend to the state's 
reservation. 

Her next step was more daring than all those that had 
gone before, being no less than a demand for vote and rep- 
resentation. This demand was made two centuries and a half 
ago, when talk of Woman's Rights was as unheard of as the 
steam engine or electricity. Certainly Margaret Brent was far 
in advance of her times. She might be known to history as the 
Original Suffragette! Her audacity carried her even further. 
She was Leonard Calvert's executrix, she told herself, and was 
entitled to vote in that capacity and so she concluded she had 
the right to two votes in the general assembly. No one but 
Margaret Brent would have meditated those two votes, one 
for a foreign Lord, who had never authorized her to act for 
him, and the other for a dead man whose only instruction to 
her had been, "Take all and pay all." We can only wonder 
at her ingenious reasoning, as did that biographer of hers who 
was moved to exclaim in admiration of her daring, "What 
woman would ever have dreamed of such a thing!" 

Her astonishing stand for woman's rights was made on 
the 2 1 st of January, 1648. At the first beat of the drum, that 
was used to call the assemblymen together in the early days of 
the Maryland colony, Mistress Margaret started on her way 
for Fort Saint John's, where the general assembly was to meet. 



Women Pioneers 47 



We may well believe there was determination in her eye and in 
her attitude as she sat erect upon her horse and rode over the 
four miles of snow-covered roads to the fort, for she was 
determined that at least she would have her say before the 
crowd and show the justice of her suit. Mistress Margaret 
would not let herself be disturbed by the cool reception with 
which she was met; for, although the court tried to hedge her 
about with rules and orders to keep her quiet, she remained firm 
in her intentions to speak. And finally when her opportunity 
came she rose and put forward for the first time in America the 
claims of a woman's right to seat and vote in a legislative 
assembly. 

We can only imagine the scene that followed that brief 
and dangerous speech of hers in the court room at Fort Saint 
John's. A wave of startled wonder and amazement passed 
over the whole assembly and preposterous as her demand was to 
those first Maryland planters, there were some among them 
who moved by her persuasive eloquence would have been willing 
to grant her request. But Governor Green, who had always 
regarded Margaret Brent as his most dangerous rival, braced 
himself for prompt and autocratic action and promptly refused. 
The Maryland records attest, "The said Mistress Brent should 
have no vote in the house." The "said Mistress Brent" did 
not take her defeat without protest. She objected vehemently 
to the proceedings of the assembly and departed from the court 
room in anger and dignity. She had failed in her purpose but 
by her bold stand she had made for herself the signal record as 
the first woman in America to advocate her right to vote. It 
is to be noted, moreover, that the Governor Green who had 
denied her this right was the Governor who turned to her for 
help whenever an emergency arose. 

Soon after the death of Leonard Calvert there threatened 
to be a mutiny in the army. The soldiers who had fought for 



48 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Governor Calvert when he was an exile in Virginia had been 
promised that they should be paid in full "out of the stock and 
personal property of his Lordship's plantation." Governor 
Calvert was dead, the pay was not forthcoming and the only 
course left to the soldiers seemed to be insurrection. Governor 
Green could think of nothing to appease the half-starved indig- 
nant troops, so he went to Margaret Brent for aid. As soon as 
Mistress Margaret heard of the trouble, she recalled the instruc- 
tions which Leonard Calvert had given her to "pay all," so 
without hesitation she sold the cattle belonging to Lord Balti- 
more and paid off all the hungry soldiers. News traveled slowly 
in those early Colonial days and it was some time before Lord 
Baltimore heard of all that Margaret Brent was claiming and 
doing as his own attorney and executrix of his brother. And 
not really knowing Mistress Margaret he was inclined to look 
upon her as a person who had been "meddling" in his affairs 
and he wrote "tartly" and with "bitter invectives" concerning 
her to the general assembly. But the general assembly under- 
stood Margaret Brent better than Lord Baltimore did and they 
sent a spirited reply to him in gallant praise of Margaret Brent 
and her wise conduct. So we find the Maryland Assembly 
which could not give Mistress Margaret the right to vote 
defending her even against the Lord of their own colony and 
declaring her "the ablest man among them." 

To the end of her days Margaret Brent continued to lead a 
life of ability and energetic action. There are occasional 
glimpses of her latter history as she flashes across the records 
of the Maryland colony — always a clear-cut, fearless, vigorous 
personality. At one time she appears before the assembly claim- 
ing that the tenements belonging to Lord Calvert's manor 
should be under her guard and management. Again she comes 
pleading her cause against one Thomas Gerard for five thou- 
sand pounds of tobacco. At another time she figures as an 



Women Pioneers 



49 



offender accused of stealing and selling cattle only to retort 
indignantly that the cattle were her own, and to demand a trial 
by jury. In all of these cases and many others she seems to 
have had her own way. The General Assembly never denied 
her anything but the right to vote. She had only to express a 
wish in her clear persuasive fashion and it was granted. In 
point of view Margaret Brent ruled the colony. 

When she came for the last time before the General 
Assembly her hair must have been gray, but her speech no 
less eloquent, and her manner no less charming, than in the 
days of Leonard Calvert. We can imagine her in the presence 
of the court stating with dignity and frankness that she was 
the heir to Thomas White, a Maryland gentleman, who, dying, 
left her his whole estate as a proof of "his love and affection 
and of his constant wish to marry her." One would like to 
know more about this Thomas, but he appears only in the one 
role, that of Margaret Brent's lover. It has been suggested 
that possibly if Mr. White had lived, Mistress Margaret might 
have been induced at last to resign her independent state; that 
she had grown weary of her land operations and her duties as 
executrix and attorney and was willing to settle down to a 
life of domestic calm. But it is almost impossible to think of 
Margaret Brent as changing her business-like, self-reliant 
nature and meditating matrimony. It is more likely that this 
interesting and unusual Colonial dame died as she had lived, 
loving nothing but the public good and the management of her 
own and other people's affairs. 

MOLLY BRANDT. 

No pen picture has been left of Molly Brandt, and yet her 
influence had much to do with the colonists' success in subduing 
the most savage of the Indian tribes. She was the sister of 



50 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Joseph Brandt, that mysterious character who was supposed to 
have been born an Indian chief among the Mohawk tribe, and 
who was the young Nation's intermediary with the Indians. It 
was through her shrewdness and the influential position which 
Molly Brandt came to occupy in the family of Sir William John- 
son that her brother came to the attention of those in authority 
and received his education. She arranged to have him sent to 
the Moor Charity School at Lebanon, Connecticut, in 1761. 
Through this training of his mind, and the cultivation of 
sympathy with the colonists, he became as valuable an assistant 
as many trained diplomatists have been in later years. We find, 
moreover, that in 1770, Sir William, after the decease of Lady 
Johnson, ''took to his home as his wife, Mary Brandt, or Miss 
Molly." And this may be the first historic instance of an 
American girl marrying a title! 

MARY MOORE. 

The early history of West Virginia is filled with the same 
stories of privation, suffering, and horrors experienced by the 
settlers in Tennessee, Kentucky, and North Carolina. The 
privations of that time necessitated women taking upon them- 
selves the hardest labors. They worked with their husbands 
clearing the land, and the rude provisions for domestic comfort 
were largely those acquired by their own efforts. The table- 
ware of those days consisted of a few pewter plates and kettles 
which had survived long journeys from the East. They wove 
the cloth of which their own and their children's garments were 
made, spun the flax which made the linen, and in fact, the 
entire furnishings of their homes were the work of their own 
hands. It is said that the first settlers came into West Virginia 
in 1749, and in 1751 two settlers were sent in by the Green 
Brier Company to open up the lands, and the first settlement was 



Women Pioneers 51 



made near Wheeling. As soon as the outposts were established, 
others followed in the train of these first venturesome pioneers. 
In 1761, Mrs. Dennis was taken captive from the James' settle- 
ment and taken to the Indian settlement near Chillicothe, Ohio. 
She became famous among the Indians as a nurse, and her 
medicines, prepared from herbs, were sought far and near, and 
through this medium she ultimately made her escape. In 1763, 
while gathering herbs she reached the Ohio River. Wandering 
alone through the woods and the forests, and rafting herself 
down the great Kanawha, she ultimately reached the Green 
Brier, but was so exhausted and worn by her long tramp and the 
exposure that she finally gave up and lay down expecting to die, 
but was discovered by some of the settlers and nursed and cared 
for. But for this act of kindness the settlers were made to pay 
dearly. They were attacked by the Indians, and all the men 
were killed and the women and children taken captives. In this 
attack a Mrs. Clendennin showed such courage that her name 
has been enrolled among the women heroes of that time. Early 
in 1778, an attack was made on one of the blockhouses on the 
upper Monongahela. In this hand to hand conflict, Mrs. Cun- 
ningham, the wife of Edward Cunningham, seeing her 
husband's strength almost spent, grabbed the tomahawk and 
finished the Indian who would have taken her husband's life. 
In an attack by the Indians on the house of William Morgan, in 
Dunker's Bottom, Mrs. Morgan was bound to a tree. She 
succeeded in untying herself with her teeth and escaping with 
her child. In March, 1781, an attack was made by the Indians 
on the house of Captain John Thomas, situated on one of the 
little streams tributary to the Monongahela. Captain Thomas 
was killed and Mrs. Thomas and her six children butchered by 
the savages, only one little boy escaping. While this bloody 
orgy was going on, a woman named Elizabeth Juggins, who 
had been attracted by the cries of the helpless victims, had come 



$2 Part Taken by Women in American History 

to their aid. On reaching the house, she realized her absolute 
helplessness and hid under one of the beds. When the Indians 
had left, supposing that they had completed their murderous 
work, Miss Juggins found that Mrs. Thomas was still alive, and 
succeeded in ultimately reaching other settlers and spreading 
the alarm. On the 29th of June, 1785, the house of Mr. Scott 
was attacked. Mrs. Scott witnessed the savages cutting the 
throats of three of her children and the murder of her husband, 
and then was carried into captivity by the Indians. The old 
chief seemed to have at least a drop of the milk of human kind- 
ness in his veins, and Mrs. Scott through the care of the old 
man succeeded in gaining her liberty. She wandered from the 
10th of July to the nth of August through the woods 
with nothing on which to sustain life but the juices of plants. 
Among this long list of names of the women who suffered 
Indian captivity and its attendant horrors were the names of 
Mrs. Glass, Mary Moore, Martha Evans, and other splendid 
women. James Moore, Mary Moore's brother, was taken 
captive by the Indians in 1784, and in 1786, a party of Indians 
made a hasty attack on the settlement before they were able to 
realize their danger, the settlers having been lulled into a feeling 
of security by the absence of any trouble for some time. Her 
father was killed in this attack, and her mother and three 
children — two brothers and a sister — were made prisoners. 
They were taken into the Scioto Valley, and here Mary Moore 
and her friend, Martha Evans, spent some time in captivity. 
They were ultimately sold to men in the neighborhood of 
Detroit, where they were employed as servants. In the invasion 
of Logan from Kentucky three years later, a young French 
trader took a great fancy to young James Moore, who was 
living among the Indians of the Pow Wow Society, and through 
this trader, James obtained information of his sister Mary, who 
was then near Detroit. Young Moore went to Stogwell's place, 



Women Pioneers 53 



where he found his sister had been very cruelly treated and was 
then in the most frightful condition of poverty and suffering. 
James applied to the commanding officer of Detroit, who sent 
him to Colonel McKee, then superintendent for the Indians, and 
Stogwell was brought to trial through the complaint made 
against him by James Moore. It was decided that Mary Moore 
could be returned to her home when proper remuneration was 
made, and through the efforts of Thomas Evans, the brother of 
Martha who had accompanied Mary Moore into captivity, she 
obtained her liberty in 1789, after having suffered three years 
of captivity. Shortly after her return to Rockridge, Mary 
Moore went to live with her uncle, Joseph Walker, whose home 
was near Lexington, and she later became the wife of Rev. 
Samuel Brown, pastor of New Providence. She was the 
mother of eleven children, nine of whom survived her. Martha 
Evans married a man by the name of Hummer and resided in 
Indiana, rearing a large family of children. 

During the attack of Cornwallis and his approach near 
Charlotte, a Mr. Brown sought protection in the home of James 
Haines, and while here the British plundered the house and 
made the owner a prisoner. Mrs. Haines' maiden name was 
Annie Huggins. She was the daughter of John Huggins, a 
Scotch Presbyterian, who had emigrated to America from, the 
north of Ireland, in 1730. She had married, in 1788, James 
Haines, and in 1792, he with his two brothers had emigrated 
to a colony in North Carolina, and here they were neighbors to 
the hostile Cherokees and Kanawhas who gave the settlers of 
those days constant alarm and terror. Later Colonel Bird, of 
the British army, established Fort Chissel as a protection to 
these settlers, and still later Governor Dobbs, of North Carolina, 
established Fort Loudon in the very heart of the Cherokee 
Nation. These settlements grew rapidly, notwithstanding the 
close proximity of these savage Indians. One of the striking 



54 Part Taken by Women in American History 

characteristics of almost all these settlers of that time was their 
strong religious faith, particularly the women, and certainly 
nothing else could have supported and sustained them through 
the daily horrors of their lives. Mrs. Haines died in 1790, 
having survived her husband only a few years. 

ELIZABETH BARTHOLOMEW. 

Born in Bethlehem, Hunterdon County, New Jersey, 
February 14, 1749, she was the sixteenth child of her parents, 
having even a younger sister. On her mother's side she was 
descended from the Huguenots of France. Her parents had 
removed to Germany after the Edict of Nantes, and later 
emigrated to America. In 1771 Elizabeth Bartholomew was 
married to Alexander Harper, of Harpersfield, New York. He 
was one of several brothers to enter the service at the outbreak 
of the Revolutionary War. Owing to the frequent visits of the 
Indians and Tories, the families of these Whig leaders were 
obliged to seek protection in Fort Schoharie. In moments of 
peace and quiet, Mrs. Harper lived with her children a short 
distance from the fort. In times of trouble, she spent her 
necessary imprisonment within the enclosure of the fort in 
baking bread for the soldiers and in making bullets. On one 
of these occasions the commander of the fort becoming dis- 
couraged by the tardy arrival of ammunition decided to 
surrender, and ordered a flag of truce hoisted. This brought 
forth such indignant protests from Mrs. Harper and the other 
women who had been working since early morning preparing 
ammunition for the poor wearied soldiers, that they determined 
to make one more effort to repel the enemy themselves. A 
soldier offered to fire on the flag of truce if hoisted, provided 
the women would conceal him, and as often as the flag was run 
up he fired at it, bringing down the wrath of the commander, 



Women Pioneers 55 



who was unable to find the audacious person who treated his 
authority with such contempt. This delay and the insub- 
ordination of the soldiers prevented the truce being carried 
into effect and the reinforcement arrived in time to force the 
retreat of the enemy. In 1780, Captain Harper, finding no 
necessity, owing to the peaceful condition then prevailing, of 
his longer service, went to look after his property in Harpers- 
field. Here he was taken prisoner by the Indians and carried 
to Canada, Mrs. Harper being in ignorance of his capture. He 
was eventually released. In 1797, a company was formed in 
Harpersfield to purchase land in the far West, or what is better 
known as the Northwest Territory. The Connecticut Land 
Company was formed, and people were sent out to investigate 
the new country. On the 7th of March, 1798, Alexander Har- 
per, William McFarland, and Ezra Gregory started for this 
new land of promise with their families. After a most difficult 
trip they reached, on the 28th of June, Cunningham's Creek, and 
near here Colonel Harper took up his location near Unionville. 
This little settlement was rapidly added to by their friends from 
the East. In March, Daniel Bartholomew brought out his 
family accompanied by Judge Griswold, and what is now Ash- 
tabula was settled in a township called Richfield. In August 
an election was held for the purpose of sending an application 
to the convention to be held at Chillicothe the following winter 
preparatory to an effort for the admission of Ohio as a state 
into the Union. In the war of 18 12, the country was exposed 
to all the dangers of the frontier. Mrs. Harper lived to the 
great age of eighty-five, dying on the 1 ith of June, 1833, retain- 
ing her remarkable intellect to the very last. 

N MARY DUNLEVY. 

Mary Dunlevy was of Scotch parentage, being born on the 
voyage of her parents from Scotland to America, in 1765. The 



56 Part Taken by Women in American History 

family name was Craig. They settled in New York and 
experienced the early oppressions which brought on the Revo- 
lution. Her father's death occurred soon after they reached 
this country, her mother being left with the care of a little 
family of three — two daughters and one son. At the time of 
the occupation of New York City by the British troops, Mrs. 
Craig expressed no little alarm for the safety of herself and 
children. Among her small circle of friends from the old 
country was a British officer, whom she married. This made 
a very uncomfortable home life for Mary Dunlevy, who soon 
sought a more friendly atmosphere in the home of Dr. Halstead, 
of Elizabethtown, New Jersey. She was a strong advocate of 
Independence and in this respect was in sympathy with those 
of her new home and felt deeply the separation from her family. 
Her sister married an Englishman and went to England to live, 
but Mary always felt the warmest friendship for her American 
friends, and frequently risked her life in efforts to save their 
property from destruction by appealing to the British Com- 
mander, and on one occasion a sword was drawn upon her 
threatening instant death if she did not leave the room of this 
austere commanding officer. She, however, persisted and did 
ultimately accomplish her purpose and save the property of her 
friends. Frequently she spent whole days and nights making 
bullets and tending the wounded and dying. She was one of 
the young girls who witnessed the triumphal march of General 
Washington and helped to strew the road with flowers as he 
passed. There was no more enthusiastic participant in the 
rejoicing over the establishment of independence than Mary 
Dunlevy. In 1789, she married James Carpenter, who had 
recently returned from a visit of exploration to the new North- 
west Territory. He was so delighted with the new country 
that he determined to settle there, and thither they went after 
their marriage in 1789. They made their home near Mays- 



Women Pioneers 57 



ville, Kentucky. Mary had been accustomed to hardship and 
exposure in her early days and proved her worth in this new 
home. But Carpenter's difficult labors of the winter in clearing 
the ground and raising the building which was to form their 
little home brought on a hemorrhage which two years later 
resulted in his death. Though urged by her friends to take 
up her home inside the borders which the settlers had erected, 
she preferred the solitude and independence of her own little 
home which her husband had made for her. It is said that she 
planned a way of protecting her little children in case of an 
attack by the Indians by digging out beneath the puncheon 
floor of her cabin a small cellar, and every night she lifted the 
timbers and placed her children on beds in this cellar, keeping a 
lonely vigil herself. Her fears were not groundless, her cabin 
being frequently surrounded by savages, and but for her careful 
provisions for protection, she and her little family no doubt 
would have been killed. Cincinnati became the headquarters 
of the army through the establishment of a garrison there 
known as Fort Washington. One of the first schools estab- 
lished in the Northwest Territory was that of young Francis 
Dunlevy who had served in many Indian campaigns, and came 
to Columbia, in 1792, and established his school. Hearing of 
Mrs. Carpenter's courage and sacrifices for her children, he 
sought her out and finding that none of them had been exag^ 
gerated he became a suitor for her hand, and they were married 
in January, 1793. Mr. Dunlevy became one of the most 
respected citizens of that section of the country, and was after- 
wards a member of the legislature of the Northwest Territory 
and the convention which formed the constitution of Ohio. He 
was also Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. Mrs. Dunlevy 
had two daughters by her first marriage and three sons and 
three daughters by her second, and after the death of her eldest 
child her health failed and she died in 1828, without any appar- 
ent cause but that of a broken heart. 



58 Part Taken by Women in American History 

RUTH SPARKS. 

Ruth Sparks, whose maiden name was Ruth Sevier, was 
the daughter of General John Sevier by his second wife, 
Catherine Sherrill. General Sevier commanded his troops 
through the Indian wars, and proved the greatest friend and 
protector of the settlement. General Sevier was most success- 
ful in his dealings with the Indians, and during the intervals 
of peace, the chiefs of the tribes were often seen at his house. 
Ruth always manifested the greatest interest in the Indian 
history and lives. At one time General Sevier had thirty 
Indian prisoners at his house, whom he fed and cared for at 
his own expense, and through this kindness the greatest friend- 
ship was shown him by the neighboring tribes, and Ruth 
learned from them the Cherokee language. The Indians always 
predicted that she would some day be a chief's wife, and strange 
as it may seem, this was really fulfilled. In the early settling 
of Kentucky, many bloody conflicts had taken place between 
the Indians and the white settlers, and during one of these a 
white child four years of age was captured by the Indians and 
taken to the Shawnee settlement on the Kentucky River. The 
old chief of the Shawnees had two sons about the age of this 
young white captive, whom he immediately adopted as a son, 
and he was reared with them, his name changed to Shawtunte. 
After his release from captivity, he was given the name of 
Richard Sparks. Here he lived until he had reached the age 
of sixteen, becoming almost an Indian in his habits and, of 
course, knew no other language, he having been taken when 
so young among them. In 1794 he was released and returned 
to Kentucky just before the victories of General Wayne over 
the Indians. On his return none of his relatives recognized 
him, and he was only recognized by his mother by a small 
mark on his body. Sparks sought the aid and protection of 



Women Pioneers 59 



General Sevier, who found his knowledge and experience of the 
Indians most valuable. General Sevier used his influence to 
procure for him a military appointment, and he was given 
a captain's commission. He performed very valuable service 
for General Wayne, and stood very high among all the officers. 
He met Ruth Sevier, and won her love and the ultimate con- 
sent of the Governor for her marriage to this untutored young 
man. She found him a very apt scholar, and he was soon able 
to pass the examination which enabled him to be promoted to 
the rank of colonel in the United States army, being ordered 
to Fort Pickering on the Mississippi, now the beautiful city of 
Memphis. This was one of the chain of forts established to 
maintain peace among the Chickesaw Indians. After the pur- 
chase of Louisiana, Colonel Sparks was moved to New Orleans. 
Mrs. Sparks proved a most valuable helpmeet and aid to her 
husband, performing the duties of his secretary, keeping his 
accounts, writing his letters, and making out his reports to 
the War Department. Owing to his early life among the 
Indians and General Sevier's well-known reputation of human- 
ity, both Colonel and Mrs. Sparks had a most beneficial influ- 
ence over the Indians of the lower Mississippi. Colonel Sparks' 
health failed, and he was at first allowed to return to Mrs. 
Sparks' old home, but they finally removed to Staunton, Vir- 
ginia, at which place he died in 1815. Mrs. Sparks married 
the second time a wealthy planter of Mississippi, and lived 
near Port Gibson in Mississippi. While on a visit in 1874 
to some friends in Maysville, Kentucky, she died. 

SARAH SHELBY. 

Was the daughter of Mrs. Bledsoe who was so famous among the settlers 
of the first settlements of Tennessee. Sarah was quite young when her parents 
moved from Virginia to eastern Tennessee. Miss Bledsoe married in 1784, David 
Shelby. Mrs. Shelby's husband was said to be the first merchant in Nashville, in 
1790. Mrs. Shelby suffered all the exposures and hardships incident to the life 
of the early settlers in Tennessee. 



6o Part Taken by Women in American History 



RUHAMA GREENE. 

Ruhama Greene was born in Jefferson County, Virginia, and married Charles 
Builderback and they were among the first settlers on the Ohio near Wheeling. 
In an attack made by the Indians, in 1789, on this settlement, Mrs. Builderback 
and her husband were taken prisoners. She remained a prisoner about nine 
months, being condemned to the hardest labor in working for the squaws and 
their brutal masters. She was finally released by the commandant at Fort Wash- 
ington, and restored to her family. After her husband's death, she married a 
Mr. John Greene, and removed to a settlement near Lancaster, where she resided 
at the time of her death in 1842. 



REBECCA ROUSE. 

Among the settlers to remove from New England, in 1788, 
to Ohio, we find the names of John Rouse and Jonathan Duvall. 
John Rouse's family consisted of a wife and eight children. Mrs. 
Duvall was the sister of Mrs. Rouse, and he was the "noble 
architect of the Mayflower," which conveyed the first detach- 
ment from Simrels Ferry, on the Yohoghany to the mouth of 
Muskingum and was among the first settlers to land on the 
7th of April, 1788, in the state of Ohio. The large covered 
wagons which the settlers used in those days for conveying 
their families across the country were called schooners and 
frequently received nautical names. Teams of oxen were 
frequently preferred to horses by these Nw England emigrants 
and pioneers, they being more familiar with their use and, too, 
they were less likely to be captured by the Indians, as, owing 
to the slowness of their gait they were not considered desirable 
possessions by these warrior inhabitants. Thus outfitted, this 
little band of emigrants made their way from New England 
through New York, Pennsylvania, and over the mountain 
ranges to Ohio. As they approached the mountains the rains 
of November had set in and their progress was filled with the 
greatest difficulties and hardships particularly to the women and 
children, who were obliged to walk most of the way over the 



Women Pioneers 6i 



rocky and steep ascent of the mountain roads. Near the last 
of November when they reached the point where the Monon- 
gahela and the Alleghany meet in the waters of the Ohio, they 
rested after their terrible struggles through the mountains. The 
old garrison Fort Pitt was then standing as a protection to the 
few hundred inhabitants. While their boats in which they had 
come down the Monongahela were moored the waters rose, and 
the men rushing to the rescue, the entire party was carried 
down the river to a point called Fort Mackintosh at the mouth 
of the Beaver and to the new settlement at Muskingum. Here 
they embarked for a place known as Buffalo, to which point 
some of their friends from the East had preceded them. The 
following spring a company was formed and a settlement 
established on the Ohio River called Belpre, and here Captain 
Duvall, Mr. Rouse, and several other settlers, joined by many 
from New England, moved their families. In 1790, Bathsheba 
Rouse opened a school for boys and girls at Belpre, which is 
believed to be the first school for white children in the state of 
Ohio. Bathsheba Rouse married Richard Greene, the son of 
Griffin Greene, one of the Ohio Company's agents. Cynthia 
Rouse became the wife of Hon. Paul Fearing, the first delegate 
to Congress from the Northwest Territory and for many years 
a judge of the court. Levi Barber, a receiver of public moneys 
and a member of Congress for two sessions, was the husband 
of Elizabeth Rouse. These early settlers were the founders of 
the state of Ohio. Many of these settlers of the Northwest 
Territory were men in the prime of life who had exhausted their 
fortunes in the War of Independence, and being left in the most 
impoverished condition, had chosen to seek their fortunes in 
the new country west of the Alleghanies. Many of the young 
men were the descendants of the Revolutionary patriots who had 
given their lives for their country. The Moravian school at 
Bethlehem at this time enjoyed quite a reputation. We find 



62 Part Taken by Women in American History 

among these early settlers one Colonel Ebenezer Sproat who 
had been a distinguished officer of the Revolution. His 
daughter, Sarah W. Sproat, was born in Providence, Rhode 
Island, on the 28th of January, 1782. Her grandfather was 
Commodore Abram Whipple, also a distinguished hero of that 
war, who impoverished himself for his country in fitting out ves- 
sels and men for its service. His son-in-law and he, finding 
their necessities great, joined the emigrants to the new settle- 
ment near Marietta. When but ten years of age, Miss Sproat 
was sent to Bethlehem school, and after three years to Phila- 
delphia to complete her education. In 1797, her father went to 
Philadelphia to bring her home and brought with them a piano, 
the first taken west of the Alleghany Mountains. After the 
establishment of the Northwest Territory, they had what was 
called a general court, which met alternately at Cincinnati, 
Detroit, and Marietta. Among the young lawyers practicing 
before this court was one Mr. Sibley who had come from 
Massachusetts to Ohio in 1787, and resided at that time in 
Detroit. While attending one of the sessions of this court, he 
met Miss Sproat. Their friendship ripening into love, they 
were married in October, 1802. At that time the route from 
Marietta to Detroit was by way of the Ohio River to Pittsburgh, 
thence to Erie and across the lake to Detroit. This city was 
largely settled by Southerners and many French who were the 
descendants of noble families in France, making at that time a 
society of much refinement and polish. Colonel Sproat was one 
of the most distinguished men of that section of the country, 
and the family have in their possession a miniature of him 
painted by Kosciuszko, the distinguished Pole and himself 
having been intimate friends in the Revolution. In February, 
1805, Colonel Sproat died, and in June of that year the city of 
Detroit was entirely destroyed by fire. Mrs. Sibley had been 
spending the winter with her father and mother, owing to his 



Women Pioneers 63 



failing health. Colonel Sibley fitted up as soon as possible a 
very large old house which was then situated some distance 
from the town, now the very center of the city opposite the 
Biddle house, and here they made their home for many years. 
At the time of the war of 18 12, Mrs. Sibley bore herself with 
great courage and rendered great assistance, making cartridges 
and scraping lint for the wounded. At the time of the news of 
the surrender the humiliation felt by these courageous women 
was shown by an incident of which Mrs. Dyson, a cousin of 
Mrs. Sibley, was the heroine. As the American soldiers 
marched out of the fort, Mrs. Dyson took all the clothing and 
belongings, tied them up in a bundle, and threw them out of 
the window, declaring that the British should not have them. 
Mrs. Sibley applied to General Proctor after the surrender for 
permission to go to her family in Ohio, and this was finally 
granted her, and in the spring when Detroit was again given 
up to the Americans, she returned to her home. On the death 
of her grandparents, Commodore and Mrs. Whipple, in 1819, 
Mrs. Sproat was left entirely alone, so Mrs. Sibley made the 
journey to Marietta most of the way on horseback to remove 
her mother to Detroit, where she remained until her death in 
1832. Mrs. Sibley's husband, Solomon Sibley, was one of the 
judges of the Supreme Court of the early territory of Michigan, 
and on his removal to Detroit he was made one of the first 
members of the territorial legislature. He was also United 
States commissioner and helped General Cass to negotiate the 
treaty with the Indians in which they surrendered a large 
portion of the peninsula of Michigan. He was a delegate from 
the territory of Michigan in Congress, District Attorney of the 
United States, and Judge of the Supreme Court of Michigan. 
He died on April 4, 1846, one of the most highly respected 
citizens of Detroit. 



64 Part Taken by Women in American History 

ANN BAILEY. 

The Scioto Company early in 1786 sent out a prospectus 
of their lands in the Northwest Territory. A glowing account 
was given of the opportunities for settlers, and an office for the 
sale of these lands was opened in Paris, France. Many of the 
French families had been driven out of their native country by 
the Revolution and this seemed to offer them an opportunity of 
regaining their fortune. Some five or six hundred emigrants 
including men of all professions who had purchased lands 
through the agent in Paris, sailed in February, 1790, from 
Havre de Grace for Alexandria, Virginia. Here they were 
received with a warm welcome, but soon discovered that the 
company had failed in their requirements by the United States 
Government, and that the lands had reverted to the Treasury 
Board and had been sold in 1787 pursuant to an act of Congress 
passed the July preceding. Realizing their situation, a meeting 
was called and a committee appointed to go to New York and 
demand indemnification from the acting agents of the Scioto 
Company, and another committee was appointed to appeal 
personally to General Washington to right their wrongs. 
Finally an agreement was reached that other lands should be 
secured to them and that the site of Gallipolis should be 
surveyed and parcelled out in lots, houses erected, and wagons 
and supplies furnished to convey the colonists to Ohio. But 
many had lost their faith in the company, and they removed to 
New York, Philadelphia, and elsewhere. The few who still 
held on to the hope of obtaining some foothold in the new 
country set out as soon as the wagons and necessary supplies 
could be secured, reaching their destination in October, 1790. 
Here they found cabins erected, block houses for the protection 
against an attack, and many other things for their comfort. 
They set to work at once clearing the land, and in 1791 a party 




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Women Pioneers 65 



started out to explore the country adjoining and they hoped 
that on their return the Scioto Company would put them in 
possession of the lands which they had purchased, but being 
convinced of the hopelessness of this, they petitioned Congress 
for an appropriation of land, which resulted in twenty thousand 
acres being turned over to be equally divided among the French 
emigrants living at Gallipolis at a certain time under condition 
of their remaining there a certain number of years. Other 
grants were afterwards given to these colonists in Kentucky. 
In the history of this settlement we find the account of a most 
remarkable woman who received from the settlers the name of 
"Mad Ann." Her maiden name was Hennis. She was born 
at Liverpool, and married a man by the name of Richard 
Trotter. Richard Trotter volunteered as one of the men under 
General Lewis, who went out at the order of Lord Dunmore, 
the Governor of Virginia, in 1774, against the Indian towns on 
the Scioto, and while waiting for news from the commander- 
in-chief at Point Pleasant an engagement between the Indians 
and these troops took place in which the Virginians suffered 
great loss. Among those engaged in this battle were the well- 
known names of Shelby, Sevier, and James Robertson, spoken 
of in former accounts. Trotter was killed in this battle. From 
the time of the news of her husband's death, Ann Bailey seemed 
possessed of a wild spirit of revenge. She abandoned 
all female employment and even gave up female attire, 
clad herself in hunting shirt, moccasins, wore a knife and 
tomahawk, and carried a gun. Notwithstanding her strange 
conduct and the assumption of manly habits, she made a second 
alliance. She went with a body of soldiers which were to form 
a garrison at a fort on the great Kanawha where Charlestown 
is now located, and we find in many of the historical sketches 
she is spoken of as handling firearms with such expertness that 
she frequently carried off the prize. She became a trusted 



66 Part Taken by Women in American History 

messenger, taking long journeys on horseback entirely alone. 
One incident is told of how, when information of a sup- 
posed attack on a fort at Charlestown was threatened, and 
the commandant found it necessary to send to Camp Union near 
Lewisburg for supplies, as they were without ammunition, Ann 
Bailey offered to make this journey of one hundred miles 
through a trackless forest alone. Her offer was accepted and 
she reached Camp Union in safety, delivered her orders and 
returned as she had come, alone, laden with the ammunition. It 
is said that the commandant stated that the fort would not have 
been saved except for this act of heroism on the part of Mrs. 
Bailey, which hardly has a parallel. The services she rendered 
during the war endeared her to the people who overlooked her 
eccentricities and were ever ready to extend to her every 
kindness which their gratitude suggested. When her son settled 
in Gallipolis, she came with him and spent the remainder of her 
life wandering about the country, fishing and hunting. Her 
death took place in 1825. 

Among the incidents of the early settlement of Kentucky 
none is more significant than the Rustic Parliament, 
which convened at Boonesborough, May 24, 1775. With- 
out any warrant other than a common desire and reverence 
for justice, seventeen delegates convened. They were five hun- 
dred miles from any organized society or civil government. 
Nominally within the jurisdiction of Virginia, nominally sub- 
jects of the British crown, without knowledge of the battles of 
Lexington and Concord or even the Declaration of Independ- 
ence, coming into the wilderness without a charter, they pro- 
ceeded to the enactment of laws for the establishment of the 
courts of justice for their common defense, for the collection of 
debts, for the punishment of crime, for the restraint of vice. 
Having no early education, knowing only the meaning of the 
word "duty," they proceeded to express it in the laws made. 



Women Pioneers 67 



The names of these worthy delegates were: Squire Boone, 
Daniel Boone, Samuel Henderson, William Moore, Richard 
Callaway, Thomas Slaughter, John Lythe, Valentine Harmon, 
James Harrod, Nathan Hammond, Isaac Hite, Azariah David, 
John Todd, Alexander Spotswood Dandridge, John Floyd, and 
Samuel Wood. 

REBECCA BRYANT BOONE. 

The wife of Daniel Boone, born about 1755 in the Yadkin settlement of 
western North Carolina, and her daughter Jemima, are supposed to be the first 
white women residents of Kentucky. In 1773, in company with her husband, she 
set out for their new home. It is believed that no women suffered more hard- 
ships or showed more heroism than these two white women, the first to enter 
Kentucky. This little band was attacked by Indians in the mountains, and six 
men of the party were killed, among them her eldest son. They took up their 
home in the Valley of the Clinch River, where they lived until 1775. Daniel 
Boone had undertaken a surveying trip for the Government extending from tide- 
water to the Falls of the Ohio, a distance of about eight hundred miles. After 
attending the Rustic Parliament, he returned to Clinch River and brought his 
family back to Boonesborough. In February, 1778, Daniel Boone was captured 
by the Indians while out trying to secure a supply of salt. He was carried north 
of the Ohio River, and all tidings of him to his family ceased. His wife, of course, 
supposed he had been killed, and taking her children, she returned to Yadkin, 
North Carolina. In 1778, Boone escaped and returned to Boonesborough, joining 
his family the following autumn and bringing them into Kentucky in 1780. In 
1782 another son was killed in a massacre by the Indians. Mrs. Boone died in 
1813, leaving a record of heroism unequalled by any woman of that time, living 
as she had, much of her time alone and constantly surrounded by savages, her 
life and that of her children in constant peril. Kentucky has shown its appreciation 
of this heroism and her part in the early history of the state by the legislature 
passing a resolution to bring her remains and those of her husband back to the 
state and burying them with honor at Frankfort. 

KETURAH LEITCH TAYLOR. 

Keturah Leitch Taylor, formerly Keturah Moss, was born September 11, 
1773, in Goochland County, Virginia. She was the daughter of Major Hugh 
Moss of the Revolutionary Army. Her father having died in 1784, she, with 
two sisters, was brought to Kentucky by her uncle, Rev. Augustine Eastin, their 
mother having married again. While en route to Kentucky, the train of settlers 
of which they were a part, was attacked by Indians, and many were killed. This 
was witnessed by Keturah Moss, then only a child of fifteen years. Her early 
experiences and her courage make her one of the cherished memories of Ken- 
tucky, and her descendants are among the well-known names of that state. 



68 Part Taken by Women in American History 



SUSANNA HART SHELBY. 

Susanna Hart was born in Caswell County, North Carolina, February 18, 
1761, and died at Traveler's Rest, Lincoln County, Kentucky, June 19, 1833, aged 
seventy-two years. She was the daughter of Captain Nathan Hart and Sarah 
Simpson. The Harts were very wealthy people for those early times. His brother 
Thomas was the father of Mrs. Henry Clay. The three Harts, Nathan, David and 
Thomas, formed a company known as Henderson and Company, proprietors of the 
"Colony of Transylvania in America." This was a purchase from the Indians, 
and consisted of almost the entire state of Kentucky, but the legislature of Vir- 
ginia made this transaction null and void, and gave them two hundred thousand 
acres of land, for which they paid ten thousand pounds sterling, for the important 
service they had rendered in opening the country. This is the company which 
first sent Daniel Boone to Kentucky; and he was the pioneer who opened up this 
country for them. In April, 1784, Sarah Hart was married to Colonel Isaac 
Shelby, who was afterwards the first governor of the state. He had seen dis- 
tinguished service in the Revolutionary War, remaining with the army until 
after the capture of Cornwallis. While on a visit to Kentucky, in 1782, in the 
fort at Boonesborough, he met Susanna Hart, whose father had just a short time 
previous been killed by the Indians, leaving her an orphan. Their marriage took 
place in the stockade fort at Boonesborough. The hardships and bravery which 
these people showed and endured in the early settling in this part of the country, 
then a wilderness filled with savages, can hardly be appreciated by the present 
generation. Fitting tribute to such women should not be neglected, as they went 
as pioneers blazing the trail of civilization, spreading Christianity, which brought 
these sections into states, and made life in them possible and peaceful. Susanna 
Hart was the helpmeet of her husband, and in all the duties which devolved upon 
the wife and mother of those days — the spinning of the flax, the making of cloth- 
ing, the entire labor of the home — were to her always a pleasant occupation. 
She was spoken of as a woman of most pleasing face, quiet and dignified presence, 
possessing the rare combination of extreme energy and great repose. She seemed 
a woman who could perform and endure, kind and helpful, a woman who retained 
to the last that gentle disposition and sweet nature which inspired confidence, 
of an even temperament, who retained to the last her beauty, and transmitted her 
charms to her descendants. She was the mother of ten children. Her life left 
her name one which Kentucky holds dear. 

MARY HOPKINS CABELL BRECKENRIDGE. 

Was born in February, 1768, and died at Lexington. Kentucky, in 1858, aged 
ninety years. Her husband, Hon. John Breckenridge, was one of the noted men 
of Kentucky, and was appointed Attorney-General of the United States at one 
time. She is spoken of as a woman of great courage and remarkable character, 
and was the "founding mother" of a worthy and distinguished family. One of 
her daughters, Mary, married General David Castleman. of Kentucky, and Letitia 



Women Pioneers 69 



Preston married General P. B. Porter, of Niagara Falls. One of her descendants 
was General Peter A. Porter, who fell in the assault on Coal Harbor. A grand- 
daughter, Margaret E. Breckenridge, the daughter of Dr. John Breckenridge, was 
known during the Civil War as the "angel of the hospitals." It is reported she 
once said, "Shall men die by thousands for their country and no woman risk 
her life?" 

HENRIETTA HUNT MORGAN. 

Daughter of Colonel John W. Hunt, and sister of Honorable Francis Keys 
Hunt, of Kentucky, was born in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1805, and died November 
15, 1891. She married Governor Calvin C. Morgan, and was the mother of two 
of Kentucky's famous men, Colonel Calvin M. Morgan and General John Morgan. 
She had three other sons and two daughters, one of whom was the wife of Gen- 
eral Basil W. Duke, and the other of General A. P. Hill. 

SUSAN LUCY BARRY TAYLOR. 

Was born in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1807, and died at the old family 
mansion at Newport, Kentucky, December 8, 1881. She was among the first 
women who, even at the tender age of fifteen, made an appeal in one of her essays 
at school for the higher education of women. Her children were more or less 
famous in their own state. 

MARY YELLOTT JOHNSTON. 

Formerly Mary Yellott Dashiell, was born September 13, 1806, and was a 
great-niece of the distinguished Governor Winder, of Maryland. She was con- 
nected with several of our most distinguished families, the Dashiells, Handys, 
Harrisons, Hancocks, Bayards, Randolphs, Warder and Percys. 

MARGARET WICKLIFFE PRESTON. 

Margaret Wickliffe Preston one of the first "granddames" of the olden 
times, was born in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1819, and was the daughter of Robert 
Wickliffe, who gave his daughter every advantage which wealth, social position, 
and education could bring to her. Her husband was appointed minister to Spain, 
in 1858, and there she made a most favorable impression, by her culture, refine- 
ment, and grace of manner. Her conversational powers were always remarkable, 
and she was usually the center of attraction wherever she appeared. Her daughter 
married General Draper, of Massachusetts, who served in Congress and then as 
our minister to Italy, and Mrs. Draper's home in Washington is one of the social 
centers of to-day. 

MARY BLEDSOE. 

One of the earliest pioneers of the colonial history of 
Kentucky. In 1758, Colonel Burd, of the British Army, 



jo Part Taken by Women in American History 

established Fort Chissel, in Wythe County, Virginia, to 
protect the frontiers, and advancing into what is now Sullivan 
County, Tennessee, built a fort near Long Island on the 
Holston. There was not then a single white man living in the 
borders of Tennessee. At irregular intervals from 1765 to 
1769, pioneer parties came from Virginia and North Carolina, 
forming settlements and stations. The country was one vast 
wilderness, its only inhabitants being buffaloes and all kinds of 
wild game, with the savage Indians making frequent raids, but 
the newcomers were not daunted by the situation, and here 
erected cabins, and constructed stockade forts against the 
attacks by the Indians. In 1769, at Fort Chissel, we find two 
Bledsoe brothers, Englishmen by birth. They soon pushed 
farther on into the valley of the Holston. This portion of the 
county, now Sullivan County, was supposed to be, at that time, 
within the limits of Virginia. The Bledsoes with the Shelbys 
settled themselves here in this mountainous region. They 
suffered the severest privation and the greatest hardships in 
exploring the regions and establishing their little homes. 
During the first year not more than fifty families crossed the 
mountains, but others afterward came until the little settlement 
swelled to hundreds, and during the Revolutionary struggle, 
that region became the refuge of many patriots, driven by 
British invasion from Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia, 
some of their best families seeking homes there. Colonel 
Anthony Burd, an excellent surveyor, was appointed clerk to 
the commissioners who ran the line dividing Virginia and North 
Carolina. In June, 1776, he was chosen to command the militia 
of the county to repel the invasions and attacks of the savages 
and defend the frontier. The battle of Long Island, fought a 
few miles below Bledsoe Station, was one of the earliest and 
hardest fought battles in the history of Tennessee in those 
times. In 1779, Sullivan County was recognized as a part of 



Women Pioneers 71 



North Carolina, and Anthony Bledsoe was appointed Colonel, 
and Isaac Shelby Lieutenant-Colonel of its military forces. 
Colonel Isaac Shelby, of whom we have spoken heretofore as 
the surveyor employed by the Henderson-Hart Company, and 
who was betrothed to Miss Susan Hart, a celebrated belle of 
Kentucky, was the Lieutenant-Colonel chosen to aid Bledsoe in 
these military operations. Colonel Ferguson of the British 
army was at that time giving the settlement great trouble, 
sweeping the country near the frontier, gathering in all the 
loyalists under his standard. When the troops went out against 
the British under Colonel Ferguson, it was necessary that one 
of the colonial officers remain behind to protect the inhabitants 
against the Indians, and as Shelby had no family, he was chosen 
to lead the forces, and Bledsoe to remain and protect the people 
against the Indians. | Shelby took command of the gallant 
mountaineers, and gave battle at King's Mountain, on the 7th 
of October, 1780, considered one of the greatest victories of the 
frontier army. | Colonel Bledsoe, with his brother and kinsman, 
was almost incessantly engaged with the Indians in his labori- 
ous efforts to subdue the forests and convert the wilds into 
fields of plenty. Mary Bledsoe, the Colonel's wife, was a 
remarkable woman, filled with knowledge and noted for inde- 
pendence of thought and action, of remarkable courage and 
never hesitating to expose herself to the greatest dangers. At 
the close of 1779, Colonel Bledsoe and his brothers crossed the 
Cumberland mountains and were so delighted with the beautiful 
country and the delightful climate that, on their return, they 
induced their friends and neighbors, of east Tennessee, to seek 
new homes in the Cumberland Valley. Although Colonel Bled- 
soe did not remove his own family there for three years, he was 
the originator of the first expedition which established the first 
colony in that part of the country. The labors of Colonel Bled- 
soe and his brother were indefatigable in protecting this little 



72 Part Taken by Women in American History 

colony, and Mrs. Bledsoe was always a constant and able 
assistant to her husband. On the night of the 20th of July, 
1788, their home was attacked by Indians, and Colonel Anthony 
Bledsoe was killed. This sad loss was followed by the death 
of both of her sons at the hands of the Indians, her brother-in- 
law, a cousin, as well as many friends and earnest supporters 
of her husband in his work. Bereft of every male relative, 
almost, and her devoted friends, Mrs. Bledsoe was obliged 
to undertake the care and education of her little family and the 
charge of her husband's estate. Her mind was one of almost 
masculine strength, and she discharged these duties with 
remarkable ability. Her death came in 1808, but her life of 
privation, hardship, and Christian courage has placed her 
among the pioneer mothers and distinguished women of 
America. 

CATHERINE SEVIER. 

Among the pioneers from the banks of the Yadkin in North 
Carolina who crossed the mountains to seek new homes in the 
valley of the Holston, was Samuel Sherrill with his family 
consisting of several sons and two daughters. One of these 
daughters, Susan, married Colonel Taylor ; the other, Catherine 
became the second wife of General Sevier. With the family of 
Sherrill came that of Jacob Brown, from North Carolina. 
These two families were intimately associated, and intermarried 
later. Colonel Sherrill took an active part with the Bledsoes 
against the Cherokee Indians, in 1776. In the attack on the 
fort, one of the men seeking shelter was killed. A story is told 
of Miss Sherrill, who was distinguished for her nerve and 
fleetness of foot. When scrambling over the stockade in her 
effort to gain an entrance to the fort, she found she was being 
assisted by some one on the other side. The savages were 
gaining so rapidly and were then so close upon her that she 



Women Pioneers 73 



decided she must leap the wall or die. In leaping over, she fell 
into the hands of her rescuer, Captain John Sevier. This was 
their introduction. At this time Captain Sevier was a married 
man, his wife and younger children not having arrived from 
Virginia. In 1779, his wife died, leaving him ten children, and 
in 1780, he and Miss Sherrill were married. Not long after 
their marriage, Colonel Sevier was called to the duty of raising 
troops to meet the invasion of the interior of North Carolina by 
the British, and Colonel Sevier took part in the battle of King's 
Mountain. His brother was killed in this engagement, and one 
son severely wounded. The second Mrs. Sevier was the mother 
of eight children — three sons, and five daughters — making a 
family of eighteen children, to all of whom Mrs. Sevier was 
equally devoted. The life of her husband was one of incessant 
action, adventure, and contest, and the history of the Indian 
wars of east Tennessee and of the settlement of the country, 
and the organization of the state government, furnish a record 
of the deeds of his life. Mrs. Sevier's influence was widespread 
and evenly exerted, and was resultant of good even among the 
captive Indian prisoners. The Tories gave Colonel Sevier more 
personal trouble than even the Indians, as they endeavored to 
confiscate his property, and Mrs. Sevier was frequently obliged 
to hide her stock of household articles to protect her family 
against suffering. She is pictured as tall in stature, stately, 
with piercing blue eyes, raven locks, and firm mouth, of most 
commanding presence, inspiring respect and admiration. She 
devoted her entire life to her husband's advancement and career, 
and the care of her children. Her trust in God and the power 
of her husband made her decline on all occasions the protection 
of the nearest fort, and once when urged "to fort," as it was 
then called, she said: "I would as soon die by the tomahawk 
and the scalping knife as by famine. I put my trust in that 
Power who rules the armies of heaven and among the men on 



74 Part Taken by Women in American History 

the earth. I know my husband has an eye and an arm for the 
Indians and the Tories who would harm us, and though he is 
gone often, and for a week at a time, he comes home when I 
least expect him and always covered with laurels. If God 
protects him whom duty calls into danger, so will He those who 
trust in Him and stand at their post. He would stay out if his 
family forted." This was the spirit of Catherine Sevier. At 
one time when attacked by the Tories, who demanded her 
husband's whereabouts in order to hang him to the highest tree 
in front of his own house, she replied to the man who stood over 
her with a drawn pistol: "Shoot! shoot! I am not afraid to 
die, but remember that while there is a Sevier on the earth my 
blood will not be unavenged." He did not shoot, and the leader 
of the band said: "Such a woman is too brave to die." And 
again when they came to rob her smokehouse and carry off all 
the meat put aside for her family, she took down the gun which 
her husband always left her in good order, and said : "The one 
who takes down a piece of meat is a dead man." Her appear- 
ance and manner were so unmistakable that she was left 
unmolested. She was distinguished for her kindness and 
liberality to the poor; always gentle and loving, but firm and 
determined when occasion demanded. The mere motion of her 
hand was enough for her family and servants to understand 
that her decision was invincible. Her husband was called upon 
to serve as the Governor of Tennessee and to a seat in the 
Congress of the United States. These honors were a great 
gratification and happiness to her, whose belief and trust in the 
ability and greatness of her husband never diminished one jot 
or tittle during his entire life. After his death, in 1815, Mrs. 
Sevier removed to middle Tennessee, and made her home in a 
most romantic spot on the side of one of the isolated mountains, 
and here she resided for years alone save for the attendance of 
two faithful darky servants. The last few years of her life were 



Women Pioneers 75 



spent with her son in Alabama, and there she died on the 2nd 
of October, 1836, aged eighty- two years. 

ANNA INNIS. 

Mrs. Anna Innis was the widow of Hon. Henry Innis, and the mother of 
Mrs. John J. Crittenton. She died at Frankfort, Kentucky, May 12, 1851. Her 
early days, like those of most of the women of her time, were spent in the wilder- 
ness but in the society of such men as Clarke, Wayne, Shelby, Scott, Boone, Hender- 
son, Logan, Harte, Nicolas, Murray, Allen, Breckenridge and the heroic spirits 
of the West 

SARAH RICHARDSON. 

Another of Kentucky's eminent daughters, who was the mother of General 
Leslie Combs, was connected with some of the best families of the early days, 
and came of good Quaker stock from Maryland. The residence of Mrs. Combs 
was near Boonesborough. She endured hardships that the women of those times 
and localities were called upon to endure with much courage. 

CHARLOTTE ROBERTSON. 

Was the wife of James Robertson, one of the settlers on the Holston 
River, friend and companion of General Bledsoe. Charlotte Reeves was the second 
daughter of George Reeves and Mary Jordon, and was born in Northampton County, 
North Carolina, in January, 175 1. Her husband was one of the pioneers who went 
with Bledsoe to explore the Hudson Valley, and in February, 1780, Mrs. Robertson 
joined her husband in the new country. This little party consisted of herself 
and four small children, her brother, William Reeves, Charles Robertson, her 
husband's brother, her sister-in-law, three little nieces, two white men servants, 
and a negro woman and child. They were conveyed in two small, frail, flat boats. 
Captain James Robertson commanded the party traveling by land, driving the 
cattle and bringing the few belongings of this little expedition. The perils which 
they encountered and the difficulties which beset them, traveling through an unex- 
plored country, were beyond anything we of the present day can appreciate. When 
the little band of travelers reached the Ohio River, the ice was just breaking up, 
the water rising, and everything so discouraging and dangerous to the small boats, 
that many became so disheartened they bade adieu to their companions, and sought 
homes in Natchez. The others, led by Mrs. Robertson, and the only two men of 
the party living, her brother and brother-in-law, lashed the boats together, and 
Mrs. Johnson, the widowed sister of Captain Robertson, undertook to serve as 
pilot and manage the steering oar, while Mrs. Robertson and Hagar, the colored 
servant, worked at the side oars alternately with Reeves and Robertson. By this 
slow and most laborious process they made their way up the Ohio to the mouth 
of the Cumberland, and finally reached their destination, landing in April at what 
is now the site of Nashville. For years after their removal to this new country, 



76 Part Taken by Women in American History 

they suffered great privations, and were compelled to live most of the time within 
the shelter of forts, subjected constantly to attacks by the Indians. Two of Mrs. 
Robertson's sons were killed, and at one time she suffered the horrible experience 
of seeing brought from the woods the headless body of one of her beloved sons. 
It is difficult for us to appreciate the nerve-racking danger which these poor settlers 
endured, when we read that if one went to the spring for a bucket of water, another 
must stand watch with his ready gun to protect the first from the creeping stealthy 
Indian hidden in the thicket ready to take off these settlers one by one. How 
they ever tilled their fields, or raised their crops under such conditions, is little 
less than a miracle, and what the life of these poor women must have been, when 
they could not carry on the common duties of domestic life without seeing the 
stealthy enemy lurking in the bush, is beyond our conception. In 1794, Mrs. 
Robertson went on horseback into South Carolina, accompanied by her eldest son 
to bring out her aged parents who had removed to that state with some of their 
children. Both lived beyond the eightieth year of their lives in peace and comfort 
in the home of this devoted daughter. Mrs. Robertson was the mother of eleven 
children, and lived to an advanced age notwithstanding these experiences, which 
one might think would have shortened her days. Her manners were always modest 
and unassuming. She was gentle, kind, affectionate, open-hearted and benevolent, 
of industrious habits and quiet self-denial, an example to all who knew her, and 
retained her faculties to the close of her life which occurred in her ninety-third 
year, on June II, 1843, at Nashville, Tennessee. General Robertson's death occurred 
in 1814. 

JANE BROWN. 

Jane Gillespie was born in Pennsylvania about the year 
1740. Her father was one of the pioneers of North Carolina. 
Her early life was spent in the county of Guilford, and two of 
her brothers, Colonel and Major Gillespie, were noted Revolu- 
tionary officers. About the year 1761, Miss Gillespie became 
the wife of James Brown, a native of Ireland, whose family had 
settled in Guilford. At the breaking out of the Revolutionary 
War, her husband gave his services to his country, leaving his 
wife with a small family of children. During the retreat of 
General Greene, in 1781, on the Dan and Deep Rivers, Brown 
acted as pilot and guide for Colonels Lee and Washington, and 
through his knowledge of the country, contributed not a little 
to the successful retreat of the American army, by which they 
were enabled to elude and break the spirit of the army of 



Women Pioneers yy 



Cornwallis. For his services, he received from the state of 
North Carolina land warrants which entitled him to locate large 
quantities of land in the wilderness of the mountains. His 
neighbors made him sheriff of the county, and he was rapidly 
rising in the esteem of his people. Notwithstanding the fact 
that his future seemed opening up to brighter and higher things, 
he realized that he could do more for his family by tearing 
himself away from these prospects, and he set out on his journey 
to explore the valley of the Cumberland, taking with him his 
two eldest sons, William and John, and a few friends. He 
secured land on the Cumberland River below Nashville. In the 
winter of 1787, he had returned to Guilford to bring his family 
into this country. At that time there were two routes to the 
Cumberland Valley — one down the Tennessee River, and one, 
the land route, a long and tedious one through the Cumberland 
gap across the head waters of the Cumberland, Greene, and 
Barren Rivers. The one down the river was much better when 
accompanied by women and children, and permitted the trans- 
portation of goods, but along the banks of the Tennessee there 
were many villages of the Cherokee and Chickasaw Indians, 
with marauding parties of Creeks and Shawnees. Having 
built a boat in the style of a common flat boat very much like 
the model of Noah's Ark except that it was open at the top, he 
entered upon this fearful voyage about the 1st of May, 1788, 
having on board a large amount of goods, suitable for traffic 
among the Indians, and his little family and friends. The party 
consisted of Brown, two sons, three hired men, a negro man 
(seven men in all), Mrs. Brown, three small sons, four small 
daughters, an aged woman, and two or three negro women, the 
property of Brown. Brown had mounted a small cannon on the 
prow of this boat, and I dare say this was the first man-of-war 
that ever floated down the Tennessee River. They encoun- 
tered no trouble until they reached the present site of Chat- 



78 Part Taken by Women in American History 

tanooga. Here a party of Indians appeared in canoes, led by a 
white man by the name of John Vaughn. After pretending to 
be friendly, and thus gaining admission to his boat through the 
assurance of this man Vaughn that their intentions were of a 
thoroughly friendly character, they soon began to throw over 
his goods into the canoes, break open his chest of treasure, and 
when Brown attempted to prevent this, he was struck down by 
an Indian, his head almost severed from his body. They were 
all taken ashore as captives, Vaughn insisting that these 
marauders would be punished when the chief arrived. Mrs. 
Brown, her son George, ten years old, and three small daughters 
were taken possession of by a party of Creek braves, while the 
Cherokees were deliberating on the fate of the other prisoners. 
In one short hour, this poor woman was deprived of husband, 
sons, friends, and liberty, and began her sad journey on foot 
along the rugged, flinty trails that led to the Creek towns on 
the Tallapoosa River. At this time there lived a man named 
Thomas Turnbridge, a French trader married to a woman who 
had been taken prisoner near Mobile and raised by the Indians. 
She had married an Indian brave and had a son twenty-two 
years old. This son desired to present to his mother some 
bright-eyed boy as a slave, for according to the savage code of 
the times, each captive became a slave to his captor. This 
woman's son was one of the marauding party who had seized 
Brown's boat, and from the first knew the fate of the party. 
He tried to induce little Joseph Brown to go with him, but the 
boy would not ; but when the boat landed, he took Joseph to his 
stepfather Turnbridge, who in good English told the boy he 
lived near and asked him to spend the night with him. This the 
poor little frightened fellow consented to do, and while on his 
way out, he heard the rifles of these savage beasts who were 
murdering his brothers and friends. Later they came to the 
Turnbridge house, demanding that the boy be relinquished, and 



Women Pioneers 79 



when about to surrender him to the fate of his brothers, the old 
woman, the wife of Turnbridge, begged for his life, and he 
was saved only later to be scalped. All of his head was shaved 
and a bunch of feathers tied to the only remaining lock of hair, 
his ears pierced with rings, his clothes taken off, and he was 
supposed to be made one of their tribe. His sisters were 
brought back by a party of Cherokees, and here they were 
adopted into different families in this same town with Joseph. 
From them he learned the fate of his mother, his brother 
George, and sister Elizabeth. War was now going on between 
the Indians and the people of Cumberland and east Tennessee. 
Two thousand warriors, principally Cherokees, were laying 
waste everything before them in east Tennessee. They had 
stormed Fort Gillespie, torturing men, women and children, and 
carrying off Mrs. Glass, the sister of Captain Gillespie. In the 
spring of 1789, an exchange of prisoners was agreed upon, and 
a talk held with General Sevier, in which it was stipulated that 
the Cherokees should surrender all white persons within their 
borders. When this occurred, young Brown was out on a 
trading trip, and did not return until all the prisoners had gone 
up to Running Water. On his return, he was sent also to 
Running Water, but his little sister would not leave her Indian 
mother, who had treated her kindly, but Brown finally took her 
forcibly with him. His eldest sister was claimed by a trader, 
who said he had bought her with his money. Joseph being 
unable to redeem her, was obliged to leave her behind. At the 
conference with the Indians, Brown refused to be exchanged 
unless his sister was brought in by the Indians, the old chief 
sent for the girl, and she was brought to Running Water, where 
on the 1st of May, 1789, young Brown and his sisters were once 
more restored to liberty. Having nothing and being entirely 
alone, these three young people were sent to relatives in South 
Carolina until their mother should be released from captivity 



80 Part Taken by Women in American History 

from the Creeks. Mrs. Brown's experiences were full of horror 
and agony, a prisoner with a knowledge of her three children 
captives among the savages, not knowing what their fate was 
to be. She was driven forward on foot many days and nights 
over these terrible roads and through this wild country, arriving 
at the town of her captors to find herself their slave doomed to 
work for a savage mistress, and, to add to her distress, her 
little son and daughter were taken to different towns and she 
was left alone. At this time Alexander McGillivray, a half- 
breed Creek of Scotch descent, was chief of the Muscogee 
Indians, and assumed the title of commander-in-chief of the 
upper and lower Creeks and the Seminoles, being also the recog- 
nized military leader and civil governor of all the Indians of 
Florida, Alabama and lower Georgia. He combined the 
shrewdness of the savage with the learning of the civilized man. 
Mrs. Brown fortunately was taken to a town in which lived the 
sister of McGillivray, who was the wife of a French trader by 
the name of Durant. She pitied Mrs. Brown, and told her her 
brother, the chief of the Creeks, did not approve of his people 
making slaves of white women, and advised Mrs. Brown to go 
to him. She offered her a horse and saddle, but told her that she 
must take them herself. Mrs. Brown being ignorant of the 
country, an aged Indian was chosen to act as her guide. At an 
appointed hour, Mrs. Brown mounted her friend's horse, and 
started in pursuit of her Indian guide, whose demeanor was 
that of entire ignorance of her existence. As Mrs. Durant had 
told Mrs. Brown, her brother showed the kindest interest in her 
story and offered her every protection under his roof. In a few 
days her savage master appeared and demanded her return. 
Colonel McGillivray informed him she was in his house and he 
would protect her. He threatened to kill Mrs. Brown, but 
McGillivray persuaded him that a dead woman could do no 
work, and finally offered a rifle, powder and lead, some beads 



Women Pioneers 8i 



and paint for his wife, which overcame his spirit of revenge, 
and Mrs. Brown became the ransomed captive of McGillivray. 
This is a noted instance of the chivalry of the savage chieftain. 
Here Mrs. Brown taught the Indian women needlework, and 
they became very fond of her. On a trip to one of the upper 
Creek towns, McGillivray found Mrs. Brown's daughter, aged 
eleven years, and purchased her from her master, restoring her 
to her mother. He also tried to gain possession of her son 
George, but the Indian who had possession of him had grown 
very fond of him, and would not surrender him. In November, 
1789, Colonel McGillivray arranged for a peace conference at 
Rock Landing, Georgia, and took Mrs. Brown and her daughter 
with him and there delivered her to her son William, who had 
come hoping to hear news of her. After spending some time 
in South Carolina, she returned to Guilford, at the end of two 
years only, she had had all these privations and experiences. 
In 1788, her benefactor, the Creek chieftain, passed through 
Guilford and paid her a visit. Her brothers offered to pay him 
any sum for the ransom of Mrs. Brown and the children, but he 
refused it, and promised to use every effort to restore her son 
to her. In 1792, a formidable body of Indians, Creeks, Semi- 
noles, and Shawnees invaded the Cumberland Valley, attacking 
Buchanan Station. Joseph went to the assistance of Buchanan, 
but the Indians had retreated. What was his astonishment on 
approaching the scene of action to find his Indian brother lying 
cold in death. Later on Joseph Brown led a successful cam- 
paign against the Indians. His knowledge of the country 
during his captivity, and the fact that this Indian chieftain had 
been killed previously, made him well fitted for the position of 
leader. As they had spared his life, so he spared the lives of 
the Indian prisoners; and soon after this generous act on his 
part, his brother, young George Brown, was liberated by the 
Creeks. In 18 12, during the Creek War, a large number of 



82 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Cherokee Indians offered their services to General Jackson. 
General Jackson asked Joseph Brown to take command of these 
Indians, but this he never did. He served as an aid of 
General Robards in the army, and was a most valuable inter- 
preter and guide. When General Jackson became President, 
Colonel Brown obtained an allowance from Congress for a part 
of the property lost by his father in 1788. Mrs. Brown lived 
to be ninety years of age, having spent one of the most eventful 
lives, and exhibited the greatest heroism amidst the trials of 
the women of even that day. Her son George became a noted 
citizen of Mississippi, and her captive daughter Jane, the wife 
of Mr. Collinsworth, became well known in Texas where they 
resided. No history can do adequate justice to the sufferings 
and heroism of Mrs. Brown and these early pioneers of the 
Holston and Cumberland Valleys. 

ELIZABETH KENTON. 

The name of Simon Kenton, one of the early pioneers of 
Kentucky, is intimately associated with that of Daniel Boone, 
he being one of the hardy explorers who went into the wilder- 
ness of the Alleghany Mountains and spent three years in the 
wilds near the Kanawha River, until the breaking out of the 
wars between the Indians and the settlers in 1774, when he 
tendered his service to his country and acted as a spy. He was 
captured by the Indians, carried off and the details of his 
capture form one of the most thrilling stories of these days. 
He was tied on the back of an unbroken horse and eight times 
was exposed to what the Indians call "the running of the 
gauntlet," which consists in giving a man this one chance for 
his life. He is allowed to run a certain distance, and .if he 
reaches the enclosure selected by the Indians in safety, when 
all the Indians are shooting at him, he is given his life. He 



Women Pioneers 83 



was three times bound to a stake with no prospect of rescue, 
but suddenly saved through the interference of a friendly- 
Indian. He was at another time saved through the intercession 
of Logan, the great Mingo chief, and such experiences filled 
his almost daily life among his savage captors. He afterwards 
rendered distinguished service under General George Rogers 
Clark and in the campaign of Wayne. General Kenton's first 
wife was Martha Dowdon, who lived ten years. Elizabeth, his 
second wife, was the daughter of Stephen Jarboe, a French 
settler from Maryland, who had come to Mason County, 
Kentucky, about 1796, when Elizabeth was about seventeen 
years of age. A clever story is told of the wooing of Elizabeth 
Jarboe by General Kenton. She had many admirers, among 
them young Mr. Reuben Clark, and the race seemed close 
between young Clark and General Kenton; but the wily hero 
of so many more perilous experiences cleverly outwitted his 
young friend Clark by sending him on some important work 
to Virginia, and in his absence General Kenton secured the 
prize. They were married in the year 1798 at Kenton's Station. 
A few months after their marriage they removed to Cincinnati, 
and later to what was then called the Mad River Country, a few 
miles north of Springfield, Ohio. Here they had many experi- 
ences of a thrilling nature with the Indians. General Kenton's 
family consisted of five children. He was greatly beloved and 
had most successful influence with the Indians. His home 
became the rendezvous of both settlers and Indians, which 
necessitated incessant toil and privation on the part of Mrs. 
Kenton. General Kenton had lost a great deal of land in 
Kentucky through the dishonesty of agents whom he had 
entrusted with his business, and in 1818 they procured only a 
small portion of some wild land in Logan County, and again 
took up their residence in Kentucky. In 1836 General Kenton 
died. In 1842 Mrs. Kenton returned to Indiana and on Novem- 



84 Part Taken by Women in American History 

ber 27 passed away. Her daughter was a Mrs. Parkinson of 
Dayton, who remembers seeing her mother instruct the Indian 
wife of Isaac Zain. 

SARAH WILSON. 

One of the pioneers to remove to the Cumberland Valley was Joseph Wilson, 
and he, like the others, suffered great hardships and exposure. In the attack 
made by the Indians on the 26th of June, 1792, upon the blockhouse erected by 
the settlers, Mrs. Wilson showed her great courage in insisting that her husband 
should attempt to escape and seek aid from the other settlers, and that he should 
leave her and her young children, believing the savages would spare them rather 
than his life. The blockhouse had been set on fire and there were but a few moments 
left for his escape. He and his son, a young lad of sixteen years, made a rush 
through the line of their assailants, but Wilson received a wound in his foot which 
made it impossible for him to go on for relief, and his son went on hoping to 
obtain a horse from some neighbor. Immediately on the disappearance of her 
husband, Mrs. Wilson, with her baby in her arms and followed by five small 
children, walked slowly out of the fort. Her courage made such an impression 
upon the Indians that the lives of herself and children were spared. All the rest 
of the inmates of the fort were killed. Young Wilson obtained relief and carried 
his father to Bledsoe Station. A party of soldiers hastened to the relief of Mrs. 
Wilson, but she and her children had been carried off as captives into the Upper 
Creek Nation. Through the efforts of Colonel White, Mrs. Wilson's brother, 
after twelve months of captivity, she and her family were restored to their homes. 
One young girl, however, still remained a captive among the Creeks and it was 
some time later before she was returned to her own people. She had entirely 
forgotten her own language and every member of her home circle. 

SARAH THORPE. 

Sarah Thorpe was the wife of Joel Thorpe. They removed from North 
Haven to Ashtabula County, Ohio, in 1799. An incident is related in the life 
of Mrs. Thorpe which illustrates the extreme privations to which these early 
settlers were frequently reduced. In the absence of Mr. Thorpe, who had gone 
over into Pennsylvania to procure provisions for his family, it is told that Mrs. 
Thorpe emptied the straw out of her bed to pick it over to obtain what little 
wheat there was left in it, and this she boiled and gave to her children. Mrs. 
Thorpe was married three times. Her first husband was killed in the War of 
1812, and her last husband's name was Gardner. The first surveying party to 
enter the Western Reserve arrived on the Fourth of July, 1796. Permanent set- 
tlers did not come in until two years later. In 1708 small settlements were 
found all over the reserve and a little schooner had been built to ply on the waters 
of Lake Erie. The necessity for the building of a grist mill near the site of 
what is now the city of Cleveland is believed to be the foundation of that city. 



Women Pioneers 85 



The child of Mr. Kingsberry is believed to be the first white child born in the 
Western Reserve. The wife of Hon. John Walworth was quite noted among these 
early settlers. In 1801, it is said, the first ball was given at Cleveland in the log 
cabin of Major Carter, and here Anna Spofford opened the first school. Mrs. 
Carter was one of the prominent women of this settlement. 

ELIZABETH TAPPEN. 

Was the second daughter of Alexander and Elizabeth Harper, and was born 
February 24, 1784, in Harpersfield, New York. She was fifteen years of age when 
her parents removed to Ohio, and later became one of the teachers in the school 
which was opened in the Western Reserve. In 1803, Abraham Tappen was appointed 
to take charge of this school, and alternately he and Miss Harper taught, which 
was the beginning of their friendship and resulted in their marriage in 1806. 
Tappen was employed later as a surveyor and took part in the equalizing of the 
claims of landholders. They became prominent citizens and Mr. Tappen after- 
wards became a judge. The little village of Unionville is believed to be built 
on the site of their first home. 



REBECCA HEALD. 

The life of this woman is associated with one of the most 
prominent incidents and horrible scenes of the War of 1812, 
the massacre at Fort Dearborn, Chicago. Rebecca Heald was 
the daughter of Captain Wells of Kentucky. In her early life 
she resided with her uncle, Captain William Wells, whose life 
was one of the most singular and romantic of the early border 
days. He was captured by the Miami Indians when but a very 
small child, and was adopted by the son of Little Turtle, one of 
the most famous Indian warriors of the day. After living and 
becoming completely identified with the lives of his captors, he 
saw and realized the superior power of the white settlers then 1 
fast filling up that section of the country, and he determined to 
leave his adopted friends and return to his own people, which 
he did without severing the bonds of friendship then existing. 
He joined the army of General Wayne, and his services were 
most conspicuous and valuable through his knowledge of the 
country and the Indian character. He commanded an organi- 



86 Part Taken by Women in American History 

zation of spies and fought in the campaign of Wayne until the 
treaty of Greenville in 1795, which restored peace between the 
whites and the Indians, when Wells again rejoined his old 
friends and foster-father, Little Turtle. Captain Wells was 
chosen to escort the troops from Chicago to Fort Wayne at the 
time of the outbreak in 181 2, and while living there with her 
uncle, Miss Wells met Captain Heald, and in 18 12 Captain 
Heald was placed in command of the garrison at Chicago, at 
that time a remote outpost of the American frontier. The 
communication between the posts at Fort Wayne, Detroit, and 
Chicago was carried on over an Indian trail with a friendly 
savage as guide frequently. Opposite the fort which stood at 
the junction of the Chicago River with Lake Michigan and 
separated by the river stood the home of Mr. Kinsey. They 
were the first to have knowledge of the outbreak, which 
occurred on the night of the 7th of April, 181 2. The com- 
mander of the fort, Captain Heald, received, on the 7th of 
August, dispatches from General Hull at Detroit, announcing 
the declaration of war between the United States and Great 
Britain. Captain Heald decided upon a plan of action which 
brought forth the greatest indignation and resentment from his 
officers and men. He had received orders to distribute all the 
supplies of United States property equally among the Indians 
in the neighborhood, and evacuate the post. The officers and 
men urged upon him the necessity to remain and fortify them- 
selves as strongly as possible, hoping for aid from the other side 
of the peninsula, but Captain Heald announced that he was 
going to carry out what seemed to them a foolhardy decision 
on his part and distribute the property among the Indians and 
ask them to escort the garrison to Fort Wayne, with the promise 
of reward for the safe conduct of all, adding that he felt a 
profound confidence in the profession of friendship on the part 
of the Indians. This brought on a most unhappy condition of 



Women Pioneers 87 



affairs. The troops became almost mutinous, and the Indians 
set in defiance the restraint which had heretofore been main- 
tained over them. A council with the Indians was held on the 
1 2th of August, none of the officers attending from the fort but 
Captain Heald. Secret information had been brought that the 
Indians intended falling upon the officers and murdering them 
all. Among the chiefs were several who held personal regard 
for many of the officers and troops in the garrison, and did their 
utmost to allay the war-like feeling, which was constantly 
arising and increasing each day among the Indians. On the 
evening following the last council Black Partridge, a prominent 
chief, came to the quarters of Captain Heald and said : "Father, 
I come to deliver up to you the medal I wear. It was given me 
by the Americans and I have long worn it in token of our 
mutual friendship, but our young men are resolved to imbrue 
their hands in the blood of the whites. I cannot restrain them 
and I will not wear a token of peace while I am compelled to act 
as an enemy." This should have been enough to allow Captain 
Heald to appreciate the seriousness of the temper of the Indians, 
but he went on with his preparation for departure, which was 
to take place on the 15th. Everyone was ready, reduced to the 
smallest equipment possible in view of the journey before them. 
Mr. Kinsey had offered to accompany the troops, intrusting his 
family to the care of some friendly Indians who had promised 
to carry them in a boat around the head of Lake Michigan to 
a place on the St. Joseph River, where they should be joined 
if the march proved successful. The following morning Mr. 
Kinsey received word from the chief of St. Joseph's Band that 
they must expect trouble from the Pottawattamies, urging him 
to give up his plan to accompany the troops and promising that 
the boat would be permitted to pass in safety to St. Joseph's, 
and urged him to go with his family instead, but Mr. Kinsey 
declined this, believing he might have some influence in 



88 Part Taken by Women in American History 

restraining the savages. When they reached the point between 
the prairie and the beach the Pottawattamies took the prairie 
instead of the beach with the Americans and their purpose 
was soon evident. They attacked the whites, being about five 
hundred strong. This little band was soon reduced to about 
one-third of their number and finally Captain Wells was obliged 
to surrender, under the agreement that their lives should be 
spared, and that all should be delivered at one of the British 
posts to be ransomed later by their friends. Mrs. Heald took 
an active part in this fight, and through her heroic conduct her 
life was spared by one of the Indians, who placed her and Mrs. 
Kinsey and their children in a boat where they were covered 
with buffalo robes, their rescuer telling the Indians that it 
contained only the family of Shawneaukee. They were taken 
back to the home of Mr. Kinsey, closely guarded by the Indians 
who intended later to take them all to Detroit. After the work 
of plunder and destruction was complete on the part of the 
Indians, the fort was set afire. Black Partridge and Wabansee 
with three others constituted themselves protectors to the 
family of Mr. Kinsey. Mrs. Heald and Mrs. Kinsey later 
succeeded in disguising themselves as French women with some 
of the clothes they found in the house, and were conducted by 
Black Partridge to the home of Ouilmette, a Frenchman with a 
half-breed wife, who had been employed by Mr. Kinsey and 
whose home was near. Only the absolute devotion on the part 
of Black Partridge saved these women from massacre. Later 
they were successfully placed in a boat, and under the care of a 
half-breed interpreter were taken to St. Joseph and later to 
Detroit under the escort of Chandonnai, a faithful Indian 
friend, and the entire party with their servants delivered up as 
prisoners of war to the British commanding officer. General 
Hull at the surrender of Detroit had stipulated that all Amer- 
ican inhabitants should remain undisturbed in their homes, and 



Women Pioneers 89 



here Mrs. Kinsey and Mrs. Heald were allowed to peacefully 
reside. Mr. Kinsey, through anxiety for his family, ultimately 
joined them and surrendered as a prisoner of war. During the 
fight of which we have spoken Mrs. Heald received seven 
wounds. Lieutenant Helm was taken by some friendly Indians 
to their village of the Au Sable, and then to St. Louis, where 
he was ultimately liberated. Mrs. Helm accompanied her 
father's family to Detroit. During the engagement, she had a 
horse shot from under her. The little remnant of the garrison 
at Fort Dearborn with their wives and children were distributed 
among the villages of the Pottawattamies upon the Illinois, 
Wabash, Rock River and Milwaukee until the spring, when 
they were taken to Detroit and ransomed. Mrs. Helm, spoken 
of, was the daughter of Captain Killip, a British officer attached 
to one of the companies, who in 1794 aided the Indian tribes 
against the United States Government. On the death of her 
husband, Colonel Killip, she afterward became the wife of John 
Kinsey and removed to Chicago, there establishing a thriving 
trading post among the Pottawattamie Indians. Their daughter 
married Lieutenant Lina J. Helm, of Kentucky, and is the one 
spoken of in this account. 

ABIGAIL SNELLING. 

Was the daughter of Thomas Hunt, a Revolutionary officer 
and a native of Watertown, Massachusetts. Her father had 
entered the American army as a volunteer, but soon received 
his commission as a regular officer and was in the expedition 
against Ticonderoga, commanded by Ethan Allen, one of the 
small band who made themselves masters of Crown Point. He 
was with General Wayne at Stony Point, and in 1794 went with 
him in the campaign against the Indians. In 1798, he received 
the promotion to Lieutenant-Colonel, First Regiment Infantry, 



90 Part Taken by Women in American History 

and was placed in command of Fort Wayne, remaining until the 
death of Hantramack at Detroit, when Lieutenant-Colonel 
Hunt succeeded to the command and became the colonel of the 
regiment and in command of the post at Detroit, afterwards 
succeeding to that at Mackinaw. Abigail Hunt was but six 
weeks old when the family arrived at Mackinaw. When she 
was but seven years of age, her parents left Mackinaw on their 
way to St. Louis by way of Detroit. On their journey they 
stopped for a short time at Fort Wayne, where Colonel Hunt's 
eldest daughter was married to the surgeon of the post, Dr. 
Edwards. Colonel Hunt took command of the garrison at the 
mouth of the Missouri, eighteen miles above St. Louis. This 
was about the time of the Burr conspiracy, and a court-martial 
was held there to try Major BrufT, who was supposed to be a 
party to the conspiracy, but who was acquitted. Lewis and 
Clark arrived at this post from their exploring expedition, 
causing the greatest excitement and curiosity owing to their 
costumes made entirely of skins and furs. The captain in one 
of the companies of Colonel Hunt's regiment at that time was 
a man by the name of Pike, who afterwards became famous as 
General Pike, and was selected by the government to explore 
the upper Mississippi, being absent on this expedition almost 
two years. In 1809 Colonel Hunt died, and six months later 
followed the death of Mrs. Hunt. The eldest son resided in 
Detroit, and after the death of his mother, he removed the 
family to Waltham, Massachusetts, to reside with their 
maternal grandfather, Samuel Wellington. This brother later 
became Colonel Henry J. Hunt. When the War of 1812 was 
declared, no one among the officers then in the service was more 
distinguished than one Captain Snelling. When General Hull 
arrived with his army at Detroit early in July, Dr. Edwards, 
who had married Colonel Hunt's eldest daughter, joined 
General Hunt's army at Dayton, and with him was John E. 



Women Pioneers 91 



Hunt, so that the sisters were again brought together. Here 
Captain Snelling was introduced to Miss Hunt by Major 
Edwards, and in a very short time they were engaged. On the 
13th of August, Miss Hunt was married to Captain Snelling 
by a chaplain in General Hull's army. Captain Snelling had 
quite distinguished himself in the fight at Brownstown under 
General Hull. Three days after their marriage, the British 
landed at Springwells and Captain Snelling with others was 
humiliated by having General Hull retire before the enemy, and 
it is reported that when an aid asked Captain Snelling to help 
him plant the white flag, he replied with indignation: "No, 
sir, I will not soil my hands with that flag." General Hull was 
so panic-stricken that he surrendered the fortress without even 
demanding terms, and words cannot express the disgust and 
indignation of these brave soldiers as they stacked their arms 
to be taken over by the British. Colonel Hunt was permitted 
to remain in Detroit as a prisoner, accompanied by John Hunt, 
but Captain Snelling and his family were placed on board a boat 
which was to convey General Hull and his command as prisoners 
of war to Erie, where they were turned over to the British 
guards. Mrs. Snelling and the women were taken care of by 
the captain of the boat with promises that they should rejoin 
their husbands at Fort George, but it was some time before they 
were reunited. One of the strange incidents of war was that 
a British officer who had been most cruel and unkind to Captain 
Snelling, whose courteous treatment in contrast to that which 
he had received, so embarrassed and humiliated him that he 
apologized, and they became fast friends. Captain Snelling 
was one of the most unbending patriots, and at one time when 
the troops were in Montreal, the order was given for hats off 
in front of Nelson's monument, the guard knocking off the hats 
of the prisoners, but on an officer attempting such with Captain 
Snelling he received the quick warning, "At your peril, sir, 



92 Part Taken by Women in American History 

touch me." Later he received the apology of the officer in 
question. The married officers were soon paroled and sent to 
Boston, where Captain Snelling and his wife remained until he 
was ordered to Plattsburg to join General Hampton's army. 
Their eldest child, Mary, was born when Mrs. Snelling was but 
sixteen years of age. Captain Snelling rapidly rose in distinc- 
tion, and was on the staff of General Izard as Inspector-General, 
stationed at Buffalo. On peace being declared Snelling was 
made Lieutenant-Colonel of the Sixth Infantry and ordered to 
Governor's Island, and later to Plattsburgh, where he remained 
four years, when the order came to start for the upper 
Mississippi by way of St. Louis. Their family then consisted 
of Mrs. Snelling and three children, her youngest sister, and 
one brother, a graduate from West Point, Lieutenant Wel- 
lington Hunt, also a married man. Mrs. Snelling's sister, Eliza 
N. Hunt, married a man by the name of Soulard, a French 
gentleman. The following summer, Snelling received his 
colonelcy and was placed in command of the Fifth Regiment 
and ordered to relieve Lieutenant-Colonel Leavenworth, who 
had been promoted to another regiment, and Captain Snelling 
conducted his regiment to within eight miles of the Falls of 
St. Anthony, where Fort Snelling, Minnesota, now stands. En- 
route he held councils with the Indians of Prairie Little Du 
Chien, where he found Governor Cass. Their first occupation 
in their new home was the building of the log barracks and fort 
which were to form the homes and protection of the regiment 
and its officers. These rude quarters were papered and carpeted 
with buffalo robes and here Mrs. Snelling's fifth child was born. 
It was a two years' struggle before the post was completed. In 
June, 1823, the first steamboat made its appearance on the upper 
Mississippi, and caused great excitement among the troops. A 
French gentleman brought letters of introduction to Mrs. 
Snelling from friends in St. Louis, being invited by the Colonel 



Women Pioneers 93 



to remain as long as it was his pleasure. He found it most 
agreeable, as Mrs. Snelling spoke French fluently. At one time 
this post was visited by General Scott, and he ordered the name 
of Fort St. Anthony, which it then bore, changed to Fort 
Snelling in approval of Colonel Snelling's labors. In 1825 the 
family left Fort Snelling and visited Mrs. Snelling's brother, 
Lieutenant Wellington Hunt, in command at Detroit. In 1826 
Captain Thomas Hunt, then residing at Washington, wrote his 
sister to send her two eldest children to him to be educated, and 
her eldest daughter, Mary, was sent with Captain and Mrs. 
Plympton who were going to that city. In 1827, the regiment 
was ordered to Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis, and during the 
winter Colonel Snelling went on to Washington on business, 
and was there when his daughter Mary died, the effects of a 
cold taken at a ball. As Colonel Snelling was obliged to remain 
in Washington for some time, Mrs. Snelling with her three 
children joined him there, and a few months after her arrival 
Colonel Snelling died. After his death she lived on her farm 
near Detroit, later removing into the city. In 1841, Mrs. 
Snelling married Rev. J. E. Chaplain, the grandson of President 
Edwards, who was appointed principal of one of the branches 
in the Michigan State Institution. Mrs. Chaplain's son, James 
Snelling, was with General Worth and took part in the battle 
of Palo Alto, and other battles under General Taylor. The 
later years of Mrs. Chaplain's life were spent with her daughter, 
Mrs. Hazard, in Cincinnati. 

mary McMillan. 

There were but a few small settlements along the Lakes, 
and in 1688 Sault Ste. Marie was one of the most prominent 
French posts and a favorite resort for traders. Michigan had 
passed from the possession of the French to Great Britain in 



94 Part Taken by Women in American History 

1760. The military occupation taking place at the time of the 
Pontiac war extends through the struggles of the British, 
Indians and Americans to obtain possession of the country 
down to the victory of Commodore Perry. Then comes the 
opening up of the country, followed by the period of agriculture, 
manufacturing and commerce of to-day. The early French 
were engaged in the fur trading business, and, under the control 
of the British, they were allowed to pursue this occupation. 
During the Revolutionary troubles the peninsula remained in 
quiet, and the treaty in 1783 included it in the bounds of Ameri- 
can territory, and in 1795, after the victories of General Wayne, 
settlers began to go in and open up the country. In 18 10 
Mackinaw was the chief trading point. Among these early 
settlers of the eastern portion of Michigan was Mary McMillan, 
who with her husband had removed to this new land. In 1813, 
Mr. McMillan had left his family to take part in the military 
operations of that time, leaving Mrs. McMillan alone to care 
for her little family. One day while away from home to secure 
food, she became nervous over the fate which might have over- 
taken her little ones in her absence, which anxiety was not ill 
founded, as they had all disappeared with the entire contents of 
her house. Being of a courageous nature, she was undaunted 
by the realization of her fears and followed the Indians to find 
her children hid in the woods on the opposite side of the river. 
She suffered many like experiences of terror and anxiety during 
the absence of her husband. After the war was over, when they 
were living near Detroit, Mr. McMillan was murdered by 
Indians and her son, eleven years old, captured. After four 
months' absence, she obtained the news of his whereabouts and 
raised the money necessary for his ransom, when he was 
restored to his mother. 

CHARLOTTE CLARK. 

Her husband was a commissary officer with the troops who were with Colonel 
Leavenworth on the upper Mississippi. The daughter of Mrs. Clark was Mrs. Van 



Women Pioneers 95 



Cleve of Ann Arbor, Michigan, and was born while the troops were stationed at 
Prairie Du Chien. They later resided at Fort Snelling. Mrs. Clark was described 
as a very handsome woman with unusual intelligence and great charm in con- 
versation. Her son, Malcolm Clark, was a trader among the Indians near Fort 
Benton in Oregon, and married one of the women of the Black Foot Tribe. His 
two daughters were educated at Ann Arbor. One of Mrs. Clark's daughters, Char- 
lotte Clark, was Mrs. Gear, the wife of Hezekiah Gear, one of the early pioneers 
of Illinois, and resided at Galena. 

SARAH BRYAN. 
Was conspicuous among the early settlers of Michigan as the wife of John 
Bryan. 

SYLVIA CHAPIN. 

The wife of Syrena Chapin was considered one of the oldest settlers and 
pioneers of Buffalo, where Dr. Chapin came with his family in 1805. Her husband 
was a man very much beloved by the citizens of Buffalo. 

MRS. ANDERSON. 
One of the early settlers of Plymouth, Wayne County, Michigan. 

ELIZA BULL. 
Eliza Bull, afterwards Mrs. Sinclair, was also an early pioneer of Michigan. 

MARY ANN RUMSEY. 

One of the early residents of Ann Arbor, Michigan, the county seat of 
Washtenaw County. This Indian name signified grand or beautiful, and the 
Grand River takes its name from this word. The name Ann Arbor was given to 
this little village by John Allen and Walter Rumsey who came to the settlement 
in February, 1824, from New York State. Mary Ann Rumsey, the wife of Walter 
Rumsey, was quite a remarkable character and many interesting stories are told 
of her own life in these early days. Mr. Rumsey died at Ann Arbor, and his wife 
afterwards married Mr. Van Fossen, and removed to Indiana. There was another 
woman who bore the name of Ann quite distinguished in this little settlement to 
which she came in 1824 with the parents of her husband, James Turner Allen, from 
Virginia. The local tradition is that to these two women, Ann Allen and Ann 
Rumsey, the town of Ann Arbor is indebted for the addition of Ann to its name. 
After the death of Mr. Allen his widow returned to Virginia. Mrs. Allen's 
maiden name was Barry. Her husband's name was Dr. McCue, a Virginian. 

BETTY O'FLANAGAN. 

Among the remarkable characters of the early days of Detroit there is men- 
tion made of one very unique person, Betty O'Flanagan, who is said to have been 
one of the followers of Wayne's army. When listening to her reminiscences she 



g6 Part Taken by Women in American History 

often told the young people that she would have been better off had "Mad Anthony" 
lived 

HARRIET L. NOBLE. 

Quite a wave of excitement spread over western New York in 1824, over the 
opportunities offered in the new country known as Michigan. Among those seized 
with the mania was Nathaniel Noble, and in January of that year he with his 
brother and family set out for their new home, joining in Ann Arbor their former 
friends, John Allen and Walter Rumsey. The deprivations and hardships of the 
journey are only a repetition of those which we have already given. The town of 
Dixborough was laid out by Mr. Dix of Massachusetts. Miss Frances Trask was 
a cousin of Mrs. Dix, and was one of the remarkable characters of this day. She 
was a noted belle and coquette of the community, possessing fine qualities of heart 
and real worth ; her eccentricities and unfeminine defiance of general opinion often 
caused great talk and comment among her neighbors. She was a general favorite 
owing to her wit, force, and happy disposition, among the men and many amusing 
stories are told of her ready repartee. She was at one time engaged to Sherman 
Dix, a relative of her brother-in-law, but married a Mr. Thompson, being left 
quite early a widow. Her nephew by marriage was at one time the Secretary of 
State in Texas. 

MRS. HECTOR SCOTT. 

Mrs. Hector Scott is worthy of mention among the early settlers of Michigan. 
She was the daughter of Luther Martin, the attorney who so successfully defended 
Aaron Burr. One of the famous beauties of that time was a Mrs. Talbot, who was 
the daughter of Commodore Truxton. 

MRS. MOSELEY. 

Mrs. Moseley is also deserving of mention. She was the daughter of the 
Missionary Bingham, and was said to be the first white child born in the Sandwich 
Islands. 

REBECCA J. FISHER. 

Mrs. Fisher gives the following facts regarding her life 
and harrowing experiences as a daughter of pioneer parents: 

"I was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, August 31, 
1 83 1, and came to Texas with my parents, Johnstone and Mary 
Gilleland, and two little brothers, about 1836 or 1837. My 
father was one of the bravest, most conscientious and active 
soldiers of the Republic of Texas, and had come home for a few 
days to look after his family when a cruel death awaited him. 

"The day my parents were murdered was one of those days 



Women Pioneers 97 



which youth and old age so much enjoy. It was in strange 
contrast to the tragedy at its close. We were only a few rods 
from the house. Suddenly the war whoop of the Comanche 
burst upon our ears, sending terror to all hearts. My father, 
in trying to reach the house for weapons, was shot down, and 
near him my mother, clinging to her children and praying God 
to spare them, was also murdered. As she pressed us to her 
heart we were baptized in her precious blood. We were torn 
from her dying embrace and hurried off into captivity, the 
chiefs wife dragging me to her horse and clinging to me with 
a tenacious grip. She was at first savage and vicious looking, 
but from some cause her wicked nature soon relaxed, and 
folding me in her arms, she gently smoothed back my hair, 
indicating that she was very proud of her suffering victim. A 
white man with all the cruel instincts of the savage was with 
them. Several times they threatened to cut off our hands and 
feet if we did not stop crying. Then the woman, in savage tones 
and gestures, would scold, and they would cease their cruel 
threats. We were captured just as the sun was setting and 
were rescued the next morning. 

"During the few hours we were their prisoners, the 
Indians never stopped. Slowly and stealthily they pushed their 
way through the settlement to avoid detection, and just as they 
halted for the first time the soldiers suddenly came upon them, 
and firing commenced. As the battle raged, the Indians were 
forced to take flight. Thereupon they pierced my little brother 
through the body, and, striking me with some sharp instrument 
on the side of the head, they left us for dead, but we soon 
recovered sufficiently to find ourselves alone in that dark, dense 
forest, wounded and covered with blood. 

"Having been taught to ask God for all things, we prayed 
to our Heavenly Father to take care of us and direct us out of 
that lonely place. I lifted my wounded brother, so faint and 



98 Part Taken by Women in American History 

weak, and we soon came to the edge of a large prairie, when as 
far away as our swimming eyes could see we discovered a com- 
pany of horsemen. Supposing them to be Indians, frightened 
beyond expression, and trembling under my heavy burden, I 
rushed back with him into the woods and hid behind some thick 
brush. But those brave men, on the alert, dashing from place 
to place, at last discovered us. Soon we heard the clatter of 
horses' hoofs and the voices of our rescuers calling us by name, 
assuring us they were our friends who had come to take care of 
us. Lifting the almost unconscious little sufferer, I carried 
him out to them as best I could. With all the tenderness of 
women, their eyes suffused with tears, those good men raised 
us to their saddles and hurried ofT to camp, where we received 
every attention and kindness that man could bestow. 

"I was seven years of age when my parents were murdered. 
Over seventy years have passed since then, and yet my heart 
grows faint as that awful time passes in review. It is indelibly 
stamped upon memory's pages and photographed so deeply upon 
my heart that time with all its changes can never erase it." 

In 1848 Rebecca J. Gilleland married Rev. Orceneth Fisher, 
D.D., a prominent and distinguished minister of the Methodist 
Church. For over sixty years they served the church in Texas 
and California, organizing it in Oregon. Dr. Fisher died in 
Austin, Texas, some years ago. Mrs. Fisher has been president 
of many church associations, was Acting President of the 
Daughters of the Republic of Texas for twelve years, and is 
even yet in the evening of a long and honored life, surrounded 
by children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, the dis- 
tinguished member or guest of many patriotic clubs and 
societies. 

Early Settlers. 

The Pacific Coast Company was founded by John Jacob 
Astor, of New York, in 1810, to carry on trading operations 



Women Pioneers 99 



on the Pacific Coast. These exploring parties started from 
Astoria, Oregon, and experienced the greatest privations and 
hardships in these trips, the Indians of that time being most 
hostile and determined in their opposition against the approach 
of white settlers. The war between Great Britain and the 
United States breaking out, the Hudson Bay Company took 
possession of Astoria, and in 1812 a party of traders under the 
command of Mr. Reed, accompanied by Pierre Dorian, an inter- 
preter, with his wife and two children started on a expedition 
into the "Snake Country." For almost a year nothing was 
heard of this little party, until the following summer, when they 
arrived at Walla Walla, and the accounts given of the hardships 
of this tribe and the heroism of Mrs. Dorian hardly have a 
parallel. 

In the summer of 1846 a band of settlers started for Cali- 
fornia, and their experiences and adventures fill one of the 
darkest pages of our early history. The party consisted of 
J. F. Reed, wife and four children; Jacob Donner, wife and 
seven children; William Pike, wife and two children; William 
Foster, wife and one child; Lewis Kiesburg, wife and one child; 
Mrs. Murphy, a widow, with five children; William Mc- 
Cutcheon, wife and one child; W. H. Eddy, wife and two 
children ; Noah James, Patrick Dolan, Patrick Shoemaker, John 
Denton, C. F. Stanton, Milton Elliott, Joseph Raynhard, 
Augustus Spiser, John Baptiste, Charles Burger, Baylis 
Williams, and a man by the name of Smith, one by the name 
of Antoin, and one by the name of Herring. They were well 
supplied with wagons, teams, cattle, provisions, arms, and 
ammunition. On reaching White Water River, on the eastern 
side of the Rocky Mountains, they were persuaded by one of 
their party to take a new route to California. This brought 
upon them the greatest suffering, ultimate disaster and the 
annihilation of almost the entire little band. Many animals 



ioo Part Taken by Women in American History 

were lost; those which survived were exhausted and broken 
down. Many of their own party gave up their lives. Thirty 
days were occupied in traveling forty miles. They were lost in 
the desert for some time, being without water and almost all 
of their supplies exhausted. Attacked by the Indians, they lost 
several of their ablest defenders and many of their animals. 
They reached the mountains in the most distressed condition. 
It was then the fall of the year, late in October. On the evening 
of the 22nd, they crossed the Truckee River the forty-ninth time 
in eighty miles, and on October 28th they reached Truckee 
Lake at the foot of Fremont's Pass of the main chain of the 
Sierra Nevadas. This pass at this point is 9,838 feet high. 
After struggling to the top of the pass they found the snow 
five feet deep. Frequent efforts to cross the mountains proved 
useless, and they found they would be compelled to winter here. 
They retraced their steps to a lower level and commenced the 
erection of cabins. On the 21st of November, it is said, six 
women and sixteen men made an attempt to cross the mountains 
for provisions. Many of this little band died of starvation. On 
the 1 6th of December, another effort was made by a small party 
on snow-shoes. The records of this little band contain some 
of the most heartrending stories and revolting details. Canni- 
balism was forced upon them, and the bodies of many who died 
were consumed to satisfy those of sterner strength. This camp 
is known in history as "The Camp of Death." Several men 
forsook the camp to save their lives and perished of starvation 
on the mountains. The news of the condition of these emigrants 
had reached California, and an effort was made on the part of 
the government to send them relief. Two expeditions failed 
to cross the mountains, but finally a small party of seven men 
reached the camp. Fourteen men had died of starvation and 
others were too weak to even be carried. The annals of human 
suffering nowhere present a more appalling spectacle than that 



Women Pioneers ioi 



which greeted the eyes of this little rescuing party. The women 
seemed to withstand the suffering better even than the men. 
The names of Mrs. Reed, Mrs. Eddy, Mrs. Pike, are con- 
spicuous for their heroism among those who lived, and among 
the survivors who ultimately reached California were, Mary 
Graves, Ellen Graves, Nancy Graves, Viney Graves, Elizabeth 
Graves, Sarah Fosdick, Georgianna Donner, Elizabeth Donner, 
Mary Donner, Mrs. Wolfinger, Mrs. Kiesburg, Sarah Foster, 
Mary Murphy, Harriet Pike, Miriam Pike, Margaret Brinn, 
Isabell Brinn, Virginia Reed, and Pattie Reed. Throughout the 
horrible scenes of this disastrous expedition the courage, 
devotion, and fortitude of the women stand out conspicuously. 
When the hearts of the stoutest men sank, the unflinching 
energy of the women was shown. When men became mere 
brutes, woman's true nobility shone forth and her power of 
soul over body was proven, and the history of this expedition 
stands as a memorial to what women may endure and 
accomplish. 

Mrs. Reed's daughter, Mrs. Virginia Reed Murphy, of 
Springfield, Massachusetts, is very well known. She wrote an 
interesting account of these experiences of her parents and 
herself, which appeared in the "Century Magazine." 

PIETY LUCRETIA HADLEY. 

Mrs. Hadley was the daughter of Major David Smith, by his second wife, 
Obedience Fort Smith, and was born in Logan County, Kentucky, in April 1807. 
Her early life was spent in Mississippi and Kentucky. On June 14 1831, Miss 
Smith was married to Mr. T. B. J. Hadley of Jackson, Mississippi. Of this union 
there were five daughters. In 1840 Colonel and Mrs. Hadley moved to Houston, 
Texas. She was one of the conspicuous figures of Texas. 

MIREBEAN B. LAMAR. 

Mrs. Lamar was the daughter of a celebrated Methodist minister, John New- 
land Maffitt, and sister of Fred Maffitt, commodore in the Confederate Navy. She 
was the wife of the first vice-president and the second president of the republic of 



102 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Texas, John Lamar, who had come to Texas from Georgia, his native state, in 
1835, rendered conspicuous service in the Battle of San Jacinto; was President 
Burnet's Secretary of War. Immediately after her marriage, Mrs. Lamar and her 
husband moved to their plantation near the town of Richmond on the Brazos River. 
In 1857 General Lamar accepted a mission to one of the American Republics, and 
while on his visit to Washington to receive his credentials, Mrs. Lamar was greatly 
admired and became one of the belles of the Capital City. While on this visit she 
was taken seriously ill and returned to their southern home. After two years' 
service abroad and on General Lamar's return to Texas he was stricken with 
apoplexy. During the war she did conspicuous service for her people and will long 
be remembered by the victims of the lost cause. Her death, October 8, 1871, caused 
unfeigned sorrow. 

MRS. JOHN RAGAN. 

Was Miss Molly Ford Taylor before her marriage and was a conspicuous 
figure among the prominent women of Texas in 1875. She was with her husband 
when he took his seat for the third time in the House of Representatives. Her 
home in Texas was Fort Houston near Palestine and was noted for the graceful 
hospitalities dispensed by its mistress. 

MRS. THOMAS J. RUSK. 

General Thomas J. Rusk having lost his fortune removed from his native 
state of South Carolina to Clarksville, Georgia, to practice law. Here he married 
a daughter of General Cleveland, a prominent man of this section. Forming some 
business connection, his assistants absconded to Texas with the funds of the cor- 
poration and he pursued the fugitives in an attempt to recover the stolen property. 
This was in 1835, and he followed them as far as Nacogdoches, Texas. Here the 
whole country was in a state of the wildest excitement. Everything was aflame 
with the spirit of Revolution. He soon became interested and forgetting every- 
thing else took up the cause of the patriots as his own. He joined one of the 
companies and soon became its commander and from that the leader of the little 
Republic's undisciplined battalions. He was sent by the people to the memorable 
convention of 1836 that declared the independence of Texas, and took service 
under the new government as its first Secretary of War, and as such, stopped 
Houston's army before Santa Anna and brought on the celebrated Battle of San 
Jacinto and distinguished himself in this battle so that he has since been considered 
one of the heroes in the history of Texas. In Houston's administration he was 
again called into the cabinet, resigning to take a seat in the Texas Congress. He 
was a conspicuous figure in the Indian warfare against the Caddos and Cherokees 
and other hostile tribes who gave the settlers at that time so much trouble. When 
more peaceful conditions prevailed he was appointed chief justice of the Republic, 
and later resigned and resumed his practice of law. He was in favor of the annexa- 
tion to the United States and in 1845 was President to the convention which formed 
the constitution of the then future state of Texas. He was elected to the first legisla- 
ture and held this position until his death in 1857. General Rusk's career gave Mrs. 



Women Pioneers 103 



Rusk a position of great prominence in her State. She filled with great courage and 
energy all duties which these positions entailed. Their life on this early frontier 
showed her to be one of the women of which America is proud and to which we 
owe the opening up of these new countries which are now such great and glorious 
states of our Union. Mrs. Rusk was the mother of seven children. She died in 
1856, in the forty-seventh year of her age. 

MRS. SIDNEY SHERMAN. 

Mrs. Sherman's husband was a lineal descendant of Roger Sherman. Her 
father was married in 1835 and lived at Newport, Kentucky. The cry of distress 
from Texas reached the ears of young Captain and Mrs. Sidney Sherman and they 
felt it their duty to go to its assistance. Captain Sherman raised and equipped a 
company of fifty men and in 1835 embarked for the scene of his future exploits. 
Mrs. Sherman accompanied the expedition as far as Natchez, but from there she 
returned to her parents in Frankfort, Captain Sherman continuing on to Texas and 
arriving there in February, 1836. He took part in the engagement which preceded 
and led his regiment in the last stand made by the Texans on the San Jacinto. All 
through these trying days in the early history of Texas, Colonel Sherman bore a 
conspicuous part. In 1842 he was elected to Congress from his district, and some 
years later by popular vote Major-General of the Texan Army, and this he held until 
Texas was annexed to the United States. Colonel Sherman suffered severe losses 
prior to the war and during that period. His young son, Lieutenant Sidney Sher- 
man, was killed. This so told upon Mrs. Sherman's health that she died in January, 
1865. 

LUCY HOLCOMB PICKENS. 

Mrs. Pickens was one of the famous beauties of Texas. In 1856 she married 
Colonel Pickens, a member of Congress from South Carolina. In the following 
year her husband was appointed, by President Buchanan, Minister of the United 
States to the Imperial court of Russia, and in St. Petersburg she was no less famous 
as a beauty and remarkably gifted woman than in her own land. In i860 Colonel 
Pickens resigned his commission, having been elected Governor of South Carolina, 
and here Mrs. Pickens discharged with inimitable grace and dignity her duties as 
the wife of the Governor, and it was said that General Pickens on the twelfth day 
of April, 1861, at Charleston, took his little daughter in his arms and placed in 
her tiny hand the lighted match that fired the first gun of the war on Fort Sumter. 
Mrs. Pickens held all through her life the friendship of the Imperial family of 
Russia, and on the marriage of their daughter, "Doushka", a silver tea service was 
sent her by the Imperial family. Mrs. Pickens died some years ago. 

MRS. ALEXANDER W. TERRELL. 

Mrs. Terrell's home was in Austin. Her husband was Minister to Turkey 
at one time and she traveled extensively in Europe. Her attractive personality and 



104 Part Taken by Women in American History 

strength of character made her, before her recent death, one of the conspicuous 
figures of the prominent women of Texas. 

MRS. WILLIAM H. WHARTON. 

Was the daughter of Jared E. Groce, who went to Texas in 1821. Their 
home, Groce's Retreat, on the Brazos River, near the town of Hempstead, is well- 
known in Texas. Sarah Groce married when quite young William H. Wharton, a 
brilliant young lawyer, who had gone to Texas from Nashville, Tennessee, in 1829. 
He was president of the convention in 1833, held to dissolve the bond which united 
Texas to Mexico, and two years later was in the Texan Army at San Antonio. He 
was sent to the general consultation of the United States as one of the three com- 
missioners and the following year was accredited to that Government as Minister 
from the Republic of Texas. Later he was elected to the Senate of the Republic, 
where he attained distinction. In 1839 his death was the result of an accident. Mrs. 
Wharton is remembered as one of the most forceful women in the political and 
social life of Texas, and some of her letters addressed to the prominent public 
women in the dark days when the prospects of Texan independence was in doubt 
are filled with a fervor, patriotism and energy worthy of the women in the heroic 
days of Carthage, and her appeals for the cause of human liberty were not un- 
heeded and she is to-day believed to have been one of the potent powers of that 
time. Mrs. Wharton died in the late seventies. She had one son, General John A. 
Wharton, who served throughout the Civil War in the Confederate Army, but was 
afterward killed. His only daughter died unmarried, so that no direct descendants 
survive this pioneer woman. 

MISS PETERSON. 

Among the heroic women of the early days, we find many instances in those 
who went to California with the settlers. One of these was Miss Peterson, who 
aided in saving the lives of some miners who were perishing in the mountains of 
starvation. On being told of their condition by an Indian, she insisted on going to 
their rescue. 

KATE MOORE. 

There is a very interesting incident told of the bravery of one Kate Moore 
who resided on one of the islands in the south. She was brought to America by 
Grace Darling. Many disasters had overtaken vessels landing at Montauk Point, 
so upon taking up her residence near by she was constantly on the alert. She so 
trained her ear that she could tell the difference between the howling of the storm 
and the cries for help, and thus direct a boat, which she herself had learned to 
manage, in the darkest night to the spot where these poor, perishing mariners could 
be found. She was a person of fine education and great refinement, but adapted 
herself to her father's humble calling, and no night was too dark, nor storm too 
severe for her hand to be ready to launch her boat and aid in the rescue, and in 
fifteen years she had personally saved the lives of twenty-one persons. 



Women of the Revolution. 

ESTHER REED. 

Esther De Bredt was born in the city of London, on the 
22nd of October, 1746, and died on the 18th of September, 
1780, in the city of Philadelphia. Her thirty-four years of life 
were adorned by no adventurous heroism, but her self-sacrifice, 
her brave endurance, and her practical aid during the short 
years she was permitted to dedicate to the young country in the 
throes of a great and devastating war, earned for her a place 
among the women who have helped to form the nation. 

Her father, Dennis De Bredt, was a British merchant, 
and his house, owing to his large business relations with the 
Colonies, was the home of many young Americans who at 
that time were attracted by pleasure or business interests to 
the imperial metropolis. Among these visitors, in or about the 
year 1763, was Joseph Reed, of New Jersey, who had come to 
London to finish his professional studies among British bar- 
risters (such being the fashion of the times). There the young 
English girl met the American stranger, and the intimacy, thus 
accidentally begun, soon produced its natural fruits. The 
young couple came to America in November, 1770, and from 
the first, as in all the years of turmoil that came with the war, 
the English girl, who had been reared in luxury, threw her 
heart and her fortunes into the conflict in which her husband's 
country was involved. Under her urging, her husband joined 
Washington's army, and, inexperienced as he was, he earned 
military fame of no slight eminence. Washington peculiarly 
honored him, and the correspondence between Mrs. Reed and 

(105) 



106 Part Taken by Women in American History 

the Commander-in-Chief on the subject of the mode of admin- 
istering to the poor soldiers has been published and is of the 
greatest interest as showing how the influence of woman was 
felt even in those times when she is popularly supposed to have 
been considered "an afterthought and a side issue." Her letters 
are marked by business-like intelligence and sound feminine 
common sense, on subjects of which, as a secluded woman, she 
could have had personally no previous knowledge, and Wash- 
ington, as has been truly observed, "writes as judiciously on 
the humble topic of soldiers' shirts, as on the plan of a campaign 
or the subsistence of an army." 

La Fayette refers to Mrs. Reed's efforts in behalf of the 
suffering soldiers as those of "the best patriot, the most zealous 
and active, and the most attached to the interests of her 
country." 

All this time, it must be remembered, it was a feeble, 
delicate woman who was writing and laboring; her husband 
away from her with the army and her family cares and anxieties 
daily multiplying. As late as August, 1780, she wrote from her 
country place on the banks of the Schuylkill, where she had 
been forced to retreat with her three babies: "I am most 
anxious to get to town, because here I can do little for the 
soldiers." But the body and the heroic spirit were alike over- 
tasked, and in the early part of the next month an alarming 
disease developed itself, and soon ran its fatal course. Esther 
Reed died as much a martyr to the cause of her country's 
liberty as any of General Washington's soldiers who met death 
on the battlefield. 

ELIZA LUCAS. 

To have been a genuine "New Woman" in the New World, 
and a society woman in the highest circles of the Old World, is 
the somewhat unique distinction of Eliza Lucas, afterwards 



Women of the Revolution 107 

the wife of Chief Justice Charles Pinckney. She was born on 
the West Indian Island of Antigua, in 1723, but most of her 
childhood was passed in England, where she was sent with 
her two little brothers to be educated. She had barely returned 
to the Island of Antigua, where her father, Lieutenant Colonel 
George Lucas, an officer in the English army was stationed, 
when it became necessary for them to go in search of a climate 
that would suit her mother's delicate health. Eliza was a girl 
of sixteen when they finally settled upon South Carolina as a 
place of residence. The balmy climate of Carolina formed a 
welcome contrast to the languishing tropical heat they had 
endured, and Colonel Lucas started extensive plantations in 
Saint Andrew's parish near Ashley River, about seventeen 
miles from Charleston. 

At the renewal of England's war with Spain, the Colonel 
was obliged to hurry back to his Island position, and Eliza was 
left with the care of a delicate mother and a little sister, 
the management of the house and three plantations. It was a 
responsible position for a girl of sixteen, but she proved herself 
a capable, practical, level-headed young woman, doing a 
woman's work with a woman's shrewdness and tact. She 
entered upon her agricultural duties with energy and spirit, 
her plan being to see what crops could be raised on the highlands 
of South Carolina to furnish a staple for exportation. She thus 
tried plots of indigo, ginger, cotton and cassava. With her 
indigo she was especially successful, after many disappoint- 
ments mastering the secret of its preparation. Her experiments 
in that crop proved a source of wealth to the Colony ; the annual 
value of its exportation just before the Revolution amounting 
to over a million pounds, and her biographer quite justly implies 
that this modest unassuming Colonel's daughter, of almost two 
hundred years back, did as much for her country as any "New 
Woman" has done since. 



io8 Part Taken by Women in American History 

From the time of her coming to Carolina, Eliza Lucas' let- 
ters tell the story of her life, and they portray a fullness and 
usefulness and activity remarkable in so young a girl; they 
also show a charming, unaffected personality, and are, more- 
over, a splendid reflection of the living, working and social 
conditions of the times. In the midst of the busy life she found 
time to cultivate her artistic tastes. She tells us that she devoted 
a certain time every day to the study of music, and we find her 
writing to ask her father's permission to send to England for 
"cantatas, Weldon's Anthems, and Knollyss' Rules for Tun- 
ing." Her fondness for literature, it seems, quite scandalized 
one old gentlewoman in the neighborhood, who took such a 
dislike to her books that, "She had liked to have thrown my 
Plutarch's Lives into the fire. She is sadly afraid," writes the 
amazed young lady, "that I might read myself mad." All 
through her letters we catch glimpses of grain fields, pleasant 
groves of oak and laurel, meadows mingling with young myrtle 
and yellow jasmine, while to the sweet melodies of the birds she 
listened and learned to identify each. 

There is another sort of music quite different from that of 
the birds, mentioned now and then in her letters. It is the hum- 
ming of the fiddles floating down to her through the maze of 
years in the solemn measures of the minuet, the gay strains of 
the reel and the merry country dances; for this industrious 
young daughter of the Colonial days could be frivolous when 
occasion demanded it and she could trip the dance as charmingly 
as any city belle. Her letters give vivid pictures of society in 
Charleston and the festivities at the country seats near 
her home. 

When Miss Lucas went to a party she traveled in a post- 
chaise which her mother had imported from England, and her 
escort rode beside her on a "small, spirited horse of the Chicka- 
saw breed." If she went by water she was carried down the 



Women of the Revolution 109 

dark Ashley River a la Elaine in a canoe hollowed from a great 
cypress and manned by six or eight negroes, all singing in 
time to the swing of their silent paddles. It appears there was 
always good cheer awaiting the guest at the memorable houses 
along the Ashley River. After the feast, the men lingered over 
their wine and the women gossiped in the drawing-room until 
the riddles began to play. Then the men left their cups, and 
with laughter, bows and elaborate compliments invited their 
partners to the dance. Such were the good social times in which 
Eliza Lucas took part. But, although she enjoyed them and 
entered into them with spirit, she did not dwell much upon them ; 
she was engaged with more serious matters. She was also very 
much worried by the dangers of the West Indian campaign, in 
which her father was engaged, and longed for the war to end. 
"I wish all the men were as great cowards as myself," she wrote, 
"it would then make them more peaceably inclined/' 

Among all the friends she made in the Colony, there was 
one to whom she could turn for earnest talk, good counsel and 
fatherly advice. This was Colonel Charles Pinckney. He and 
Mrs. Pinckney had done much to help the young girl in her early 
struggle to establish plantations, and at Mrs. Pinckney's death 
we find Eliza Lucas writing sadly of her personal loss in the 
event. The story is told that Mrs. Pinckney had once said that 
rather than have her favorite young friend Eliza Lucas lost 
to Carolina, she would herself be willing to step down and let 
her take her place. She probably never imagined that fate 
would take her so thoroughly at her word. But so it happened. 
Some time after her death John Lucas sent his son George to 
Carolina, to bring Mrs. Lucas and the girls back to Antigua 
to meet him. But Eliza was not destined to make that voyage, 
and it was her old friend Colonel Pinckney who prevented her 
departure. He was then speaker of the House of the Colonial 
Assembly, a distinguished lawyer and wealthy planter, and a 



no Part Taken by Women in American History 

man of "charming temper, gay and courteous manners, well 
looking, well educated and of high religious principles," and 
when this gentleman offered himself to Miss Lucas the joys 
of a single life seemed to lose their charm for her, and she 
smilingly agreed to become Mrs. Pinckney the second. 
Accordingly on a warm, sunshiny day in May, of the year 
1744, she was married to Mr. Pinckney, "with the approbation 
of all my friends," as she proudly declared. 

The new life brought new responsibilities, for Colonel 
Pinckney, or Chief Justice Pinckney, as he came to be, occupied 
a high position in the Colony, and his wife's social duties were 
not slight. On many nights the Pinckney mansion was 
brilliantly lighted, and the halls and drawing-rooms crowded 
with gentlemen in satin coats and knee-breeches, and ladies in 
rustling brocaded growns. But there were other times when the 
house was quiet except for the patter of children's feet upon 
the stairways, and the echo of children's voices through the 
halls. There were three children — two boys and their pretty 
sister, Harriott, who resembled her mother, it is said, fair- 
haired and blue-eyed, with a touch of her mother's spirit and 
energy. 

Then there came a day when Mrs. Pinckney no longer gave 
her parties to the people of Carolina, for one March morning, in 
the year 1753, Chief Justice Pinckney, the new Commissioner of 
the Colony, and his family sailed away and arrived in England 
with the springtime. Five years the Pinckneys remained in 
England, living sometimes in London, sometimes in Richmond, 
sometimes in Surrey, the Garden County of England, with 
sometimes an occasional season at Bath. The Pinckneys cer- 
tainly found favor everywhere; even Royalty opened its doors 
to them, and they were entertained by the widowed Princess of 
Wales and her nine little princes and princesses. Among them 
was the future George III, who, of course, could not know 



Women of the Revolution hi 

that his guests would some day be rebels against his sovereignty. 
But pleasant days in England had to end, and when the war 
between France and England was renewed, and the English 
colonies in America became endangered, Justice Pinckney 
instantly decided to return to Carolina to settle his affairs there. 
The two boys were left at school in England, and it was a sad 
good-bye for the mother parting from her sons. Fortunately, 
she could not know that when she next saw her little boys she 
would be a widow and they would be grown men. 

Her widowhood began soon after her arrival in Carolina. 
Then there were long sorrowful days when she was, as she 
expressed it, "Seized with the lethargy of stupidity." But her 
business ability and her love for her children brought her back 
to an interesting life, and in time she was able to look after her 
plantation affairs with the same splendid efficiency of her 
earlier "New Woman" days. Mrs. Pinckney's last days were 
clouded with shadows of war. There had always been more 
or less of war in her life. First in her girlhood it was the 
Spanish War, which threatened her own home and filled her 
heart with anxiety for her father ; then in later years occurred 
the terrible Indian raids in which many a brave Carolina soldier 
lost his life, and finally in her old age, came the American 
Revolution. 

Mrs. Pinckney's position at the beginning of the Revo- 
lution was a hard one, for she was, like her own state of 
Carolina, part rebel and part Tory. Among the English people 
she numbered many of her dearest friends, and she remembered 
her fair-haired English mother and her father in his English 
regimentals, while her heart turned loyally to England and the 
King. But her boys, in spite of fourteen years in England were, 
as their father had been, thorough rebels. Even as a boy at 
school Tom Pinckney had won the name of "Little Rebel," and 
in one of Charles Cotesworth Pinckney's earliest portraits he 



ii2 Part Taken by Women in American History 

is presented as declaiming against the Stamp Act. When the 
test came their mother's sympathy went with the cause for 
which her boys were fighting, naturally making their country 
her country. And she never regretted her choice. She was 
rewarded for her brave life by living to see America free and 
at peace, and her sons most highly respected citizens. And 
so her old age was happy — happier indeed she declared than 
her youth had been, for she writes, "I regret no pleasures that 
I can enjoy, and I enjoy some that I could not have had at an 
earlier season. I now see my children grown up and, blessed 
be God, I see them such as I hoped." What is there in youthful 
enjoyment preferable to this? 

CATHERINE GREENE. 

Catherine Littlefield, the eldest daughter of John Littlefield 
and Phebe Ray, was born in New Shoreham, on Block Island, 
in 1753. When very young she came with her sister to reside 
in the family of Governor Greene, of Warwick, a lineal 
descendant of the family, whose wife was her aunt. It was here 
that Miss Littlefield's very happy girlhood was passed; and 
it was here also that she first knew Nathaniel Greene. Their 
marriage took place July 20, 1774, and the. young couple 
removed to Coventry. Looking at that bright, volatile, coquet- 
tish girl of this time, no one could dream of her future destiny 
as a soldier's wife and comrade; nor that the broad-brimmed 
hat of her young husband covered brows that should one day 
be wreathed with the living laurels won by genius and 
patriotism. 

But when Nathaniel Greene's decision was made, and he 
stood forth a determined patriot, separating himself from the 
community in which he had been born and reared, by embracing 
a military profession, his spirited wife did her part with 



Women of the Revolution 



H3 



enthusiasm to aid and encourage him in his ambition and 
efforts for the success of the patriots. When the army before 
Boston was inoculated with smallpox, she voluntarily gave up 
her beautiful house for a hospital. 

When the army went into winter quarters, she always set 
out to rejoin her husband, sharing cheerfully the narrow 
quarters and hard fare of a camp, bearing heroically her part 
in the privations of the dreary winter at Valley Forge, in that 
"darkest hour of the Revolution/' It appears that there, as at 
home, her gay spirit shed light around her even in such scenes, 
softening and enlivening the gloom which might have weighed 
many a bold heart into despondency. There are extant some 
interesting little notes of Kosciuszko, in very imperfect English, 
which show her kindness to her husband's friends, and the 
pleasure she took in alleviating their sufferings. 

Mrs. Greene joined her husband in the South after the 
close of the active campaign of 1781, and remained with him 
till the end of the war, residing on the islands during the heat 
of summer, and the rest of the time at headquarters. In the 
spring of 1783, she returned North, where she resided till the 
General completed his arrangements for removing to the South. 
They then established themselves at Mulberry Cove, on a 
plantation presented to General Greene by the state of Georgia. 
Mrs. Greene's first impression of southern life and manners 
are painted in lively colors in her letters to northern friends. 
The following passage is from one to Miss Flagg: 

"If you expect to be an inhabitant of this country, you must 
not think to sit down with your netting pins; but on the con- 
trary, employ half your time at the toilet, one quarter to paying 
and receiving visits, the other quarter to scolding servants, with 
a hard thump every now and then over the head, or singing, 
dancing, reading, writing or saying your prayers." 

After the death of General Greene, she removed with her 



ii4 Part Taken by Women in American History 

family of four children to some lands she owned on Cumber- 
land Island, and while occasionally visiting the North in the 
summer, she continued to look upon the South as her home. 

A letter from her about this time gives the incident of 
Colonel Aaron Burr's requesting permission to stop at her 
house when he came South after his duel with General Hamil- 
ton. She would not refuse the demand upon her hospitality, 
but his victim had been her friend and she could not receive 
as a guest one whose hands were crimsoned with Hamilton's 
blood. She gave Burr permission to remain, but at the same 
time ordered her carriage and quitted the house; returning as 
soon as he had taken his departure. This incident is strongly 
illustrative of her impulsive and generous character. 

Her discipline was remarkably strict and none of her 
children ever thought of disobeying her. Yet, she would some- 
times join with child-like merriment in their sports. A friend 
has related how one day, after the close of the war, passing 
General Greene's house in Newport, she saw the General and 
his wife playing "puss in the corner" with the children. 

It was while she lived at Mulberry Cove that she became 
instrumental in introducing to the world an invention which 
has covered with wealth the fields of the South. 

Late in 1792, her sympathies were enlisted in behalf of a 
young man, a native of Massachusetts, who having come to 
Georgia to take the place of a private teacher in a gentleman's 
family, had been disappointed in obtaining the situation and 
found himself without friends or resources in a strange land. 
Mrs. Greene and her family treated him with great kindness. 
He was invited to make his home in her house while he pursued 
the study of law, to which he had determined to devote himself. 
At one time a party of gentlemen on a visit to the family spoke 
of the want of an effective machine for separating the cotton 
from the seed, without which it was mournfully agreed there 



Women of the Revolution 115 

could be no more profitable cultivation of this special product 
of the Southland. Mrs. Greene spoke of the mechanical genius 
of her young protege — who was, of course, Eli Whitney — 
introduced him to the company and showed little specimens of 
his skill in tambour frames and articles for the children. The 
result of this introduction to interested men was the equipment 
of a basement room, into which no one else was admitted, and 
which was appropriated for the young student's workshop. 
There he labored day after day, making the necessary tools and 
persevering with unwearied industry for the perfection of his 
invention. By spring the cotton gin was completed and 
exhibited to the wonder and delight of planters invited from 
different parts of Georgia to witness its successful operation. 
Mr. Phineas Miller entered into an agreement with Whit- 
ney to bear the expense of maturing the invention and to divide 
the future profits. He was a man of remarkably active and 
cultivated mind. Mrs. Greene married him some time after the 
death of General Greene. She survived him several years, 
dying just before the close of the second war with England. 
Her remains rest in the family burial ground at Cumberland 
Island, where but a few years afterwards the body of one of her 
husband's best officers and warmest friends — the gallant Lee 
— was also brought to molder by her side. 

CATHARINE SCHUYLER. 

Catharine Schuyler was the only daughter of John Van 
Rensselaer, called the Patroon of Greenbush, a patriot in the 
Revolutionary struggle, and noted for his hospitality and for 
his kindness and forbearance towards the tenants of his vast 
estates during the war. Many families in poverty remember 
with gratitude the aid received from the daughter of this house- 
hold. After her marriage to Philip Schuyler, General Schuyler 



n6 Part Taken by Women in American History 

of Revolutionary War renown, she came to preside over the 
Schuyler mansion in Albany as well as his beautiful country 
seat near Saratoga, and by her graceful courtesy did much to 
soften the miseries of the war. Nor was she wanting in 
resolution and courage; she proved equal to every great 
emergency. When the Continental army was retreating from 
Fort Edward before Burgoyne, Mrs. Schuyler herself went in 
her chariot from Albany to Saratoga to see to the removal of 
her household goods and gods. While there she received 
directions from the General to set fire with her own hands to 
his extensive fields of wheat rather than suffer them to be 
reaped by the enemy. The injunction shows the soldier's 
confidence in her spirit, firmness and patriotism, and, as she 
literally obeyed his commands, proved that "the heart of her 
husband doth safely trust in her." 

This elegant country-seat was immediately after (lestroyed 
by General Burgoyne, and it is related how, after the surrender 
of Burgoyne, General Schuyler being detained at Saratoga, 
where he had seen the ruins of his beautiful villa, wrote thence 
to his wife to make every preparation for giving the best 
reception to the conquered General. It was certainly one of 
the most picturesque incidents of the war, that the captive 
British general, with his suite, should be received and 
entertained by those whose property he had wantonly laid 
waste. A writer has said in this connection, "All her actions 
proved that at sight of the misfortune of others, she quickly 
forgot her own." This delicacy and generosity drew from 
Burgoyne the observation to General Schuyler, "You are too 
kind to me, who have done so much to injure you." The reply 
was characteristic of the noble-hearted host: "Such is the 
fate of war ; let us not dwell on the subject." 

Many of the women of this illustrious family appear to 
have been remarkable for strong intellect and clear judgment, 



Women of the Revolution 117 

but none lived more brightly in the memories of all those who 
knew her than the wife of General Philip Schuyler. 

Catherine Schuyler died in 1803. 

Such instances were exemplified after the Civil War in 
innumerable instances; conquered vied with the conquerors in 
magnanimity toward each other. 

ELIZABETH SCHUYLER. 

In the family Bible of young Philip Schuyler, when a 
captain under General Bradstreet, the Quartermaster of the 
English army, appears this entry: "Elizabeth, born August 9, 
1757. Do according to Thy will with her." Thus entered into 
the world Elizabeth Schuyler, afterwards the wife of Alexander 
Hamilton. 

When she was only two months old the frightful massacre 
of the German Flats occurred and the refugees fled to Albany. 
In the big barn on the Schuyler estate they found shelter and 
the little Schuyler babies, Elizabeth and Angelica, had to be set 
aside while their young mother, Catharine Schuyler, with the 
other women of the house, helped administer to the needs of the 
poor destitute people. At this time, too, the town of Albany 
was filled with rapacious army troops. A detachment of red- 
coats, under General Charles Lee, lay in the "Indian Field" 
adjoining the ground of the Schuyler mansion, and they did not 
hesitate to lay hands on whatever suited their purpose. Aber- 
crombie, Lee, and kindly, courteous Lord Howe, were all 
visitors there during this period. 

Later, when the defeat of Ticonderoga came, the Schuyler 
barn again opened its hospitable doors. This time it was con- 
verted into a hospital and the wounded British and provincial 
soldiers lay beneath the rafters, fed by the negro slaves and 
nursed by the women of the Schuyler homestead. So, in the 



n8 Part Taken by Women in American History 

midst of war scenes, Elizabeth Schuyler passed her early child- 
hood. As the daughter of so worthy and distinguished a man 
as General Schuyler, she received an education superior to that 
of most Colonial girls, she with her sisters being sent to New 
York to school. Afterwards returning to the Schuyler house 
at Albany, on a memorable afternoon, in October, 1777, she met 
young Alexander Hamilton, the brilliant aid-de-camp on her 
father's staff. The friendship so formed between "Betsy" 
Schuyler and Alexander Hamilton during his short stay in 
Albany was not destined to end there, although it was a period 
of almost two years before they met again. 

When news of the battle of Lexington came ''Betsy" was 
at Saratoga with the rest of the family. War had begun and 
in the days that followed she lived in the midst of army talk 
and army doings, for generals, officers and aids-de-camp were 
coming and going continually at the Schuyler mansion. But 
later on, John Schuyler was appointed to Congress and went 
to live at Philadelphia with his family. The headquarters of 
the army during the campaign of 1779-80, were at Morristown, 
some fifty miles from the Schuyler's Philadelphia home, and 
to Morristown Betsy Schuyler very shortly journeyed to visit 
her aunt. Headquarters were gay at that time, Washington's 
household being composed of a brilliant company. Washington 
and his wife sat opposite each other in the center of the board, 
and on both sides of them almost continually, were ranged many 
distinguished visitors. Impetuous young Aaron Burr was of 
the party, the elegant Baron Steuben and the splendid Duke 
Lauzun. In this illustrious group of men Alexander Hamilton 
shone as the bright particular star, and naturally the one of 
whom Betsy Schuyler saw the most during her visit to Morris- 
town was Alexander Hamilton. As it happened, her stay at 
Morristown was happily prolonged, her father being invited 
by the commander-in-chief to come to headquarters as his 



Women of the Revolution i 19 

military adviser. The Schuyler family were soon established at 
Morristown, and their home became one of the centers of social 
life, and Hamilton spent most of his evenings there. 

On December 14, 1780, Elizabeth Schuyler and Alexander 
Hamilton were married in the ample and handsome drawing- 
room of the Schuyler mansion at Albany, where three years 
before, if reports be true, they had met and loved. Elizabeth 
Schuyler's story of Colonial days ends with her marriage. The 
merry, light-hearted Betsy Schuyler became Mrs. Alexander 
Hamilton, one of the most prominent leaders of official society. 
She was eminently fitted for her high position. In her father's 
home she had been accustomed to entertaining great people of 
the day, and from her mother she had learned the ways of a 
large and ever-ready hospitality, while her natural grace and 
ability assured her own success. We may judge how great a 
lady Betsy Schuyler had become when we read that at the 
Inaugural Ball the President distinguished Mrs. Hamilton, 
and one other woman, by dancing with them. She and her 
husband were included constantly in Washington's dinner and 
theatre parties. 

The Hamiltons were not rich. "I have seen," writes Tal- 
leyrand, "one of the marvels of the world. I have seen the 
man who made the fortune of a Nation laboring all night to 
support his family." Hamilton, however, was not merely the 
most brilliant statesman of his day, and his wife was not only 
a charming society woman. There are glimpses of a beautiful 
home life set apart from official duties and social obligations. 
Hamilton's reason for resigning his seat in the Cabinet has 
become historic. In it we see a proof of his love for his wife 
and children. In this life of "domestic happiness," for which 
Hamilton resigned his career as a statesman, Elizabeth Hamil- 
ton was a bright and cheerful influence. She entered warmly 
into her husband's plans and sympathies and heartily into the 



120 Part Taken by Women in American History 

interests of her children. The sweetness of disposition and 
kindness of heart which, in her girlhood, had so endeared her to 
her friends made her relations as wife and mother very 
beautiful. 

The peace and gladness of the Hamilton home were cruelly 
ended on that fatal July morning, in 1804, when Hamilton 
lost his life. At his untimely death all America mourned and 
the terrible sorrow of his family cannot be described. His wife, 
the "dear Betsy" of his boyhood, survived her husband for fifty, 
long, lonesome years. When she died, at ninety-seven, a 
pleasant, sweet-faced old lady, praised for her sunny nature 
and her quiet humor, a pocketbook was found in her possession. 
Within it lay a yellow, time-worn letter. It was written on the 
morning of the duel, and was Hamilton's farewell to his 
"Beloved Wife." 

MARY BUCKMAN BROWN. 

The wife of Francis Brown is one of the unsung heroines of the Revolu- 
tionary War. She was born in 1740, and died in Lexington in 1824. The only 
biography of her merely states that she was "small in stature, quiet and retiring, 
of great refinement and of considerable culture." But the descendants of Mr. and 
Mrs. Francis Brown are many and they have always been prominent or representa- 
tive citizens in that part of New England. Her husband traced his descent back 
to earliest Colonial ancestry in the persons of "John Brown and Dorothy his wife," 
who came to the New World in 1630. The knowledge of the Lexington Minute 
Men is such as to show that Francis Brown was a man of great decision of char- 
acter, and well fitted by nature and training to meet the impending crises of that 
time. In letters treasured by his descendants we find the highest tribute to the 
true courage of his wife, and of her heroic conduct, when during the war her house 
was attacked, and after a hasty concealment of her household treasures, she was 
obliged to retreat to the woods and care for her children there for several days. 

SARAH HULL. 

Sarah Hull, the wife of Major William Hull, was one of those women who 
followed their husbands in the response to the Revolutionary call to arms and par- 
took of their dangers and privations. She was the daughter of Judge Fuller of 
Newton, Massachusetts, and was born about 1755. 

While with the army at Saratoga, she joined the other American women 



Women of the Revolution 121 



there in kind and soothing attentions to the wives and families of the British officers 
who were held prisoners, after Burgoyne's surrender. For several years after the 
close of the war General Hull held the office of Governor of Michigan Territory, 
and in her eminent station, Mrs. Hull displayed so much good sense with more 
brilliant accomplishments, that she improved the state of society in this neighbor- 
hood, which was at that time a pioneer tract, without provoking envy by her 
superiority. Those who visited the then wild country about them found a generous 
welcome at her hospitable mansion, and departed with admiring recollections of 
her and her daughters. 

But it was in the cloud of misfortune that the energy of Mrs. Hull's char- 
acter was most clearly shown. Governor Hull having been appointed Major-General 
in the war of 1812, met with disasters which compelled his surrender and subjected 
him to suspicion of treason. His protracted trial and his defense belong to history. 
His wife sustained these evils with patient, trustful serenity, believing that the day 
would come when all doubts would be cleared away, and her husband restored to 
public confidence. The loss of her son in battle was also borne with the same 
Christian fortitude, her quiet demeanor and placid face betraying no trace of the 
suffering that had wrung her heart. Happily she lived to see her hopes realized 
in the General's complete vindication, and died in 1826, in less than a year after his 
decease. 

SUSAN LIVINGSTON. 

Susan, the eldest daughter of William Livingston, 
Governor of New Jersey at the time of the Revolution, is 
accredited with two strategic moves against the enemy, which 
were distinctly clever and which could have been effected only 
by a woman. 

On the 28th of February, 1779, a party of British troops 
from New York landed at Elizabethtown Point for the purpose 
of capturing the Governor of New Jersey and annihilating the 
force stationed in that village. One detachment marched at 
night to "Liberty Hall," the executive mansion, and forced 
an entrance. Governor Livingston, however, happened to have 
left home some hours previously, hence they were disappointed 
in not securing their prisoner. The British officer demanded 
the Governor's papers. Miss Livingston, the embodiment of 
modest and charming young womanhood, readily assented to 
the demand, but, appealing to him as a gentleman, requested 



122 Part Taken by Women in American History 



that a box standing in the parlor which she claimed contained 
her private belongings, should be unmolested. The gallant 
young British officer, flattered by her appeal, stationed a guard 
over it, while the library was given over to the soldiers for sack- 
ing. They forthwith filled their foraging bags with worthless 
papers and departed, little suspecting that the box which had 
been so sedulously guarded contained all the Governor's corres- 
pondence with Congress, with the commander-in-chief and the 
state officers, and that the strategy of Susan Livingston had 
thus preserved what would have proved a most valuable prize 
to the plunderers. 

Again, when New Jersey was once more invaded by the 
British, and all the neighboring villages were seen in flames, the 
Governor's house, the historic "Liberty Hall" in Elizabethtown, 
was left untouched, and its inmates, the women of the family, 
the Governor being absent, were treated with the greatest 
courtesy. The explanation lies in the romantic fact that just as 
the soldiers were advancing upon the house, one of the British 
officers received a rose from Miss Susan Livingston as a 
memento of a promise of protection he had made the fascinating 
young woman at the time when hostilities merely hung fire. 

It was a younger sister of Miss Livingston who figures in 
the national tapestry as the recipient of the favor of General 
Washington, as expressed in the following very human note 
written amid the hardships of that most desolate of all American 
camps in the Revolution. 

"General Washington having been informed lately of the 
honor done him by Miss Kitty Livingston in wishing for a lock 
of his hair, takes the liberty of inclosing one, accompanied by 
his most respectful compliments. 

"Camp Valley Forge, March 18th, 1778." 

All the letters of Governor Livingston to his daughters 



Women of the Revolution 123 

show the sympathy that existed between them, and his con- 
fidence in the strength of their Republican principles. His 
opinions and wishes on all subjects are openly expressed to 
them, showing how thoroughly women of this period of 
struggle and stress were taken into partnership, not only, as 
was necessary, in the dangers, but in sharing the ambition and 
confidences of the men, when the exigencies of the times 
demanded that they should know how to fight as well as to pray. 

ELIZABETH CLAY. 

Elizabeth Clay, the mother of Henry Clay, was born in the county of Hanover, 
in Virginia, in 1750. Her early education was such as was attainable at that period 
in the colony. She was the younger of two daughters who were the only children 
of George and Elizabeth Hudson, and before she was fifteen years old she had 
married John Clay, a preacher of the Baptist denomination. She became the 
mother of eight children and Henry Clay was among the elder of these. Her hus- 
band died during the Revolution, and some years after Mrs. Clay contracted a 
second marriage with Mr. Henry Watkins, and in course of time eight more chil- 
dren were added to her family. The cares devolving upon her in the charge of so 
many children and the superintendence of domestic concerns naturally occupied 
her time to the exclusion of any participation in matters of public interest. She 
must, however, have borne her share in the agitations and dangers of the time, in 
behalf of those who claimed her maternal solicitude and guidance. She died in 1827, 
having survived most of her children. 

DOROTHY HANCOCK. 

Mrs. Hancock was one of those who, by her courtesies to the officers and 
ladies of the British army when Burgoyne was under the convention of surrender, 
made Cambridge a brilliant center of hospitality and fashion. She was the daughter 
of Edmund Quincy, of Massachusetts, and was born in 1750. At the age of twenty- 
four she married John Hancock, one of the great men of the age, and, aided by the 
lustre of his fortunes, she became a leader in society, filling her station with rare 
dignity and grace. At her table there might be seen all classes; the grave clergy, 
the veteran and the gay, the gifted in song, or anecdote or wit. The dinner hour 
was at one or two o'clock; three was the latest for formal occasions. The evening 
amusement was usually a game of cards, and dancing was much in vogue. There 
were concerts, but theatrical productions were prohibited. Much attention was paid 
to dress; coats of various colors were worn by the men. All of which shows that 
the new country was capable of a salon and much pretentious social intercourse, not- 
withstanding the war they had just passed through and the hardships they had 
endured. 



124 Part Taken by Women in American History 

During the life of her husband Mrs. Hancock was of necessity much in the 
gay world, in which she occupied a position of unusual distinction. After Han- 
cock's death, she married Captain Scott, with whom she passed a less brilliant yet 
no less happy life. Her later years were spent in seclusion. She was still, how- 
ever, surrounded by friends who felt themselves instructed and charmed by her 
superior mind. She went but little into society, yet, whenever she appeared she was 
received with great attention. La Fayette, on his visit to this country, called upon 
her and many spoke of the interesting interview witnessed between "the once youth- 
ful chevalier and the splendid belle." She died in her seventy-eighth year, a woman 
of whose brilliant life and beautiful poise her countrymen may well be proud. 

MERCY WARREN. 

The name of Mercy Warren belongs to American History. 
In the influence she exercised she was, perhaps, the most 
remarkable woman who lived during the Revolutionary period. 
Seldom has one woman in any age acquired such an ascendency 
over the strongest by mere force of a powerful intellect. She is 
said to have supplied political parties with their arguments ; and 
she was the first of her sex in America who taught the reading 
world in matters of state policy and history. 

She was the third child of Colonel James Otis, of Barn- 
stable, in the old colony of Plymouth, and was born there, 
September 25, 1728. The youth of Miss Otis was passed in 
the retirement of her home, and her love for reading was early 
manifest. At that period the opportunities for woman's 
education were extremely limited and Miss Otis gained nothing 
from schools. Her only assistant in intellectual culture of her 
early years was Rev. Jonathan Russell, the minister of the 
parish from whose library she was supplied with books and by 
whose counsels her tastes were in a measure formed. It was 
from reading at his advice Raleigh's "History of the World" 
that her attention was particularly directed to history, the 
branch of literature to which she afterwards devoted herself. 
In later years, her brother James, who was himself an excellent 
scholar, became her adviser and companion in literary pursuits. 



Women of the Revolution 125 

There existed between them a strong attachment, which nothing 
ever impaired. Even in the wildest moods of that insanity with 
which, late in life, the great patriot was afflicted, her voice had 
power to calm him, when all else failed. 

When about twenty-six, Miss Otis became the wife of 
James Warren, then a merchant of Plymouth, Massachusetts, 
and in him she found a partner of congenial mind. 

It was during the occasional visits of a few weeks at a 
time to their farm near Plymouth, which she called "Clifford," 
that most of her poetical productions were written. 

With a fondness for historical studies, and the companion- 
ship of such a brother and husband, it is not strange that the 
active and powerful intellect of Mrs. Warren should have 
become engaged with interest in political affairs. How warmly 
Mrs. Warren espoused the cause of her country, how deeply 
her feelings were enlisted, appears in her letters to the great 
spirits of that era. This rich correspondence has been preserved 
by her descendants. It includes letters, besides those from 
members of her own family, — and letters were dissertations, 
not a hodgepodge of trivialities in those days — from Samuel 
and John Adams, Jefferson, Dickinson, Gerry, Knox and others. 
These men asked her opinion in political matters, and acknowl- 
edged the excellence of her judgment. Referring to some of 
her observations on the critical state of affairs after the war, 
General Knox writes: "I should be happy, Madam, to receive 
your communications from time to time, particularly on the 
subject enlarged on in this letter. Your sentiments shall remain 
with me." 

During the years that preceded the Revolution and after 
its outbreak, Mrs. Warren's house appears to have been the 
resort of much company. As she herself says, "by the Ply- 
mouth fireside were many political plans discussed and 
digested." Although her home was in Plymouth, her place of 



126 Part Taken by Women in American History 

residence was occasionally changed during the war. At one 
time she lived in the house at Milton, which Governor Hutchin- 
son had occupied. Wherever she was, the friends of America 
were always welcomed to the shelter of her roof, and the 
hospitalities of her table. In different passages of her letters 
to John Adams, the officers with whom she became acquainted 
are described. The following extract is interesting: 

"The Generals, Washington, Lee, and Gates, with several 
other distinguished officers, dined with us three days since. The 
first of these, I think, is one of the most amiable and accom- 
plished gentlemen, both in person, mind, and manners, that I 
have met. The second, whom I never saw before, I think 
plain in his person to a degree of ugliness, careless even to 
impoliteness, his garb ordinary, his voice rough, his manners 
rather morose ; yet sensible, learned, judicious, and penetrating ; 
a considerable traveler, agreeable in his narrations, and a 
zealous, indefatigable friend of the American cause, but much 
more for a love of freedom and an impartial sense of the 
inherent rights of mankind at large, than from any attachment 
or disgust to particular persons or countries. The last is a 
brave soldier, a high republican, a sensible companion, and an 
honest man, of unaffected manners and easy deportment." 

And La Fayette is praised in this laconic fashion: "Pene- 
trating, active, sensible, judicious, he acquits himself with the 
highest applause in the public eye, while the politeness of his 
manners and sociability of his temper insure his welcome at 
every hospitable board." 

Every page from the p<m of Mrs. Warren is remarkable 
for clearness and vigor of thought. Thus, her style is not 
vitiated by the artificial tastes of the day; yet, her expression is 
often studiously elaborated, in accordance with the prevalent 
fashion, and smothered in classic allusion. This is the case in 
her letters written with most care; while in others, her ardent 



Women of the Revolution 127 

spirit pours out its feelings with irrepressible energy, portray- 
ing itself in the genuine and simple language of emotion. Mrs. 
Warren kept a faithful record of occurrences during the dark 
days of her country's affliction, through times that engaged 
the attention of both the philosopher and the politician. She did 
this with the design of transmitting to posterity a faithful 
portraiture of the most distinguished characters of the day. 
Her intention was fulfilled in her history of the American 
Revolution. This work exhibits her as a writer in advance of 
her age. Its sound judgment and careful research, with its 
vigorous style, give it a high and lasting value. Her portraiture 
of Mr. Adams gave offense to the great statesman, which, for 
a time, threatened to interrupt the affectionate relations 
between the two families. But after a sharp correspondence, it 
was amicably settled, and as a token of reconciliation, Mrs. 
Adams sent her friend a ring containing her own and her 
husband's hair. This is now in possession of one of Mrs. 
Warren's descendants. 

The several satirical dramatic pieces that Mrs. Warren 
wrote criticising the follies of her day and humorously intro- 
ducing the leading Tory characters, produced a marked 
sensation, and a strong political influence is ascribed to the 
bold and keen satire in these poems. 

Her two tragedies, "The Sack of Rome" and "The Ladies 
of Castile" are more remarkable for patriotic sentiment than for 
dramatic merit. The verse is smooth and flowing and the 
language poetical, but often wanting in the simplicity essential 
to true pathos. The tragedies were, however, read with interest 
and much praised in after years. Alexander Hamilton writes 
to the author, "It is certain that in the 'Ladies of Castile' the 
sex will find a new occasion of triumph. Not being a poet 
myself, I am in the less danger of feeling mortification at the 
idea that, in the career of dramatic composition at least, female 
genius in the United States has out-stripped the male." 



128 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Altogether, the literary workmanship and the political 
influence of Mercy Warren appears an anachronism in time and 
place, for a new country at war is not supposed to shape its 
course by literature, and surely the Puritan forbearance had 
shown little disposition to abide by the counsels of women, 
though ofttimes acting unconsciously under the influence of 
some brainy woman, who was too clever to let on that she recog- 
nized the conceptions of her fertile brain expressed by some 
man over whom she had subtle power. 

In her last illness, her constant fear was that she might lose 
her mental faculties as death approached. She prayed 
effectively to be spared this dreaded condition. To her latest 
breath her mind was unclouded, and with an expression of 
thankfulness and peacefulness, she passed to the rest that 
awaits the faithful Christian, October 19, 1814, in the eighty- 
seventh year of her remarkably forceful life. 

MARY DRAPER. 

Mary Draper, who was the wife of Captain Draper of 
Revolutionary fame, deserves to be classed with Putnam and 
Stark whose rough-and-ready and instantaneous response to 
their country's appeal has become a matter of historic tradition. 
When the news reached Connecticut that blood had been shed, 
Putnam, who was at work in the field, left his plow in the fur- 
row, and started for Cambridge without changing his coat. 
Stark was sawing pine logs without a coat ; he shut down the 
gate of his mill and began his journey to Boston in his shirt 
sleeves. And Mary Draper, from her farm in Dedham, 
Massachusetts, was not one whit less active in her patriotic 
zeal. When the first call to arms sounded throughout the land, 
she exhorted her husband to lose no time in hastening to the 
scene of action ; and with her own hands bound knapsack and 



Women of the Revolution 129 

blanket on the shoulders of her only son, a stripling of sixteen, 
bidding him depart and do his duty. To the entreaties of her 
daughter that her young brother might remain at home to be 
their protector, she answered that every arm able to aid the 
cause belonged to the country. "He is wanted and must go. 
You and I, Kate, have also service to do. Food must be 
prepared for the hungry; for before to-morrow night hun- 
dreds, I hope thousands, will be on their way to join the 
Continental forces. Some who have traveled far will need 
refreshment, and you and I, with Molly, must feed as many 
as we can." This speech has not come down to history with 
the sententious utterances of great generals and yet it was the 
basis of homely action that was of inestimable succor in the 
starting of that terrific struggle for liberty. Captain Draper 
was a thriving farmer; his granaries were filled and his wife's 
dairy was her special care and pride. All these resources she 
made contribute to her benevolent purpose. Assisted by her 
daughter and the domestic, she spent the whole day and night, 
and the succeeding day, in baking brown bread. The ovens 
of that day were suited for such an occasion, each holding 
bread sufficient to supply a neighborhood. These were soon in 
full blast and the kneading trough was plied by hands that 
shrank not from the task. 

At that time of hurry and confusion, Mary Draper realized 
that none could stop long enough to dine, so she prepared to 
dispense her stores even as the men hurried along to join the 
army. With the aid of a disabled veteran of the French wars, 
who had been a pensioner in her family, she erected a long form 
by the roadside; large pans of bread and cheese were placed 
upon it and replenished as often as was necessary, while old 
John brought cider in pails from the cellar, which, poured into 
tubs, was served out by two lads who volunteered their services. 
Unquestionably if it had not been for this aid to the weary 



130 Part Taken by Women in American History 

patriots, many of them, who, under the influence of strong 
excitement, had started without rations of any sort, would have 
fallen by the way, exhausted from want of food. 

Then, ere long, after the battle of Bunker Hill, came the 
startling intelligence of a scarcity of ammunition, and General 
Washington called upon the inhabitants to send to headquarters 
every ounce of lead or pewter at their disposal, saying that any 
quantity, however small, would be gratefully received. Now, it 
is difficult at this day to estimate the value of pewter then, as 
an ornament as well as an indispensable convenience. The 
more precious metals had not then found their way to the 
tables of New Englanders, and throughout the country, services 
of pewter, scoured to the brightness of silver, covered the board, 
even in the mansions of the wealthy. 

Mrs. Draper was rich in a large stock of pewter, which 
she valued of course, as an excellent housewife would, but also 
much of it was precious to her as the gift of a departed mother. 
But the call of General Washington reached her patriotic heart 
and she delayed not obedience, thankful only that she was able 
to contribute so largely to the requirements of her suffering 
country. Nor was she satisfied with merely giving the material 
required. Her husband before joining the army had purchased 
a mold for casting bullets, and Mrs. Draper herself now trans- 
formed her platters, pans, and dishes into balls for the guns of 
the Continental Army. Such was the aid rendered by this 
woman whose deeds of disinterested generosity were never 
known beyond her own immediate neighborhood. 

Who shall say that such an example of moral courage and 
self-sacrifice was not equal to the bravest deeds of the soldiers 
of the Revolutionary War, and that the report of the heroism 
of Captain Draper's wife exercised a more powerful influence 
over Captain Draper's men than all of his importuning to them 
to stand firmly by their guns in the cause of freedom. 



iWOMEN OF THE REVOLUTION I3I 



MRS. RICHARD CRANCH. 

Mary Smith, the elder sister of Abigail Adams, was married in 1762 to 
Richard Cranch, afterwards Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Massachu- 
chusetts. In 1775 the family moved from Boston to Quincy, then a part of Brain- 
tree, where they continued to reside till 181 1. In October of that year both Mr. 
and Mrs. Cranch died and were buried on the same day. Mrs. Cranch is remem- 
bered for the work she accomplished in collecting supplies and clothing for the 
ragged army in the Revolution. Judge William Cranch was her son. 

SABRINA ELLIOTT. 

In times of national stress a turn of wit has often done more to strengthen 
the spirit of a cause than a deed of spectacular resistance. The following anecdote 
of Sabrina Elliott's wit illustrates the point. Living a widow, and unprotected, 
her home was raided by the enemy's soldiers, and the British officer in command 
personally supervised the plundering of her poultry houses. Afterward, in sur- 
veying the wreck, she observed straying about the premises an old muscovy drake 
which had escaped the general search. She immediately had him caught, and 
mounting a servant on horseback, ordered him to follow and deliver the bird to 
the officer, with her compliments and to express her grief that in the hurry of 
departure he had left such an important acquisition behind. 

This story, laughed over by grim camp fires, did more to hearten the dis- 
couraged American soldiers than hysterical resistance to the enemy on the woman's 
part could possibly have done. 

MARTHA WILSON. 

Mrs. Wilson was the daughter of Colonel Charles Stewart, 
of New Jersey. She was born December 20, 1758, at "Sidney," 
the residence of her maternal grandfather, Judge Johnston, in 
the township of Kingwood and county of Hunterdon in that 
state. This old mansion was at that time one of the most stately 
and aristocratic of the colonial residences in that section of 
New Jersey. Constructed while the border settlements of the 
province were still subject to treacherous visits from the Indian, 
its square and massive walls and heavy portals were not only 
an expression of "the pride of life," but had reference as well 
to protection and defence, and for many years in its earlier use 
it was not only the stronghold of the wealthy proprietor, his 



132 Part Taken by Women in American History 

family and dependents, but the refuge in alarm for miles around 
to the settlers whose humbler abodes were more assailable by 
the rifle and firebrand of the red men. "The big stone house," 
as it was designated in the common parlance of the people, was 
thus long noted as a place of refuge in danger and not less, 
in later times, as one of redress for wrongs and their punish- 
ment, Judge Johnston having been, for more than thirty years 
previous to the Revolution, the chief magistrate of that section 
of the colony, holding court on Monday of every week in one of 
the halls of his dwelling. 

Such was the birthplace and home in childhood of Mrs. 
Wilson, but her girlhood and young womanhood, passed in the 
home of her father, was in no less beautiful and interesting 
surroundings. Previous to the Revolution, Colonel Stewart 
resided chiefly at "Lansdowne," a beautiful property imme- 
diately adjoining the estate of his father-in-law; and here, 
when she was thirteen, her mother having died, Mrs. Wilson 
already giving proof of mental attainments and maturity of 
character, entertained for her father the most distinguished men 
of the day. The hospitality of Colonel Stewart was unbounded. 
His friend, Chief Justice Smith, of New Jersey, expressed this 
trait of character in the epitaph upon his tomb: "The friend 
and the stranger were almost compelled to come in." And it 
was at his table and fireside in association with the choice spirits 
in intellect and public influence that his daughter imbibed the 
principles of patriotism and the love of liberty which entitles her 
name and character to a prominent place among women of the 
Revolution. 

Colonel Stewart had, by energy of character and enlarged 
enterprise, secured both private and public influence, and the 
first breath of the "spirit of '76" which passed over the land 
fanned into flame his zeal for freedom and honor of his country, 
which no discouragement could dampen and which no toil, nor 



WOMEN OF THE REVOLUTION 1 33 

danger, nor disaster could extinguish. One of his daughter's 
strongest recollections was of being told, on his return from 
the first general meeting of the Patriots of New Jersey for a 
declaration of rights, an incident relating to himself and highly 
characteristic of the times. Many of the most distinguished 
royalists were his personal and intimate friends and when it 
became evident that a crisis in public feeling was about to 
occur, great efforts were made by some of those holding office 
under the crown to win him to their side. Tempting promises 
of ministerial favor and advancement were made to induce 
him to at least withhold his influence from the cause of the 
people, even if he would not take part in the support of the 
King. Such overtures were in vain, and at this meeting he rose 
and was one of the first boldly to pledge "his life, his fortune, 
and his sacred honor/' in defence of the rights of freemen 
against the aggressions of the throne. The attorney-general, 
approaching and extending his hand, said to him in saddened 
tones, "Farewell, my friend Charles, when the halter is about 
your neck, send for me. I'll do what I can to save you." 
Colonel Stewart eventually became one of the Staff of Wash- 
ington, as Commissary General of Issues, by Commission of the 
Congress of 1776. 

Thus, Mrs. Wilson, who again became the head of her 
father's household, when her young husband, Robert Wilson, 
himself an ardent American adherent, died after barely two 
years of married life, was given an opportunity for more favor- 
able observation and knowledge of important movements and 
events than that of any other woman certainly in her native 
state. Her father, at the head of an important department, 
from necessity became acquainted with the principal officers of 
the army, and headquarters being most of the time within 
twenty or thirty miles of her residence, she not only had con- 
stant intercourse in person and by letter with him, but fre- 



134 Part Taken by Women in American History 

quently and repeatedly entertained at her house many of his 
military friends. Among these were Washington, La Fayette, 
Hamilton, Wayne, Greene, Maxwell, Lincoln, Henry Lee, 
Stevens, Walter Stewart, Ethan Allen, Pulaski, Butler, Sin- 
clair, Woodward, Varnum, Paul Jones, Cochrane, Craik and 
many others. 

General and Mrs. Washington were several times her 
guests, and the hospitality which Mrs. Wilson had the privilege 
thus repeatedly to extend to these illustrious guests was not 
forgotten by them, but most kindly acknowledged by very 
marked attentions to Mrs. Wilson's daughter and only child 
on her entrance into society in Philadelphia, during the 
presidency of Washington. By personal calls and invitations 
to her private parties, Mrs. Washington distinguished the 
young woman by consideration rarely shown to youthful 
persons. 

It was not alone for friends and acquaintances and persons 
of distinction and known rank that Mrs. Wilson kept open 
house in the Revolution. Such was the liberality of her 
patriotism that her gates in the public road bore in conspicuous 
characters the inscription : "Hospitality within to all American 
officers and refreshment for their soldiers," an invitation not 
likely to be allowed to remain a mere form of words on the 
regular route of communication between northern and southern 
posts of the army. 

From the commencement of the struggle for freedom till 
its close, Mrs. Wilson was a personal witness and participator 
in scenes of more than ordinary interest. She was in Phila- 
delphia on the day the Declaration of Independence was made, 
and made one of a party — embracing the elite of the beauty, 
wealth and fashion of the city and neighborhood — to be 
entertained at a brilliant fete given in honor of the event, on 
board the frigate "Washington" at anchor in the Delaware, by 



Women of the Revolution 135 

Captain Reed, the Commander. The magnificent brocade which 
she wore on the occasion, with its hooped petticoat, flowing 
train, laces, gimp and flowers, remained in its wardrobe 
unaltered for years, but was eventually cut up to become the 
victim of that taste of descendants for turning the antique 
frocks of grandmammas into eiderdown bedspreads and draw- 
ing-room chair covers. 

Till the death of Colonel Stewart, in 1800, Mrs. Wilson 
continued at the head of his family, the wise, benevolent, 
energetic and universally admired manager of a house 
proverbial in her native state and extensively out of it, for 
generous and never changing hospitality. For a period of 
nearly fifteen years after the death of her father, much of 
Mrs. Wilson's time became necessarily devoted to the settle- 
ment of a large and widely scattered landed estate, and the 
clearness of judgment, practical knowledge and firmness of 
purpose and character witnessed in her by much of the finest 
talent at the bar and on the bench, not only in New Jersey, but 
in the adjoining states during the legal investigations of claims, 
titles and references, were such as to secure to her in general 
estimation a degree of respect for talent and ability not often 
accorded her sex in that day. 

Not long after she had been called to the management of 
her father's estate, two orphan sons of her brother were left in 
their childhood to Mrs. Wilson's guardianship and maternal 
care. A series of letters written by her to one of these adopted 
sons, while a boy in school and college, have been given to the 
public, and their deep appreciation of the spirit of youth, and 
at the same time the inspiring guidance of their text makes 
them not only a striking exhibition of the fidelity with which 
she fulfilled her trust, but a contribution to literature. 

The marriage of her only daughter and child, in 1802, to 
John M. Bowers, of Bowerstown, Otsego County, New York, 



136 Part Taken by Women in American History 

led Mrs. Wilson to change her home from New Jersey to 
Cooperstown, New York, in which village for a long period 
afterward she had a home, but eventually she went to live with 
her daughter at the latter's beautiful home "Lakelands" in the 
immediate vicinity. Her end in the peaceful prosperity of her 
country was in marked contrast to her thrilling experiences 
during its struggle for Independence. 

REBECCA MOTTE. 

The manorial style of living, together with the slave labor, 
bred in the South during Colonial times developed a type of 
grande dame such as the more rigorous living in the northern 
colonies had not evolved at the time of the Revolution. But that 
the heroic strain existed in the women of social grace and 
softened loves, as well as in the stern Puritan Mothers, is fully 
illustrated in the sacrifice and heroism of Rebecca Motte. A 
few incidents of her life told without the least attempt at 
ornament show forth the rare energy and firmness of this 
woman, and her disinterested devotion to the American cause, 
as no rhetorical encomium could. 

In 1758 she married Jacob Motte, one of the wealthiest 
men of the South and an ardent patriot, but his life was 
sacrificed early in the struggle for Independence, and having 
no son to perform his duty to the country, Mrs. Motte showed 
herself equal to the courage of men together with the dignity 
and diplomacy of the highest type of womanhood. 

At different times during the first part of the war, it was 
her lot to encounter the presence of the enemy, and, surprised 
by the British at one of her country residences on the Santee, 
her son-in-law, General Pinckney, who happened to be with her 
at the time, barely escaped capture by taking refuge in the 
swamps. It was to avoid such annoyances that she removed to 



Women of the Revolution 137 

"Buckhead," the then new and large mansion house between 
Charleston and Camden, to be known afterwards as Fort Motte 
because of the patriotism so strikingly displayed there by this 
daughter of South Carolina. 

A British detachment under McPherson had seized the 
mansion house and occupied it with a garrison, removing Mrs. 
Motte, without ceremony, to an old farmhouse on a hill oppo- 
site the beautiful residence which was her legal home. The 
American force attempting to dislodge McPherson from this 
position was under Lieutenant-Colonel Lee and the intrepid 
Marion, and, receiving orders from General Greene to complete 
the surrender of McPherson, before he could be re-enforced by 
General Rawdon, who was proceeding to the Motte Mansion, on 
his retreat from Camden, they concluded that redoubled activ- 
ity was imperative. On account of the deep trench and strong 
and lofty parapet which McPherson had placed about the man- 
sion, there could be no direct assault attempted, and the only 
expedient left for compelling the immediate surrender of the 
garrison was to burn the homestead. This expedient was reluc- 
tantly resolved upon by Marion and Lee who, unwilling under 
any circumstances to destroy private property, felt the duty 
to be much more painful in the present case, since it must be 
done in sight of the owner, whose husband had been a firm 
friend to his country, and whose daughter was the wife of a 
gallant officer, then a prisoner in the hands of the British. 
Moreover, Lee had made the farmhouse dwelling of Mrs. Motte 
his quarters, and she, not satisfied with extending hospitality 
as liberal as possible to the officers of her country, had attended 
with active benevolence to the sick and wounded of the Ameri- 
can force. It was thus not without deep regret that the com- 
manders determined on the sacrifice and that the Lieutenant- 
Colonel found himself compelled to inform Mrs. Motte of the 
unavoidable necessity of the destruction of her property. 



138 Part Taken by Women in American History 

The smile, however, with which the communication was 
received gave instant relief to the embarrassed officer. Mrs. 
Motte not only assented, but declared that she was "gratified 
with the opportunity of contributing to the good of her country, 
and should view the approaching scene with delight." More- 
over, shortly after, seeing by accident the bow and arrows 
which had been prepared to carry the balls of blazing rosin 
and brimstone to the shingled roof of the mansion, Mrs. Motte 
sent for Lee, and presented him with a bow and its apparatus, 
which had been imported from India, and was better adapted 
for the object than those provided. 

The scorching rays of the noonday sun had prepared 
the roof for the conflagration, and, despite the efforts of 
McPherson's men to tear off the shingles as they caught fire, 
it soon became evident that the place could not be held against 
the flames, and the commandant hung out the white flag and 
surrendered the garrison. 

"If ever a situation in real life afforded a fit subject for 
poetry," remarks one historian, "it was that of Mrs. Motte 
contemplating the spectacle of her home in flames, and rejoic- 
ing in the triumph secured to her countrymen — the benefit to 
her native land by her surrender of her own interest to the 
public service." 

After the captors had taken possession of the fortified 
house, McPherson and his officers accompanied the victorious 
Generals to Mrs. Motte's dwelling, where they all sat down to 
a sumptuous dinner. Here again the value of their hostess' 
character shone. She showed herself prepared not only to give 
up her splendid mansion to insure victory to the American arms, 
but to do her part toward obliterating the recollection of her 
loss, and at the same time to remove from the minds of the 
prisoners the weight of their misfortune. 

To her example of dignified, courteous and graceful con- 



Women of the Revolution 139 



duct toward the defeated is doubtless due much of the magna- 
nimity exercised by the visitors towards those who, according 
to strict rule, had no right to expect mercy. While the mingled 
party was still at the table, it was whispered in Marion's ear 
that Colonel Lee's men were even then engaged in hanging 
certain of the Tory prisoners. Marion instantly hurried from 
the table, seized his sword and, running with all haste, reached 
the place of execution in time to rescue one poor wretch from 
the gallows. W'ith drawn sword and a degree of indignation 
that spoke more than words, Marion threatened to kill the first 
man that made any further attempt in such diabolical proceed- 
ings. Mrs. Motte's gentle kindness in the face of personal loss 
had pointed the way to Christian warfare. 

When an attack upon Charleston was apprehended, and 
every man able to render service was summoned to aid in throw- 
ing up intrenchments for the defense of the city, Mrs. Motte 
dispatched a messenger to her plantation, and ordered down to 
Charleston every male slave capable of work, providing each, at 
her own expense, with proper implements and a soldier's rations. 
The value of this unexpected aid was enhanced by the spirit 
which prompted the patriotic offer. 

When, indeed, the British took possession of Charleston, 
the house in which Mrs. Motte resided was selected as the head- 
quarters of the English colonels in command, but she deter- 
mined not to be driven out, and with inimitable grace and tact, 
she continued to preside at the head of her own table in a com- 
pany of thirty British officers, who may have been disconcerted 
at being treated as guests, but who certainly could not complain 
of her hospitality. The duties forced upon her were discharged 
with exquisite tact, yet she always replied with spirit to the dis- 
courteous taunts frequently uttered in her presence against her 
"rebel countrymen." In many scenes of danger and disaster 
her fortitude was put to the test, yet, through all, this noble- 



140 Part Taken by Women in American History 

spirited woman regarded not her own advantage, but always 
and ever the public good. 

Perhaps one of the "biggest little" things Rebecca Motte 
ever did was the assumption of the responsibility of certain 
claims against her husband's depleted estate, he having become 
deeply involved by securities undertaken for his friends. 
Despite her friends' warning of the apparent hopelessness of 
such a task, she set about determinedly to devote the rest of 
her life to the task of honorably discharging those obligations, 
and steadfast in the principles that had governed all her con- 
duct, she persevered. She procured on credit a valuable body 
of rice land, then an uncleared swamp, on the Santee, built 
houses for her negroes, and took up her abode on the planta- 
tion. Living in an humble dwelling and sacrificing all her 
habitual comforts, she so devoted herself with untiring indus- 
try to the problem before her that, in spite of the distracted 
state of the country, following the war, she eventually tri- 
umphed over every difficulty, and not only succeeded in paying 
her husband's debts, but secured for her children and descend- 
ants a handsome and unencumbered estate. As her biographer 
said: "Such an example of perseverance, under adverse circum- 
stances, for the accomplishment of a high and noble purpose, 
exhibits in yet brighter colors the heroism that shone in her 
country's peril." 

This woman of whom her state and country should be so 
justly proud, died in 1815 on the plantation on which her long 
years of retirement since the war had been passed, the seventy- 
seven years of her splendid life having embraced the most thrill- 
ing period of our Nation's life. 

SUSANNAH ELLIOTT. 

Closely connected with the better-known name and personality of Rebecca 
Motte, there lies in the memory of South Carolina history a proud recollection of 



Women of the Revolution 141 

Susannah Elliott. She was the daughter of Benjamin Smith, for many years 
Speaker of the Assembly of the province, but left young an orphan and an heiress, 
she was brought up by her aunt, Mrs. Rebecca Motte, with whom she lived until 
her marriage. She seems to have absorbed much of Mrs. Motte's spirit of patriot- 
ism, and to history she is known principally through an incident that illustrates 
the effects of this inspiration. This was after her marriage to Colonel Barnard 
Elliott, when she presented a pair of colors embroidered by her own hand to the 
second South Carolina regiment of infantry, commanded by Colonel Moultrie, in 
commemoration of their illustrious bravery during the attack on Fort Moultrie, 
Sullivan's Island, which took place June 28, 1776. The colors, one of fine blue 
and the other of red silk, were received from Mrs. Elliott by the Colonel and 
Lieutenant-Colonel, and a solemn vow registered by the Colonel in the name of 
the soldiers that they should be honorably supported and never tarnished by a 
discreditable record of the second regiment. And this pledge was nobly fulfilled. 
Three years afterwards they were planted on the British lines at Savannah and 
the two officers who bore them having lost their lives just before the retreat was 
ordered, the gallant Sergeant Jasper in planting them on the works received a 
mortal wound and fell into the ditch. One of the standards was brought off in the 
retreat, and Jasper, having succeeded in regaining the American camp, said in his 
last moments : "Tell Mrs. Elliott I lost my life supporting the colors she presented 
to our regiment." The colors were afterwards taken at the fall of Charleston and 
were deposited in the Tower of London. 

Mrs. Elliott was, moreover, most resourceful in her patriotism. While at 
her plantation called "The Hut," she had at one time some American officers as 
guests in the house, and when surprised by the sudden approach of the British, 
she calmly showed them into a closet, and opening a secret door disclosed a large 
opening back of the chimney known only to herself and contrived for a hiding 
place. The enemy, convinced that they had cornered their quarry, searched the 
house thoroughly but unsuccessfully, and failing further in all their attempts to 
induce Mrs. Elliott to reveal their place of retreat, the officers then demanded her 
silver. They discovered some mounds of earth not far off and began excavation, 
although the woman protested against the desecration. To their great chagrin, 
a coffin was disinterred from the first mound and Mrs. Elliott remarked that it 
was the grave of one of their countrymen, to whom she had endeavored to give 
decent burial. On opening the coffin the truth was at once made manifest, and the 
British soldiers then departed in extreme mortification, so that the silver which 
was buried close at hand escaped discovery. 

Mrs. Elliott was beautiful in person — a fact attested to in her portrait which 
was, however, defaced by the act of a British soldier, a small sword having been 
run through one eye — and her face, inexpressibly soft and sweet-looking, yet gives 
witness to the strength and determination that marked the deeds of her life. The 
great men fighting for the nation at that time appreciated her worth, and among 
the papers in the possession of the family is a letter from General Greene to Mrs. 
Elliott expressive of high respect and regard and offering her a safe escort through 
the camp and to any part of the country to which she desired to travel. 



142 Part Taken by Women in American History 



ANN ELLIOTT. 

Ann Elliott, too, the wife of Lewis Morris, won her fame and gave inspira- 
tion through a mere incident in her life. She was one of the belles of Charleston, 
when that city was occupied by the British, and she always insisted upon wearing 
a bonnet decorated with thirteen small plumes in order to flaunt her devotion to 
the struggling colonies, and for her patriotic spirit she was called "the beautiful 
rebel." At one time, while Colonel Morris, to whom she was then engaged, was 
on a visit to her, the attention of the family was drawn to the windows by an 
unusual noise and they perceived that the house was surrounded by the Black 
Dragoons, who had been informed of the young American's presence in the city. 
The American officer had no time to escape, but Ann Elliott went to one of the 
windows and calmly presenting herself to the view of the British Dragoons de- 
manded what they wanted. "We want the — rebel," was the reply. "Then go and 
look for him in the American Army," answered the young girl. "How dare you 
disturb a family under the protection of both armies?" Her firmness and resolu- 
tion conquered the day, and the enemy, somewhat confused, departed without 
pressing their search. 

Later in life, Mrs. Lewis Morris received the praise of a prominent Amer- 
ican General, who said : "She has ever been one of the most cheering examples 
of patriotic spirit; the influence of her active, courageous life has been felt deeply 
among the soldiers." 

She died in New York on the 29th of April, 1848, at the age of eighty-six. 

BEHETHLAND FOOTE BUTLER. 

Behethland Moore was born on the 24th of December, 1764, in Fauquier 
County, Virginia. Her father, Captain Frank Moore, commanded as lieutenant 
one of the Virginia troops at Braddock's defeat. Her mother was Frances Foote. 
About 1768, her parents removed to South Carolina and settled on Little River, 
in Laurens District, where Captain Moore died two years afterwards. His widow 
then married Captain Samuel Savage, who in 1774 removed to a plantation j.ust 
above what was then known as Saluda Old Town. Here Miss Moore and her two 
brothers, William and George, lived with her mother and stepfather. 

On one occasion a band of Tories came to the house of Captain Savage and 
were taking off a Negro boy, who had been a personal attendant of Miss Moore's 
father in the Indian Wars. With no thought of risk to herself, she hastened after 
them to rescue him. The men finally compromised on being shown where the 
horses were and appropriating certain of them for their use. One horse proving 
refractory, they ordered the black servant to catch it for them, and when, at Miss 
Moore's direction, he refused, the Tory swore he would beat the servant for his 
disobedience, but the intrepid young girl threw herself between them and the 
grumbling Tory was forced to withdraw the intended violence. 

When the Revolutionary War was in progress, it became necessary at one 
time to convey intelligence of danger to Captain Wallace, who was in command 
of a small force on the other aide of the Saluda River just above her home. No 



Women of the Revolution 143 

male messenger could be procured, but Miss Moore, then but fifteen years of age, 
volunteered to undertake the mission. Accompanied by her little brother and a 
friend named Fanny Smith, she went up the river in a canoe in the middle of 
the night, gave warning to Captain Wallace and through him to Colonel Henry 
Lee, and thus a disastrous attack on our feeble troops was averted. The next 
morning a young American officer, who had been below this point on some recon- 
noitering service, rode up to the house to make a few inquiries. These were 
answered by the young lady who apparently appeared as pleasing to the young 
officer as this handsome fellow in dragoon uniform did to her, for this was the 
first occasion on which Miss Moore saw her future husband, Captain William 
Butler. The marriage took place in 1784 and the young people took possession 
of a small farm near Willing which Captain Butler had inherited. 

General Butler was almost constantly engaged in public service, and was 
necessarily absent from home a great part of the time. In Congress from 1801 
to 1814, and commanding the South Carolina forces in Charleston as Major-General 
during 1814 and 1815, naturally the whole care not only of the large family but 
of his plantation devolved upon Mrs. Butler. Never were such varied responsi- 
bilities more worthily met and discharged. The support of the family depended 
mainly upon the produce of the small farm and in the energetic toil of wringing 
profit from the soil. Mrs. Butler evinced a wonderful fertility of resource. More- 
over, she superintended her children's education and did what few modern mothers 
with all their leisure accomplish, impressed upon them the moral point of view 
which always gives tone to character in after life. "With a singular power of 
command and stern energy," it has been said of her, "she combined the softest 
and most womanly qualities. In her it might be seen that a superior mind, rigidly 
disciplined, may belong to a woman without the development of any harsh or 
unfeminine lineaments, and that a heart the most tender and affectionate may 
prompt to all generous charities of life without being allied to weakness." 

Her sons did illustrious service for their country and one of them is said 
to have declared on the occasion of his public honor that he deserved no credit 
since it had been his mother who instilled in his and his brothers' minds the old 
Greek idea that they were born but for their country. 



DEBORAH SAMSON. 

It has been said that in the early days of this Republic 
"men learned to fight and pray; the women to endure," but 
there are several instances in the history of the Revolution- 
ary War in which a woman's courage was displayed by the 
actual adoption of man's work on the battle field. The resolu- 
tion of Congress is on record in which honorable mention is 
made of the services of Margaret Corbin, the gunner's wife 



144 Part Taken by Women in American History 

who took her husband's place when he was killed, at the battle 
of Monmouth, and did such execution that, after the engage- 
ment, she was rewarded with a commission. And there were 
many other examples, though generally of women who, having 
suffered incredibly from the spoliations of the enemy, lost 
patience, and fought manfully for the last loaf of bread or the 
last bed quilt for their children. But, in one case, the heroism 
and deeds, exploits and adventures of a woman soldier make 
her life seem a figment of pure imagination. This was Deborah 
Samson. 

Deborah Samson was the youngest child of poor parents 
who lived in the colony of Plymouth, in Massachusetts. Pov- 
erty was the least of the evils suffered by the unfortunate chil- 
dren and, at length, their parents becoming so degraded that 
intervention was necessary, they were removed from the 
destructive influences, and placed in different families. Deborah 
found a home in the house of a respectable farmer, whose wife 
bestowed upon her as much attention as was usual in the case 
of any poor girl "bound out/' The friendless and destitute 
girl was treated kindly, and, in exchange for her work, was 
provided with clothes and food, but no advantages of educa- 
tion. There was none to teach her, but she seized every oppor- 
tunity for acquiring knowledge, even borrowing books from 
the children who passed the house on their way to and from 
school, and persevered with untiring exertion until she had 
learned to read quite well. Then, the law releasing her from 
her indenture, she found a place where, by working one-half 
time in payment for her board and lodging, she was able to 
attend the common district school in the neighborhood. In a 
few months she had acquired more knowledge than many of 
her schoolmates had done in years. 

But the Revolutionary struggle had swept upon the coun- 
try — the sound of the cannon at Bunker Hill had reached every 



Women of the Revolution 145 

hearthstone and vibrated in the heart of every patriot in New 
England, and the zeal which urged men to quit their homes 
for the battlefield found its way to the bosom of lonely Deborah 
Samson. 

Much effort has been expended by historians and women 
annalists to extenuate the conduct of this woman who claimed 
the privilege of shedding her blood for her country, but, after 
all, it was a most natural decision. It is likely her youthful 
imagination was kindled by the rumor of the brave deeds pos- 
sible in that varied war life, and it must be borne in mind, too, 
that she was alone in the world, with few to care for her fate, 
and so she f£lt herself accountable to no human being. Be that 
as it may, she took the scant twelve dollars she had earned by 
teaching the district school, and purchased a quantity of coarse 
fustian and, working at intervals, made up a suit of men's 
garments — each article as it was finished being hidden in 
a stack of hay. Having completed her preparations, she 
announced her intention of going where she might obtain better 
wages for her labor. The lonely girl departed, but probably 
only to the shelter of the nearest wood, before putting on the 
disguise she was so anxious to assume. Her features were 
animated and pleasing, and her figure, tall for a woman, was 
finely proportioned. As a man, she might have been called hand- 
some — her general appearance said to have been prepossessing, 
and her manner calculated to inspire confidence. 

She pursued her way to the American army where, in 
October, 1778, she was received and enrolled by the name of 
Robert Shircliffe, a young man anxious to join his efforts to 
those of his countrymen in their endeavors to oppose the com- 
mon enemy. She was one of the first volunteers in the com- 
pany of Captain Nathan Thayer, of Medway, Massachusetts, 
and the captain gave her a home in his family until his company 
should be ready to join the main army. In performing the 



10 



146 Part Taken by Women in American History 

duties and enduring the fatigues of military life, her sex passed 
unsuspected. Accustomed to labor, from childhood, upon the 
farm and in out-of-door employment, she had acquired unusual 
vigor of constitution; her frame was robust and of masculine 
strength, and she was enabled to undergo what a woman deli- 
cately nurtured would have found it impossible to endure. 

For three years Deborah Samson appeared in the charac- 
ter of a soldier, and during that time the fidelity with which her 
duties were performed gained her the approbation and con- 
fidence of the officers. She was a volunteer in several hazard- 
ous enterprises, and was twice wounded, the first time by a 
sword cut on the left side of the head. About four months 
after this first wound she was again severely injured, being 
this time shot through the shoulder. Her first emotion, when 
the ball entered, she described to be a sickening terror at the 
probability that her sex would be discovered, but, strange as it 
may seem, she escaped unsuspected, and soon recovering her 
strength, was able again to take her place at the post of duty, 
as well as in the deadly conflict. Unfortunately, however, she 
was soon seized with brain fever, and for the few days when 
reason struggled against the disease her sufferings were inde- 
scribable, haunted by the terrible dread, as she was, lest con- 
sciousness should desert her and the secret so carefully guarded 
be revealed. She was carried to the hospital with a great num- 
ber of soldiers similarly stricken, and, her case being considered 
hopeless, and partly owing to the negligent manner in which all 
patients were attended, she actually escaped detection for some 
days. But at length the physician of the hospital, inquiring 
"How is Robert?" received from the nurse in attendance the 
answer, "Poor Bob is gone." The doctor went to the bed and, 
taking the hand of the youth supposed to be dead, found that 
the pulse was still feebly beating, and attempting to place his 
hand on the heart, he perceived that a bandage was fastened 



Women of the Revolution 147 

tightly around the breast. This was removed and, to his uttter 
astonishment, he discovered in this fever-racked youth, a 
woman patient. 

With prudence, delicacy and generosity of the highest 
order, this physician, Dr. Binney, of Philadelphia, kept his dis- 
covery to himself, but paid the patient every attention, and pro- 
vided every comfort her perilous condition required. As soon 
as she could be moved with safety, he had her taken to his own 
house, where she could receive better care, his family wonder- 
ing not a little at the unusual interest manifested in this par- 
ticular invalid soldier. 

But, once her health was restored, the physician had a long 
conference with the commanding officer of the company in 
which Robert had served, and this was followed by the issuing 
of an order to the youth, "Robert Shircliffe," to carry a letter 
to General Washington. 

Deborah Samson's worst fears were now confirmed. From 
the time of her removal into the doctor's family she had misgiv- 
ings that the doctor had discovered her deception, yet, in con- 
versation, as she anxiously watched his countenance, not a word 
or look had indicated suspicion, and she had again begun to 
assure herself that she had escaped. When the order came for 
her to deliver a letter into the hands of the commander-in-chief, 
however, she could no longer deceive herself. There was 
nothing for it but to obey, but when she presented herself at 
Washington's headquarters she trembled as she had never done 
before the enemy's fire. When she was ushered into the pres- 
ence of the chief, she was almost overpowered with dread and 
uncertainty. Washington noticed the extreme agitation, and 
bade her retire with an attendant, who was directed to offer the 
soldier some refreshment while he read the communication of 
which she had been the bearer. 

Within a short time she was again summoned into the pres- 



148 Part Taken by Women in American History 

ence of Washington. The great man said not a word, but handed 
her in silence a discharge from the service, putting into her hand 
at the same time a notice containing advice and a sum of money 
sufficient to bear her expenses to some place where she might 
find a home. The delicacy and forbearance thus observed 
affected her sensibly. "How thankful," she is said to have 
often explained, "was I to that great and good man who so 
kindly spared my feelings. He saw me ready to sink from 
shame ; one word from him at that moment would have crushed 
me to the earth. But he spoke no word, and I blessed him for 
it." This is an interesting sidelight on the character of Wash- 
ington, wherein he is shown to have had the fine instinct of 
tact and sympathy even in his warrior days. 

After the war had ended, Deborah Samson married Benja- 
min Gannett, of Sharon, and when Washington was President 
she received a letter inviting "Robert Shircliffe," or Mrs. Gan- 
nett, to visit the seat of the government. Congress was then 
in session, and during her stay in the Capital a bill was passed 
granting, her a pension in addition to certain lands which she 
was to receive, as an acknowledgment of her services to the 
country in a military capacity. She was invited to the houses 
of several of the officers and to parties given in the city, atten- 
tions which manifested the high esteem in which she was held. 

Deborah Samson-Gannett, in the capacity of wife and 
mother, lived to a comfortable old age, and finally yielded up 
her soul as any prosaic and worthy matron might, with no hint 
of mystery nor adventure in her past. 

It has been well said: "Though not comparable, certainly, 
to the 'Prophetess' in whom France triumphed — for the dig- 
nity with which the zeal of a chivalrous age and the wonderful 
success of her mission invested her — yet it cannot be denied 
that this romantic girl exhibited something of the same spirit of 
the lowly herdmaid who. even in the round of her humble duties, 



Women of the Revolution 149 



felt herself inspired to go forth and do battle in her country's 
cause, exchanging her peasant's garb for the mail, the helmet, 
and the sword." At least Deborah Samson is a figure of brave 
strength and intrepid daring in the hour of her country's great- 
est peril. 

MARGARET GASTON. 

Heroism and strength of character, which in peaceful times would have 
remained latent in a serene personality, were often brought forth to shine most 
illustriously through pressure of cruelty in the Revolutionary War. Such was 
the case of Margaret Gaston. She was born Margaret Sharpe into a quiet old 
England household in the county of Cumberland, England, about 1755, and her 
parents desiring her to have every advantage of education in the Catholic faith, 
sent her to France when a very young girl. She was brought up in the seclusion 
and calm of convent life. Her two brothers, however, were extensively engaged 
in commerce in this country and she came out to visit them. Then began for 
this retiring, timid young woman, a tumultuous era of New World romance and 
soul-trying grief. It was during her sojourn that she met Dr. Alexander Gaston, 
a native of Ireland, of Huguenot ancestry, to whom she was married at Newbern, 
in the twentieth year of her age. But the happy married life of these two young 
people was destined to be of brief duration and tragic end. 

Doctor Gaston was one of the most zealous patriots in North Carolina, and 
while his devotion to the cause of liberty won for him the confidence of the Whigs, 
it also gained him the implacable enmity of the opposite party. At length, so 
actively expressed was his patriotism and so great was his influence, a price was 
placed on his head by the loyalists. 

On the 20th of August, 1781, a body of Tories entered Newbern, being 
some miles in advance of the regular troops, who had come by forced marches 
with a view to taking possession of the town. The Americans, taken by surprise, 
were driven to capitulation after an ineffectual resistance. Gaston, unwilling to 
surrender to the foe, hurried his wife and children across the river from their 
home, hoping to escape with them and proceed to a plantation eight or ten miles 
distant. "He reached the wharf with his family," the old account runs, "and seized 
a light scow for the purpose of crossing the river; but before he could stow his 
wife and children on board, the Tories, eager for his blood, came galloping in 
pursuit. There was no resource but to push off from the shore, where his wife 
and little ones stood — the wife alarmed only for him against whom the rage of 
the enemies was directed. Throwing herself in agony at their feet, she implored 
his life, but in vain. Their cruelty sacrificed him in the midst of her cries for 
mercy — and the musket which found his heart was levelled over her shoulder." 

It is wonderful that the convent-bred girl did not go distraught, but, instead, 
a fierce heroic strength seemed to animate her whole being. Even the indulgence 
of grief was denied to the bereaved wife for she was compelled to exert herself 
to protect the remains of her murdered husband while her ears rang with the 



150 Part Taken by Women in American History 

inhuman threats that the "rebel should not even have the rest of the grave." After 
she had found men brave enough to aid her in carrying the body home, she was 
obliged to protect the beloved lifeless form from desecration, and by its side she 
watched constantly until it was deposited in the earth through a midnight burial. 

Margaret Gaston was now left alone in a foreign land — both her brothers 
and her eldest son having died before the tragic taking of her husband. A boy 
three years of age and an infant daughter demanded all the care and protection 
she could get for them in the pioneer country. Many women possessed of her 
sensibility and shrinking nature would have been overwhelmed, but the severe 
trials only served to develop the admirable energy of her character. She never 
laid aside the habiliments of sorrow; the anniversary of her husband's murder 
was kept as a day of fasting and prayer; and to the great object of her life — the 
support and education of her children, she devoted herself with a firmness and 
constancy which wrested success despite the most adverse conditions. 

When she had finally sent her son to Princeton College, where he was soon 
bearing away the first honors, it happened that her house and furniture were 
destroyed by fire, yet her letters to him breathe not one word of the calamity 
which, with her slender resources must have been severely felt, because she feared 
he might feel called to abandon his studies and rally to her support. The fact that 
this son, William Gaston, became a distinguished citizen of the country, was to 
his mother a sufficient reward for all she had borne with deep piety and stoic 
reserve. 

Those who spoke of Margaret Gaston invariably named her as the most 
dignified as well as the most devout woman they had ever seen. She survived 
the husband she had seen murdered thirty-one years, in which time she never 
made a visit save to the suffering poor. Her home life was yet one of great 
activity, attending the sick and indigent, and the poor sailors who came to New- 
bern looked to her as a ministering angel. She passed away in this town where 
she had stepped from the convent to become a bride. 

SARAH BACHE. 

Perhaps the best estimate of a woman who might otherwise shine only in 
the reflected glory of a distinguished father, may be obtained by a private view of 
her and her work through the eyes of a contemporary. The Marquis de Chastellux 
in a letter wrote the following description of Mrs. Bache, the daughter of Ben- 
jamin Franklin : "After a slight repast, we went to visit the ladies, agreeable to 
the Philadelphia custom, where morning is the most proper hour for paying visits. 
We began by Mrs. Bache. She merited all the anxiety we had to see her, for she 
is the daughter of Dr. Franklin. Simple in her manners, like her respected father 
she also possesses his benevolence. She conducted us into a room filled with work, 
lately finished by the ladies of Philadelphia. This work consisted neither of 
embroidered tambour waistcoats nor of artwork edging, nor gold and silver bro- 
cade. It was a quantity of shirts for the soldiers of Pennsylvania. The ladies 
bought the linen from their own private purses, and took a pleasure in cutting them 
out and sewing them themselves. On each shirt was the name of the married or 



Women of the Revolution 151 



unmarried lady who made it and they amounted to twenty-two hundred." To this 
picture illustrating how a woman of Mrs. Bache's standing found means to aid the 
struggling country may be added the commendatory words of Marquis de Marbois 
to Dr. Franklin, in the succeeding year — who speaks thus of the distinguished 
man's daughter: "If there are in Europe any women who need a model of attach- 
ment to domestic duties and love for their country, Mrs. Bache may be pointed 
out to them as such. She passed a part of the last year in exertions to rouse the 
zeal of the Pennsylvania ladies, and she made on this occasion such a happy use 
of the eloquence which you know she possesses, that a large part of the American 
army was provided with shirts, bought with their money or made by their hands. 
In her applications for this purpose, she showed the most indefatigable zeal, the 
most unwearied perseverance, and a courage in asking which surpassed even the 
obstinate reluctance of the Quakers in refusing." 

Such is the outside impression of the worthy and charming daughter of 
Benjamin Franklin. Her own letters to her father and others show much force 
of character and an ardent, generous and impulsive nature. When in 1764 her 
father was sent to Europe in a representative capacity, she writes girlish, light- 
hearted observations and clever chatter, but in 1777, when the British army's 
approach had driven her and her young husband from their Philadelphia home, 
her letters to Dr. Franklin, then sent to France by the American Congress, are 
strong accounts of events, sound philosophy, and even some correct prophecy on 
the Nation's future — letters which must have been really helpful to the statesman 
abroad. 

Mrs. Bache lived through stirring experiences, for the Revolution did not 
spare those of gentle breeding or station. On the 17th of September, 1777, four 
days after the birth of her second daughter, Mrs. Bache left town, taking refuge 
at first in the home of a friend near Philadelphia but afterward going up into the 
state, where they remained until the evacuation of the Quaker City by the British 
forces. The letters written to her father after her return to the Franklin house 
which had been used in the meantime as headquarters for Captain Andre, give a 
splendid picture of the prohibitive prices that existed in the Colonies at this time. 
"There is hardly such a thing as living in town, everything is so high," she writes. 
"If I was to mention the prices of the common necessaries of life, they would 
astonish you. I have been all amazement since my return; such an odds have 
two years made, that I can scarcely believe that I am in Philadelphia. They really 
ask me six dollars for a pair of gloves, and I have been obliged to pay fifteen 
pounds for a common calamanco petticoat without quilting that I once could have 
got for fifteen shillings." 

These prices were owing to the depreciation of the Continental money; it 
subsequently was much greater. The time came when Mrs. Bache's domestics 
were obliged to take two baskets with them to market, one empty, to contain the 
provisions they purchased, the other full of Continental money to pay for them. 

It has been said that every woman is a brief for womankind, and surely 
Mrs. Bache may be considered a composite reflection of the fate of the sheltered 
woman during the Revolution, and of how they bore their unaccustomed hardships 
and turned their talents to the benefit of the humble defenders of the nation. 



152 Part Taken by Women in American History 

The brilliant Sallie Franklin was born on the nth of September, 1744. It 
was on the 29th of October, 1767, that she was married to Richard Bache, a 
merchant of Philadelphia, and a native of Seattle, in Yorkshire, England; 1807 
marks the sad date when the still charming woman was attacked by cancer and 
removed to the city once more for the benefit of medical attendance. Her disease 
proved incurable, and on the Sth of October, 1808, she died in the historic house 
in Franklin Square, where Dr. Franklin had spent his last years. 

In person Mrs. Bache was rather above the middle height, and in the latter 
years of her life she became very stout. Her complexion was uncommonly fair, 
with much color ; her hair brown and her eyes blue like those of her father. Strong 
good sense, and a ready flow of wit, were among the most striking features of her 
mind. Her benevolence was very great and her generosity and liberality were 
apparently limitless. Her friends ever cherished a warm affection for her. It has 
been related that her father, with a view to accustoming her to bear disappoint- 
ments with patience, was given to requesting her to remain at home and spend 
the evening over the chess-board, when she was on the point of going out to some 
meeting of her young friends. The cheerfulness which she displayed in every turn 
of fortune proves that this discipline was not without its good effect — also that 
Benjamin Franklin could teach his own family as well as the public, which has 
not always been demonstrated in the lives of statesmen. 

ELIZA WILKINSON. 

A vivid picture of the part borne by many women through Revolutionary 
trials and privations may be found in the letters of a young and beautiful widow 
living in the city of Charleston at the time of its occupation by the British under 
Prevost and the approach of Lincoln to its relief. The period was one of almost 
continual skirmishing and of harrowing the inhabitants by the British, and the 
young woman's graphic description of the occurrences makes one no less interested 
in her personality than in the stirring events of which she writes. 

This was Eliza Wilkinson. Her father was an emigrant to America from 
Wales named Francis Yonge. He took possession of an island some thirty miles 
south of Charleston, calling it Yonge's Island. Mrs. Wilkinson was his only 
daughter. She had been married only six months when her husband died, and 
when the Revolutionary warfare swept down into her section of the country, 
exciting days came to her in protecting her property and escaping before British 
invasion and aiding our own wretched soldiers. At one time, when she had taken 
refuge in an inland plantation, she writes of the distressing condition of refugees 
passing that way. A large boatload of women and children hurrying for safety 
to Charleston stayed with them for a day or two and presented a sad spectacle 
of the miseries brought in the train of war. One woman with seven children, the 
youngest but two weeks old, preferred venturing her own life and that of her 
tender infant to captivity at the hands of a merciless foe. 

"The poorest soldier," says another letter, "who would call . at any time 
for a drink of water, I would take pleasure in giving it to him myself; and many 
a dirty, ragged fellow have I attended with a bowl of milk, for they really merit 



Women of the Revolution, 153 

everything who will fight from principle alone; for from what I could learn, these 
poor creatures had nothing to protect and seldom got their pay; yet with what 
alacrity will they encounter danger and hardships of every kind." 

At another time, two men belonging to the enemy rode up to the house and 
asked many questions, saying that Colonel McGirth and his soldiers were coming 
and that the inmates might expect no mercy. The family remained in a state of 
cruel suspense for many hours. Then, as Mrs. Wilkinson writes to a friend : "The 
horses of the inhuman Britons were heard coming in such a furious manner that 
they seemed to tear up the earth, the riders at the same time bellowing out the 
most horrid curses imaginable — oaths and imprecations chilled my whole frame. 
'Where are these women rebels?' That was their first salutation." Nor was the 
fear of the household unfounded for Mrs. Wilkinson continues: "They plundered 
the house of everything they thought valuable or worth taking; our trunks were 
split to pieces and each mean, pitiful wretch crammed his bosom with the con- 
tents, which were our apparel." And when Mrs. Wilkinson ventured to beg that 
just a few articles be left to her, the soldier she addressed, so far from relenting, 
cast his eyes on her shoes and immediately knelt at her feet but to wrench the 
buckles from them. "While he was busy doing this," the letter continues, "a 
brother villain bawled out 'Shares there, I say shares.' So they divided the 
buckles between them. The other wretches were employed in the same way, taking 
not only buckles from the other women but ear-rings and rings, and when one 
protested against surrendering her wedding ring, they presented a pistol at her 
and swore if she did not deliver it immediately they would fire." But the ready 
wit of Mrs. Wilkinson appears to have suffered no eclipse even in such dire straits 
and she closes this letter with a quip: "So they mounted their horses— but such 
despicable figures! Each wretch's bosom stuffed so full, they appeared to be all 
afflicted with some dropsical disorder. Had a party of rebels (as they call us) 
appeared, we should have seen their circumference lessen." 

After such unwelcome visitors, it is not surprising that the unprotected 
women could not sleep or eat. They went to bed without undressing and started 
up at the least noise, while the days were spent in anxiety. And yet one morning 
when Mrs. Wilkinson with her eyes fixed on the window — for she was continually 
on the watch— saw a party of Whigs dragging along seven Royalist prisoners, 
notwithstanding the injuries she had received from some of these very men, her 
kind heart relented at the sight of their worn-out condition, and, when the Amer- 
ican soldiers had brought one of the Tory officers into her house, she took from 
her neck the only remaining handkerchief the British marauders had left her and 
with it bound up a wound in his arm. 

The siege and capitulation of Charleston brought the evils under which the 
land had groaned to their height. Mrs. Wilkinson was in the city at this time and 
her letters tell of the hardships borne by those in the beleaguered community— 
the gloomy resignation to inevitable misfortunes and the almost abandonment of 
hope for relief. Yet with indomitable patriotism, Mrs. Wilkinson's independent 
spirits would find vent in sarcastic sallies at the enemy's expense. "Once," she 
writes, "I was asked by a British officer to play the guitar." 

"I cannot play, I am very dull," she replied. 



154 Part Taken by Women in American History 

"How long do you intend to continue so, Mrs. Wilkinson?" 

"Until my countrymen return, sir." 

"Return as what, madam, prisoners or subjects?" 

"As conquerors, sir." 

The officer affected a laugh. "You will never see that, madam." 

"I live in hopes, sir, of seeing the thirteen stripes hoisted once more on 
the bastions of this garrison." 

"Do not hope so, but come, give us a tune on the guitar." 

"I can play nothing but rebel songs." 

"Well, let us have one of them." 

"Not to-day — I cannot play — I will not play; besides, I suppose I should 
be put into the Prevost for such a heinous crime as chanting my patriotism !" 

Like many others, Mrs. Wilkinson refused to join in the amusements of 
the city while in possession of the British but gave her energies to the relief of 
her friends. The women were the more active when military efforts were sus- 
pended, and we learn through Mrs Wilkinson's letters of the many ingenious con- 
trivances they adopted to carry supplies from the British garrison to the gallant 
defenders of their country. Sometimes cloth for a military coat, fashioned into 
an appendage to feminine attire would be borne away unsuspected by the vigilant 
guards whose business it was to prevent smuggling, the cloth afterwards being 
converted into regimental shape. Boots "a world too wide" for the small feet 
that passed the sentry in them were often conveyed to the partisan who could not 
procure them for himself. A horseman's helmet has been concealed under a well- 
arranged head-dress, and epaulettes delivered from the folds of a matron's ample 
cap. Other articles in demand for military use were regularly brought away 
by some stratagem or other. And one can well imagine the cheer diffused about 
a desolate camp by the visits of women as sprightly and courageous as Mrs. 
Wilkinson. 

The last of her letters of public interest is joyous with congratulations on 
the glorious victory of Washington over Cornwallis, so that the woman who had 
lived a brave, helpful life, through the darkest trial of her country, lived to know 
the glory of its independence and peace. 

LYDIA DARRAH. 

All who admire examples of courage and patriotism, especially those who 
enjoy the fruits thereof, must honor the name of Lydia Darrah. In 1777 she was 
living in Philadelphia — then under British occupation — with her brother. They 
were both members of the Society of Friends. Their house, selected, perhaps, 
on account of the unobtrusive character of its inmates, whose religion inculcated 
meekness and forbade them to practice the arts of war, had been chosen by the 
superior officers of the British army for private conference, whenever it was neces- 
sary to hold consultations on subjects of importance. On the second of December 
of that year the order to prepare her house for such a meeting concluded with 
these words: "And be sure that your family are all in bed at an early hour. We 
shall expect you to attend to this request. When our guests are ready to leave 



Women of the Revolution 155 

the house, you will be called, that you may let us out and extinguish the fire and 
candles." This injunction to retire early rang in her ears and, being intensely 
loyal to her country, the young girl determined that some move of importance was 
on foot against the Continental army. The evening closed in and the officers came 
to the place of meeting. Lydia had ordered her family to bed, and herself admitted 
the guests, after which she retired to her own apartments and threw herself upon 
the bed without undressing. In a short time she was listening at the keyhole of 
the room where the officers were assembled. There was a confused murmur of 
voices, but at length came silence, broken shortly by a voice reading a paper aloud. 
This proved to be an order for the English troops to quit the city on the night of 
the fourth and march out in secret to an attack upon the American army, then 
encamped at White Marsh. The young girl had heard enough. She stole back 
to her bed and lay there, listening to the beating of her own heart. She feigned 
sleep and let the officer knock thrice before she pretended to rouse up and go with 
the men to the door. 

She thought of the danger that threatened the lives of thousands of her 
countrymen and at once determined to apprise General Washington of the danger. 
In the morning, under the pretense that it was necessary for her to go to Frank- 
fort to -procure flour for the household, she set out, stopping first at the British 
headquarters to secure from General Howe his written permission to pass the 
British lines. Fully realizing the dangers of her undertaking, she walked the five 
miles to Frankfort through the snow, and, having deposited her bag at the mill, 
pressed on toward the outposts of the American Army. At length she was met 
by an American officer, who had been selected by General Washington to gain 
information respecting the movements of the enemy. This was Lieutenant-Colonel 
Craig, and he immediately recognized Lydia Darrah. To him she disclosed the 
secret, after having obtained from him a solemn promise not to betray her 
individually, since the British might take vengeance upon her family. The officer 
took her timely warning to his Commander-in-Chief, and preparations were imme- 
diately made to give the enemy a fitting reception. Lydia Darrah pursued her 
way home through the snow, but with a lighter heart, carrying the bag of flour 
which had served as the ostensible object of her journey. Her heart beat 
anxiously as, late on the appointed night, she watched from her window the depar- 
ture of the army — on what secret expedition bound she knew too well ! She listened 
breathlessly to the sound of their footsteps and the trampling of horses, until 
they died away in the distance, and silence reigned through the city. 

The next morning a sudden and loud knocking at her door brought her face 
to face with the British officer who had ordered the meeting at her house. His 
face was clouded and his expression stern. 

"Were any of your family up, Lydia," he said, "on the night when I and 
my brother officers were in this house?" 

"No," was the unhesitating reply; "they all retired at eight o'clock." 

"It is very strange," mused the officer. "You, I know, were asleep, for I 
knocked at your door three times before you heard me; yet it is certain that we 
were betrayed, for, on arriving near the encampment of General Washington, we 
found his cannon mounted, his troops under arms and so prepared at every point 



156 Part Taken by Women in American History 

to receive us that we were compelled to march back, without injuring our enemy, 
like a parcel of fools." 

It is not known whether the officer ever discovered to whom he was indebted 
for the disappointment. None about her suspected the demure Quakeress, Lydia 
Darrah, of having snatched from the English the anticipated victory. 

As for the intrepid woman herself, she went on leading her grave, quiet, 
subdued life, blessing God for her preservation, and no doubt rejoicing that it 
had not been necessary to utter an untruth in order to save the defenders of her 
country a cruel blow. 

ELIZABETH MARTIN. 

Nowhere in the history of the Revolution do we find greater piety and 
heroism displayed than in the life of Elizabeth Martin. Her maiden name was 
Elizabeth Marshall, and, a native of Carolina County, Virginia, she was probably 
one of the family from which descended Chief Justice Marshall, since of the same 
neighborhood. After her marriage to Abram Martin she removed to his settle- 
ment bordering on the Indian nation, in what was called District "Ninety-six," 
in South Carolina. The country at that time was sparsely settled, most of its 
inhabitants being pioneers from other states. Their proximity to the Indians had 
caused the adoption of some of the latter's savage habits, and for a time life was 
very crude indeed. Yet this district was among the foremost in sending to the 
Revolutionary field its hearty and enterprising troops to oppose the British. 

At the commencement of the contest Elizabeth Martin had nine children, 
seven of whom were sons old enough to bear arms. When the first call for 
volunteers sounded through the land the mother encouraged patriotic zeal in 
them. "Go, boys," she said, "fight for your country, fight till death if you must, 
but never let your country be dishonored. Were I a man I would go with you." 

At another time when Colonel Cruger, commanding the British at Augusta, 
stopped with several British officers at her house for refreshment, and one of 
them asked how many sons she had, she answered, "Eight." To a question as to 
their whereabouts she replied promptly, "Seven of them are engaged in the service 
of their country." "Really, Madame," observed the officer sneeringly, "You have 
enough of them." "No, sir," retorted the matron, "I wish I had fifty." 

At the time of the siege of Charleston the sound of the cannon could be 
heard clearly in that part of the state and Mrs. Martin knew they must come from 
the besieged city. As report after report reached her ears she became more and 
more fearful lest each sound might be the knell of her sons, three of whom were 
then in Charleston. Their wives were with her and shared the same heart-chilling 
fears. They stood still for a few minutes, each wrapped in her own painful and 
silent reflections. At length the mother, lifting her hands and eyes toward heaven, 
exclaimed fervently "Thank God they are the children of the Republic!" Of the 
seven patriot brothers six were spared through all the dangers of partisan war- 
fare in that region of dark and bloody ground. But the eldest. William M. Martin, 
was killed at the siege of Augusta, just after he had obtained a favorable position 
for his cannon by elevating it on one of the towers constructed by General Pickens. 
It is related that not long after his death a British officer, anxious to gratify his 



Women of the Revolution 157 

hatred of the Whigs by carrying fatal news of these gallant young men, called at 
the house of Mrs. Martin and asked if she had not a son in the army at Augusta. 
She replied in the affirmative. "Then I saw his brains blown out on the field of 
battle," said this monster, who anticipated triumph in the sight of a parent's agony. 
The effect of the startling announcement was, however, other than he had expected. 
Terrible as was the, shock and aggrieved by the ruthless cruelty with which her 
bereavement was made known, no woman's weakness was yet allowed to appear. 
After listening to the dreadful recital, the only reply made by Elizabeth Martin 
was, "He could not have died in a nobler cause." The evident chagrin of the 
officer as he turned and rode away was treasured as a family tradition. 

GRACE AND RACHEL MARTIN. 

In reviewing the American Revolution, few people have realized how 
important the daring exploit of those two young women was in averting the 
British invasion in South Carolina. They were the wives of the eldest sons of 
the Martin family — all the members of which were distinguished for active serv- 
ice in the cause. While their husbands were at the front they remained with the 
mother, Elizabeth Martin, herself a prominent figure in the Revolution. One 
evening intelligence came to them that a courier conveying important dispatches 
was to pass that night along the road, guarded by two British officers. They 
determined to waylay the party and even at the risk of their own lives to obtain 
possession of the papers. For this purpose the young women disguised themselves 
in their husband's clothes, and being well provided with arms, took their station 
at the point on the road which they knew the escort must pass. It was late and 
they had not waited long before the tramp of horses was heard in the distance. 
It may be imagined with what anxious expectation they awaited the approach of 
the critical moment, on which so much depended. The stillness of the night and 
the darkness of the forest must have added to the terrors conjured up by busy 
fancies. Presently the courier with his attending guards appeared. As they came 
close to the spot, the disguised women leaped from their covert in the bushes, 
presented their pistols at the officers, and demanded instant surrender of the 
party and their dispatches. The men were completely taken by surprise and in 
their alarm at the sudden attack yielded a prompt submission. The seeming 
soldiers put the enemy on their parole, and having secured possession of the papers, 
hastened home by a short cut through the woods. No time was lost in sending 
the documents by a trusted messenger to General Greene. The adventure had a 
singular sequel. The bewildered officers thus thwarted in their mission returned 
by the same road they had come and stopped at the house of Mrs. Martin, asking 
accommodation as weary travelers for the night. The hostess inquiring the reason 
for their returning so soon after they had passed, they replied by showing their 
paroles, saying they had been taken prisoners by two rebel lads. The women 
rallied them upon their want of courage. "Had you no arms?" was asked. The 
officers answered that they had arms, but had been suddenly taken off their guard 
and were allowed no time to use their weapons. They departed next morning 
having no suspicion that they owed their capture to the very women whose hos- 
pitality they bad claimed. 



158 Part Taken by Women in American History 

HANNAH WESTON. 

Hannah Weston, who was a granddaughter of the famous Hannah Dustin, 
was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts, on the 27th day of November, 1758, and died 
on the 12th of December, 1856, living very nearly a hundred years. Her father, Cap- 
tain Samuel Watts, gentleman, received his title as Captain by the royal concession 
of King George III, on the fourth day of May, 1756, under the hand of Governor 
Wentworth and Seal-at-Arms of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. In 1775 Hannah 
Weston was living with her husband and his sister, Rebecca, in a humble cottage in 
Jonesboro, Maine, with no thought of heroism or fame in the minds of any of the 
three. But word was brought to Josiah Weston that there was danger threatening 
their neighbors in Machias, who were about to strike a bold blow against England's 
tyranny and for American liberty. The people of Machias had erected a liberty 
pole which was plainly visible to the English warship "Margaretta" lying in the 
harbor. They had been ordered, in the name of the King, to take down the pole 
or suffer an attack by the British soldiers from the warship, commanded by Captain 
Moore. The Americans, under a young man known as Jerry O'Brien, determined 
to anticipate the attack and a messenger was sent to Josiah Weston's cottage for 
help and ammunition. Weston rallied a goodly number of men to go to the rescue, 
but there was little ammunition for them to take with them. As the recruits passed 
down the road, Hannah Weston sighed, for she believed her husband had gone on 
an almost desperate venture ; there was to be much fighting and the American troops 
had each hardly enough powder to shoot a partridge. But suddenly a new thought 
flashed through her brain, and hastily putting on her shawl and bonnet she hastened 
out of the cottage. At twilight the young woman returned carrying in her arms 
a bag of something that appeared both bulky and heavy. 'Why whatever have you 
got there?" asked Rebecca Weston, her husband's sister, in a voice that expressed 
querulous surprise. "Bullets," said Hannah Weston triumphantly. She emptied 
the bag of its contents. Out they tumbled and clattered — pewter mugs, platters, 
saucers and all sorts and sizes of spoons before the round-eyed maiden. "Quick, 
Rebecca !" continued Hannah, "We must melt these and make bullets for the men 
at Machias." "Machias!" gasped the girl, "Machias is a good sixteen miles away." 
"Never mind that; they must have ammunition. If there be not time to melt them, 
these pewter dishes must go as they are." 

By the time the first streaks of light were showing under the Eastern sky 
the two women were ready to start out upon their journey. The pewter platters 
and spoons were secured in Hannah's strongest pillow-case, which made a burden 
of forty pounds to be borne over a distance of forest and marsh little traveled save 
by the Indians and the wolves. Shouldering the pillow-case full of material for 
ammunition, Hannah Weston, followed by Rebecca who carried a smaller bundle 
of food, set out upon her perilous enterprise with that confidence in God's protection 
that animated the women of those dark days with courage and upheld them with 
fortitude. It was necessary to leave the path at frequent intervals, and the masses 
of tangled woods and briers rendered progress so slow that the day was far 
advanced before they had reached one half of the journey's length that lay before 
them. Rebecca was almost fainting from fatigue, and Hannah, whose courage had 



Women of the Revolution 159 

stimulated the younger girl to unwonted exercise, was now given to fear the con- 
sequences of a night's exposure in the woods and its attending dangers. She made 
the younger woman sit down while she took up her burden and went forward to 
explore. After much wandering she at length reached the crest of a knoll, toward 
which she bent her faltering footsteps. Looking downward she saw a stretch of land 
before her, and not far in the distance a house. Her heart gave a great bound, for 
she knew that the humble dwelling lay on the outskirts of Machias. Hurrying 
back she aroused the sleeping Rebecca and they headed forward to the cottage which 
Hannah had seen from the hilltop. Here they rested until morning, for the kind 
inmates declared that they were fit for nothing but their beds. The next morning 
they pressed forward, but the sun was high in the sky when the two women made 
their way into the little town of Machias, which wore a very bustling and important 
expression. The first words which reached their ears were : " 'Margaretta' was 
captured by brave Jerry O'Brien and his men, and they say the young English 
captain is like to die from a shot fired by Sam Weston." 

Hannah Weston heard the news with joy but some disappointment. "We 
came to bring this ammunition to the men," she said, "but we have had our pains 
for nothing." "No," answered Jerry O'Brien, on hearing this, "This pewter is in 
the nick of time, for I warn you before many days be passed the English will be 
upon us again. And, Mistress Weston, I promise your bullets shall do good work 
when our visitors come." History will tell you that Jerry O'Brien was right. In 
the attack by the British which followed, the pewter, which Hannah Weston's mid- 
night journey through the woods had brought, was passed in bullets from the 
muskets of the Americans into the ranks of the attackers with bitter and defeating 
effect. 

A merchant presented Hannah and Rebecca with twelve yards of "camlet," 
which was divided between them and made into two gowns. This was a small 
pattern for two gowns, but the fashions of our great-grandmothers' days were very 
simple. Girls of our times would turn up their noses at such a gift, but Hannah 
and Rebecca Weston were greatly pleased, and for a hundred years their children 
and grandchildren and great-grandchildren kept bits of these famous "camlet" 
gowns, handing down from one generation to another scraps of the narrow petticoats 
and short bodices as their most cherished heirlooms. 

During the ninety-eight years of her life this heroine of Machias had seen 
much of toil, sorrow and privation. But neither toil nor hardship nor sorrow 
quenched her brave spirit or hardened the heart that made this woman always brave 
to entreat and ready to help and comfort when danger threatened or sorrow came 
near. For many years the grave of this historic woman lay unmarked in the little 
sea-coast village of Jonesboro, Maine. Some six years ago her descendants from 
all parts of the United States joined their efforts with the people of the remote 
town and at last erected a monument fitting to commemorate the brave Hannah 
Weston. 

SALLIE WISTER. 

On the twenty-fifth day of September, 1777, just two weeks after the battle 
of the Brandywine, the British Army entered Germantown. On the same day, but 



160 Part Taken by Women in American History 

a few miles distant from the place, Sallie Wister, a bright and charming Quaker 
girl, sixteen years of age, began to keep a sort of journal of her observations and 
experiences. It was evidently written with the object of keeping her dearest friend, 
young Deborah Norris, informed of the exciting happenings of this period. But 
strangely it never reached the hands for which it was intended until years after 
the death of the writer. It was published as one of the most interesting and valuable 
records that has come down to us. Its clever descriptions of persons and events, 
its naive confessions of likes and dislikes, it roguishness and genial good humor and 
withal its dramatic spirit, make it an extremely illuminating human document. 
Instances are here depicted which are nowhere supplied by the published records. 
And this diary of a bright Quaker girl is a historical picture of social conditions in 
the midst of the most important scenes of the Revolutionary times. In the nine 
months covered by this account occurred the British capture of Philadelphia, the 
battle of Germantown, the surrender of Burgoyne, the skirmishes before Wash- 
ington's intrenchments of White Marsh and the acknowledgment of American Inde- 
pendence by France. All these with many sidelights pass in review before us, over 
the pages of Sallie Wister's diary. At length when the British had really decamped, 
and Philadelphia was once more open to its rightful citizens, she exclaims, "The 
Red Coats have gone, the Red Coats have gone, and may they never, never, never 
return !" 

With this happy cry Sallie's diary closes and our little Quaker, with her 
humors and follies, vanishes from our sight. Little is known of Sallie Wister's 
later days. History only tells us that she grew to womanhood, that she became 
"quite serious" and that she "died unmarried, April 21, 1804." We are left to 
wonder about the rest. Why did Sallie Wister grow serious and why did she 
never marry? All sorts of romantic reasons suggest themselves, for the Sallie 
Wister of her diary was the very girl to have "an interesting story." But we can 
get no further than surmise, and it is better, perhaps, not to puzzle with what came 
after, but to think of her always as the light-hearted mischievous Sallie Wister, 
who though only a little Quaker made a valuable contribution to American history 
through her diary. 

BETTY ZANE. 

When Ebenezer Zane of Berkley County, Virginia, pushed his way through 
the wilderness to the banks of the Ohio River he took with him to a rough-hewn 
log cabin just above Wheeling Creek not only his wife and family but a younger 
sister, Betty Zane. This was in 1772, and Betty Zane was then only sixteen years 
of age. It was a wild spot where the Zane cabin stood and perhaps the little maiden 
was lonely now and then, but restlessness and discontent were not among the 
ailments of the girls of Revolutionary days. The fact of surrounding danger and 
possibility of having to flee from their homes at a moment's notice made them 
cling all the more closely to the fireside and knit them all the more closely in the 
bands of family love and life. 

Now in the year 1764 the Six Nations of the great Indian Confederacy in 
the American colonies had made a treaty by the terms of which warfare for a time 
came to an end. But English folly at last overtook the treaty after ten years of 



Women of the Revolution 161 

peace — a blunder for which the colonists had to pay dearly. "Cornstalk," the great 
Indian chief, had been killed by the Whites who suspected him unjustly, and the 
savages had begun a terrible war on the Virginia border. To protect these frontier 
settlers, in 1774, under the superintendence of Ebenezer Zane, Fort Henry, at first 
called Fort Fincastle, was built. The Fort was built in an open space and its main 
entrance was through a gateway on its eastern side, joining the struggling hamlet 
of Wheeling which consisted of about twenty-five log houses. It was three years 
before the Wheeling Creek pioneers had to use their Fort as a place of refuge and 
defence. Then one day in September, 1777, Sheppard, who was the military com- 
mander of Fort Henry, noticed scores of Indians in the neighborhood and felt sure 
that an attack would be made on the garrison. He ordered the settlers to shut 
themselves in the block houses within the fortification. Next morning the savages 
approached, and from the little garrison force of only forty-two fighting men 
thirteen were led out by Captain Samuel Mason to repulse the Indian attack. From 
the loopholes of the block house the besieged saw Mason's men cut down one by 
one until not a white man of the little band of fourteen was left. Reduced now to 
twenty-six defenders with a force of from three to five hundred Indians hemming 
them in on three sides, the garrison was in a desperate plight, yet they fought on 
day after day, always hoping for the help that did not come. And during this time 
little Betty Zane was running bullets, as were the other women in the fort, and 
sometimes firing the muskets to relieve the weary men. Then one day the com- 
mander stood with white, tight-drawn lips before the dauntless band. The horrible 
truth must at last come out. The ammunition was nearly exhausted. In a few 
hours there would not be a bullet for those brave hands to load with. What was 
to be done? Outside the palisades sixty feet from the fort stood Ebenezer Zane's 
log house, and in it was a keg of ammunition. Who would dare risk death from 
bullets, tomahawks or by torture in the face of five hundred foes. Several men 
stepped out and offered themselves. But every man's life possessed a hundredfold 
value that day and it was a hard matter to decide. While the volunteers stood in 
silence before their leader, Betty Zane laid her hand on the commander's arm. 
"I will go," she said simply. "You !" he exclaimed in amazement, "Oh no, you're 
not strong enough or fleet enough, besides . . ." "Sir," said the brave girl firmly, 
"it is because of the danger that I offer, if I, a woman, should be killed, 'twere not 
so great a loss as if one of these men should fall. You cannot spare a man, sir. 
Let me go." And so the matter was settled. The gate was opened and swift as 
a deer sped the girl out beyond the pickets towards the little log cabin. Courage 
was the thing most admired by the North American Indians, and as five hundred 
Wyandottes saw the fleeing figure of the daring girl pass directly before them not 
a hand was raised to bow or musket. Not a man of them fired at Betty Zane. 
She passed into the cabin, seized up the keg of ammunition, wrapped her apron 
about it, and then once more ran the gauntlet of the enemy's fire. And this time 
there was need for desperate haste, for the Indians guessed her burden and a shower 
of arrows and shot was sent after her flying figure. But the messengers of death 
fell harmlessly about her or broke vainly against the walls of Fort Henry as Betty 
gained the entrance. The great gateway flew open and a dozen strong arms were 
stretched out to take the precious keg. Women wept and men sobbed as they realized 

11 



162 Part Taken by Women in American History 



that Betty Zane had saved the fort. The next morning at daybreak Colonel 
McCulloch marched with a small force from Short Creek to the relief of the gar- 
rison and completed the work of its salvation begun by Betty Zane. 



MOLLY PITCHER. 

Among the true stories of the history of the American 
nation in the making none touches the blood with a warmer 
thrill of admiration than that of brave Molly Pitcher, whose 
heroism on Monmouth field has found lasting record in the 
pages of American history. 

Some time during the middle of the eighteenth century 
there came to America from Germany an immigrant by the 
name of John Gurex Ludwig, who settled in the colony of Penn- 
sylvania. Here in the town of Carlisle was born to the wife of 
John Gurex Ludwig, October 13, 1744, a little daughter, whom 
he called Mary. The Ludwigs being poor, Mary became a serv- 
ant girl in the family of Doctor William Irvine, a gentleman 
living in Carolina. It was while employed in Doctor Irvine's 
household, no doubt, that "Molly," as she was familiarly known, 
first learned to love the country of her birth, and there she 
developed that patriotism and loyalty that was one day to make 
the humble servant girl a soldier and heroine. 

In July, of the year 1769, Molly left the roof of her master, 
and became the wife of a barber named John Hays. Whether 
or not Molly filled her husband with warlike ambition is an open 
question, but, at any rate, Hays was commissioned gunner in 
Proctor's first Pennsylvania Artillery on the fourteenth day of 
December, 1775, "changing the peaceful occupation of cutting 
of hair with shears to the more exciting one of cutting ofif heads 
with cannon balls." With a loyalty born of devotion and 
unselfishness, Molly determined to follow her husband, so when 
Gunner Hays marched orT with Proctor's first, Molly marched 
with him. 



Women of the Revolution 163 

Through the din of battle, the heat of summer and the dif- 
ficulty of winter the gunner and his wife followed the fortunes 
of the American army. But it was not until the retreat of our 
forces at Fort Clinton that Molly's first deed of daring became 
a by-word in tent and camp. Finding that it was necessary to 
leave the enemy in Pennsylvania, Hays started to fire his gun 
as a parting salute to the British, but in the rush and confusion 
of the moment he dropped his lighted match. There was no 
time to lose, and there was danger of being captured, so he did 
not stop, but Molly, who was behind him, seized the match from 
the ground, ran to the gun, touched it off, and then scampered 
down the hill as fast as her legs could carry her, to join the sol- 
diers. This happened some months before the famous battle 
of Monmouth. 

Down in Monmouth Mountain the people never dreamed 
that there would be any fighting in their midst. The murmur 
of the sea on one side and the murmur of the pine forest on the 
other made a melody of sound that shut out the roar of warfare, 
so that the tramp, tramp, tramp of the British army that sud- 
denly aroused them must have been a very great surprise. Sir 
Henry Clinton had succeeded to the command of the British 
army, with orders to New York and a line of march through 
the Jerseys. And so it happened that Monmouth became the 
scene of conflict, Washington, with his troops, having pressed 
forward to head them off. Halting at a little place called 
Allentown, the English commander found the American forces 
at his front. He pushed on, however, and on the twenty- 
seventh of June encamped at Monmouth Courthouse, on rising 
ground, hemmed in on all sides by woods and marshes. General 
Washington, with grave deliberation, decided to risk the fight, 
and although the battle was heartily contested, the American 
army was victorious. That memorable Sunday, the twenty- 
eighth of June, 1778, was the hottest day that year. Yet, 



164 Part Taken by Women in American History 

through the dust and heat and smoke, Molly, the gunner's wife, 
parried water to her husband and the soldiers on the field all 
day. The little spring from which she fetched the water was at 
the bottom of the hill and, instead of a pail, she brought it in a 
pitcher, and this was the origin of her name, "Molly Pitcher/' 
among the soldiers — a name that, from that day has become his- 
toric. There had been a fierce charge of the enemy's cavalry 
on Hays' gun, and just as she was returning with a refreshing 
draught for the almost perishing men, she saw her husband 
fall, mortally wounded. Rushing forward, she heard an officer 
say, "Wheel back the gun, there is no one here to serve it!" 
Checking the blinding rush of tears, Molly threw down her 
pitcher and seized the rammer of the gun. "I will fire it," she 
said, and taking her place beside the dead gunner's cannon she 
filled his place during the rest of the day. 

The next day General Greene sent for Molly and brought 
her up to General Washington, who praised her for her 
courage, and presented her then and there with the commission 
of sergeant in the Continental army. As the half-dazed Molly 
stood before the great General in her soldier's coat and cap 
cheer after cheer for "Sergeant Molly Pitcher" went up from 
ten thousand throats. It must have been a stirring picture. 
Stately Washington and the blood-stained, smoke-begrimed 
figure of the gunner's wife. 

The battle of Monmouth was the only battle of the Revo- 
lution in which every one of the thirteen colonies was 
represented, so Sergeant Molly's heroism is a matter of 
National as well as local pride. For eight years she did her 
part in the great struggle and when the war was over she went 
back to her old home in Carlisle, where she engaged employ- 
ment as a nurse, and where in later years she kept a little shop. 
To the soldiers she was always Captain Molly Pitcher and the 
French officers and soldiers admired the woman soldier so 



Women of the Revolution 165 

much that whenever she passed their lines her sergeant's cocked 
hat was always filled with French coins. By a special act of 
state legislature she was given a pension of eighty dollars 
a year. 

There is more than a thrilling story in this woman's life; 
there is a lesson of loyalty and courage; a lesson of a life 
not to be spoiled by praise and popularity. 

"Oh Molly, Molly with eyes so blue, 
Oh Molly, Molly here's to you, 
Sweet honor's role will aye be richer 
To hold the name of Molly Pitcher." 

MARY SLOCUMB. 

If a plain, unvarnished narrative of the sayings and doings of the actors 
in our Revolutionary times — those unknown by name save in the neighborhood 
where they lived — could by some miraculous means be gathered and published, it 
would surpass in thrilling interest any romance ever written. And one of the 
most remarkable chapters of such a volume undoubtedly would be the career of 
Mary Slocumb. Her maiden name was Hooks and she was born in North Caro- 
lina in 1760. When she was about ten years old, her father moved into a region 
called Goshen, famous for years in North Carolina for the frank simplicity of its 
inhabitants and for their profuse and generous hospitality. Here were nurtured 
some of the noblest spirits of the Revolution. The constant presence of the 
Loyalists and Tories in the neighborhood and their depredations called for vigilance 
as well as bravery. Sometimes the barn or dwelling of an unfortunate Whig wrapt 
in flames lighted up the darkness; sometimes his fate was to be hung to a sapling 
and not infrequently similar atrocities were in like manner avenged upon the 
aggressors. 

Accustomed to hear of such things and inured to scenes of danger, it is 
not to be wondered at that the gay and sprightly Mary Hooks should acquire a 
degree of masculine energy and independence with many really manly accomplish- 
ments, all of which stood her in good stead in the days to follow when her strength 
as well as her spirit were tried as the wife of a fighting patriot. Soon after the 
removal of the family to Goshen, her mother died and in 1777 her father married 
the widow of John Charles Slocumb, whose eldest son, Ezekiel Slocumb, eventually 
took her as an eighteen-year-old bride to his large plantation on the Neuse. To 
prevent and punish the frequent incursions of the Tories, her husband joined a 
troop of light-horse who, acting on their own responsibility, performed the duty 
of scouts, scouring the coantry wherever they had notice of any necessity for their 



166 Part Taken by Women in American History 

presence. In these prolonged absences, young Mary Slocumb took the entire 
charge of the plantation. She used to say laughingly that she had done in those 
perilous times all that a man ever did, except "mauling rails," and to take away 
even that exception she went out one day and split a few! 

While her husband was away on one of his excursions, General Tarleton 
and a large division of the British army took possession of his plantation, and the 
young wife was torn with anxiety lest Lieutenant Slocumb, who was known to be 
somewhere in the vicinity, should return to his home all unsuspecting and walk 
into the enemy's ambush. Yet her conduct betrayed none of this; with splendid 
dignity, rare in one so young, she received these invaders of her home and she 
addressed herself immediately to preparing a dinner of much elaborateness for 
the uninvited guests, but dispatching in secret a messenger to warn the American 
scouts. 

Before the messenger could discover Lieutenant Slocumb's whereabouts in 
the wood, a party of British soldiers, whom Tarleton had sent out to reconnoiter, 
blundered upon the American scouters and in the skirmish that ensued, the sounds 
of which were heard with sinking heart by Mrs. Slocumb, more than half the 
British company was shot down, and suddenly, before the astonished British officers 
and the terrified wife, the owner of the plantation dashed into sight in hot pursuit 
of the retreating Tory who had been in command of the British troop. Mrs. 
Slocumb's messenger, an old negro, known as "Big George," sprang directly in 
front of his horse, shouting "Hold on, massa, de debbil here. Look you !" The 
imprudent young officer at once perceived the peril into which he had ridden. A 
gesture from his wife indicated the great encampment of some eleven hundred 
men in occupancy of his plantation and, quick as thought, he dashed down the 
avenue directly towards the house, calling the few Americans who were with him. 
On reaching the garden fence — a rude structure formed of a kind of lath and 
called a wattle fence — they leaped that and the next, amid a shower of balls, 
crossed a stream at one tremendous leap and scoured away across an open field 
and were in the shelter of the wood before their pursuers could clear the fence 
of the inclosure. A platoon had begun the pursuit but the trumpets sounded the 
recall before the flying Americans had crossed the stream, for the presence of 
mind and lofty language of the heroic wife had convinced the British Colonel that 
the daring men who so fearlessly dashed into his camp were supported by a for- 
midable force near at hand. Had Mrs. Slocumb not so diplomatically concealed 
the truth, and the fugitives pursued, nothing could have prevented the destruction 
not only of the four who fled but the rest of the pitifully slender company of 
American scouts on the other side of the plantation. 

As Tarleton walked into the house, he observed to the brave woman : "Your 
husband made us a short visit, madam, I should have been happy to make his 
acquaintance." 

"I have little doubt," replied the wife, "that you will meet again the gentle- 
man and he will thank you for the polite treatment you have afforded his wife !" 

The Colonel mumbled an apology that necessity compelled them to occupy 
her property, but it is worthy of remark that he removed his troops before long 
and when the British army broke up their encampment at her plantation, a ser- 



Women of the Revolution 167 

geant was ordered by Colonel Tarleton to stand in the door till the last soldier 
had gone out, to insure protection to a woman whose noble spirit had inspired him 
with the most profound respect. 

The most remarkable occurrence in the career of this patriotic wife was 
the dream which led to her being the heroine of the battle at Moore's Creek, one 
of the bloodiest battles of the Revolution. Her husband, now Colonel Slocumb, 
was accustomed to dwell lightly on the gallant part borne by himself in that 
memorable action but he would give abundant praise to his associates, and he 
would add: "My wife was there." She was indeed; but the story is best told in 
her own words. "The troop left from this house with my husband Sunday morn- 
ing and they got off in high spirits; every man stepping high and light. I slept 
soundly and quietly that night and worked hard all the next day, but I kept 
thinking where they got to — how far; when and how many Tories they would 
meet and all that, I could not keep myself from the study, and when I went to 
bed at the usual time I could not sleep for it. As I lay — whether waking or sleep- 
ing I know not, I had a dream; yet it was not all a dream. I saw distinctly a 
body wrapped in my husband's guard cloak — bloody — dead; and other dead and 
wounded all about him. I uttered a cry and sprang to my feet, and so strong was 
the impression on my mind that I rushed in the direction in which the vision 
appeared and came up against the side of the house. Seated on the bed I reflected 
a few moments; then said aloud: T must go to him.' I told my woman that I 
could not sleep and would ride down the road, and although she appeared in great 
alarm, I reassured her, telling her merely to lock the door after me and look after 
my little child. I went to the stable, saddled my mare, and in one minute we were 
tearing down the road at full speed. Again and again I was tempted to turn 
back. I was soon ten miles from home and my mind became stronger every mile 
I rode. That I should find my husband dead or dying was as firmly my presenti- 
ment and conviction as any fact of my life. When day broke I was thirty miles 
from home. I knew the general route our little army was to take and followed 
them without hesitation. Again I was skimming over the ground through a country 
thinly settled but neither my spirit nor my beautiful nag's failed in the least. We 
followed the well-marked trail of the troops. 

"The sun must have been well up, say eight or nine o'clock, when I heard a 
sound like thunder which I knew must be a cannon. I stopped still; when pres- 
ently the cannon thundered again— I spoke to my mare and dashed on in the 
direction of the fighting, and the shots and shouts now grew louder than ever. 
The blind path I had been following brought me into the Wilmington road leading 
to Moore's Creek Bridge a few hundred yards below the bridge, and a little dis- 
tance from the road were lying perhaps twenty men. They were all wounded. 
Suddenly I knew the spot ; the very trees and the position of the men I knew as if 
I had seen it a thousand times. I had seen it all night — it was my dream come 
true. In an instant my whole soul was centered upon one spot, for there, wrapped 
in his bloody guard-cloak, was, I was sure, my husband's body. I remember 
uncovering the head and seeing a face clothed with blood from a dreadful wound 
across the temple. I put my hand on the bloody face, and found it warm, but 
suddenly an unknown voice begged for water. A small camp-kettle was lying 



1 68 Part Taken by Women in American History 



near and a stream of water was nearby. I brought it; poured some in his mouth; 
washed his face and behold it was Frank Cogdell— not my husband. He soon 
revived and could speak, and as I washed the wound in his head he said: 'It is 
not that; it is that hole in my leg that is killing me.' I took his knife, cut away 
his trousers and stocking and found that the blood came from a shot-hole through 
and through the fleshy part of his leg. I looked about and could see nothing that 
looked as if it would do for dressing wounds but heart-leaves, so I gathered a 
handful and bound them tight to the holes, and the bleeding stopped. I then went 
to the others and dressed the wounds of many a brave fellow who did good fight- 
ing long after that day. When the General appeared, he seemed very much sur- 
prised and was with his hat in his hand about to pay me some compliment when 
I interrupted him by asking: 'Where is my husband?' 'Where he ought to be, 
madam, in pursuit of the enemy. But pray/ said he, 'How came you here?' 

" 'Oh, I thought,' replied I, 'you would need nurses as well as soldiers. See ! 
I have already dressed many of these good fellows, and there is one' — going to 
Frank Cogdell and lifting him up with my arm under his head so that he could 
drink some more water — 'who would have died before any of you men could have 
helped him.' 

" 'I believe you,' said Frank. Just then I looked up and, my husband as 
bloody as a butcher and as muddy as a ditcher, stood before me. 

" 'Why Mary,' he exclaimed. 'What are you doing there ? Hugging Frank 
Cogdell, the greatest reprobate in the army?' 

" 'I don't care,' I cried. 'Frank is a brave fellow, a good soldier and a true 
friend to Congress.' 

" 'True, true, every word of it,' said the General with the lowest kind of a 
bow. 

"I would not tell my husband of my dream that had brought me; I was so 
happy, and so were all. It was a glorious victory. I knew my husband was sur- 
prised but I could see he was not displeased with me. It was night again before 
our excitement had at all subsided. But in the middle of the night I again mounted 
my mare and started for home. The General and my husband wanted me to stay 
until the next morning and they would send a party with me; but no, I wanted to 
see my child and I told them they could send no party that could keep up with 
me ! What a happy ride I had back. And with what joy did I embrace my child 
as he ran to meet me." 

In these days of railroads and steam, it can scarcely be credited that a 
woman actually rode alone in the night through a wild, unsettled country, a dis- 
tance — going and coming — of a hundred and twenty-five miles ; and in less than 
forty hours and without any interval of rest. Yet such was the feat of Mary 
Slocumb, and such was the altogether natural manner of relating her heroic deed, 
that it is as a modern woman might speak of having attended a social function 
of a somewhat exciting nature. 

Of course, there are various explanations to be offered for the vision that 
produced an impression so powerful as to determine this resolute wife upon her 
nocturnal expedition to the battlefield, but the idea of danger to her husband, 
which banished sleep, was sufficient to call up the illusion to her excited imagination. 



Women of the Revolution 169 

Mrs. Slocumb possessed a strong and original mind, a commanding intellect 
and clear judgment which she retained unimpaired to the time of her death. Her 
characteristic fortitude in the endurance of bodily pain — so great that it seemed 
absolute stoicism — should be noticed. In her seventy-second year she was afflicted 
with a cancer on her hand which the surgeon informed her must be removed 
with a knife. At the time appointed for the operation, she protested against being 
held by the assistants, telling the surgeon : "It was his business to cut out the 
cancer; she would take care of the arm," and bracing her arm on the table, she 
never moved a muscle nor uttered a groan during the operation. 

At the age of seventy-six, on the sixth of March, 1836, she sank quietly to 
rest in the happy home on the plantation "Pleasant Green," where all these exciting 
scenes and stiring events of the Revolution had taken place. 

SARAH REEVE GIBBES. 

No better picture of the distress and, indeed, the cataclysm that the later 
campaigns of the Revolution brought into southern life can be offered than the 
story of the experiences of Sarah Reeve Gibbes. She was married when about 
eighteen to Robert Gibbes, a man considerably older than herself, but who pos- 
sessed wealth and was in every case one of those gentlemen of the old school of 
whom South Carolina has justly made her boast. He had a house in Charleston, 
which had been the girlhood home of Miss Sarah Reeve, but they both preferred 
to spend most of the year at his country seat and plantation on John's Island, 
about two hours sail from the city. This was a splendid place, the various clusters 
of buildings resembling a settlement rather than one estate, while the beautifully 
laid-out grounds and shaded walks gave a most inviting aspect, and earned for its 
large, square, ancient-looking stone mansion the name of "Peaceful Retreat." Here 
the young wife devoted herself with earnestness to the duties before her. The chil- 
dren that came to them were many and strong, but before they were fully grown 
she assumed the care of seven orphan children of the sister of Mr. Gibbes, who at 
her death had left them and their estate to his guardianship. Two other children 
were before long added to her charge. Then she saw her husband gradually 
become a chair-ridden invalid with gout, and the management of the estate, with 
the writing on business it required, devolved absolutely upon Mrs. Gibbes. The 
multiplied cares involved in meeting all these responsibilities, together with the 
superintendence of household concerns, required a rare degree of energy and 
activity, yet the mistress of this well-ordered establishment dispensed the hospitality 
of "Peaceful Retreat" with such grace that it became famous. Unable by reason 
of his affliction to take active part in the war, the feelings of Robert Gibbes were 
nevertheless warmly enlisted on the Republican side and their house was ever 
open for the reception and entertainment of the friends of liberty. It was doubt- 
less the fame of the luxurious living at this delightful country-seat which attracted 
the attention of the British during the invasion of Prevost, while the Royal army 
kept possession of the seaboard about Charleston. A battalion of British and 
Hessians determining to quarter themselves in so desirable a spot, arrived at the 
landing at the dead of night, and marching up in silence, surrounded the house. 



170 Part Taken by Women in American History 

The day had not begun to dawn when an aged and faithful servant tapped softly 
at the door of "Miss Gibbes' " apartment. The whisper "Mistress, the redcoats are 
all around the house," was the first intimation of their danger. "Tell no one, 
Caesar, but keep all quiet," she replied promptly, and her preparations for receiving 
the intruders were instantly begun. Having dressed herself quickly she went 
upstairs, waked several women guests and requested them to dress with all haste. 
In the meantime the domestics had waked the children, of whom with her own 
and those under her care, there were sixteen, the eldest being only fifteen years old. 
Mrs. Gibbes then assisted her husband as was her custom, to rise and dress and 
had him placed in his rolling chair. All these arrangements were made without 
the least confusion and so silently that the British had no idea any one was yet 
awake within the house. The object of all this preparation, by the clever woman, 
was to prevent violence on the enemy's part, by showing them at once that the 
mansion was inhabited only by those who were unable to defend themselves. The 
impressive manner in which Mrs. Gibbes drew the curtain on her pathetic drama 
produced its effect even on the hardened soldiers. The invaders had no knowledge 
that the inmates were aware of their presence till daylight, when the heavy rolling 
of Mr. Gibbes' invalid chair across the great hall toward the front door was 
heard. Supposing the sound to be the rolling of a cannon, the soldiers advanced 
and stood prepared, with pointed bayonets to rush in when the signal for assault 
should be given. 

As the door was thrown open and the stately, though helpless form of 
the invalid was presented, surrounded by women and children, they drew back 
and, startled into an involuntary expression of respect, presented arms. Mr. 
Gibbes addressed them, and for a moment the pathos of his words seemed to halt 
the intended invasion. The British officers, however, soon took possession of the 
house, leaving the premises to their men, and making no proviso against pillage; 
so the soldiers roved over the place at their pleasure, helping themselves to what- 
ever they chose, breaking into the wineroom, drinking to intoxication and seizing 
upon and carrying off the negroes. 

Within the mansion, the energy and self-possession of Mrs. Gibbes still 
protected her family. The appearance of fear or confusion might have tempted 
the invaders to incivility; but it was impossible for them to treat otherwise than with 
deference a lady whose calm, quiet deportment commanded their highest respect. 
Maintaining her place as mistress of the household and presiding at her table, she 
treated her uninvited guests with a dignified courtesy that insured civility while it 
prevented presumptuous familiarity. The boldest and rudest among them bowed 
willingly to an influence which fear or force could neither have secured. 

When the news of the occupation of the Gibbes Plantation — no longer, alas ! 
in reality "Peaceful Retreat" — by the British reached Charleston, the authorities 
dispatched two galleys to dislodge them. The men were given strict instructions 
not to fire on the house for fear of injury to any of the helpless family, but it 
could not be known to Mrs. Gibbes that such a caution was to be taken, and as 
soon as the Americans began to fire, she decided that she must seek a place of 
safety for her family. The horses being in the enemy's hands, they had no means 
of conveyance, but Mrs. Gibbes, undaunted and desperate, to secure shelter for 



Women of the Revolution 171 

her helpless charges, set off to walk with the children and her husband — the latter 
pushed in his chair by a faithful servant — to an adjoining plantation. A drizzling 
rain was falling, and the weather was extremely chilly; moreover the firing from 
the boats was incessant and in a direction which was in range with the course of 
the fugitives. The shot falling around them cut the bushes and struck trees on 
every side. Exposed each moment to this imminent danger, they continued their 
flight with as much haste as possible for about a mile when they were at least 
beyond reach of the shot. 

Having reached the house occupied by the negro laborers on the plantation, 
they stopped for a few moments to rest, and Mrs. Gibbes, wet, chilled, and exhausted 
by fatigue and mental anxiety, felt her strength utterly fail and she was obliged 
to wrap herself in a blanket and lie down upon one of the beds. Then, just when 
the fleeing party first drew breath freely, thankful that the fears of death were 
over, it was discovered, on reviewing the trembling group, that a little boy, John 
Fenwick, was missing. In the hurry and the terror of the flight, the child had 
been forgotten and left behind. Mrs. Gibbes not being equal to further effort she 
was obliged to see her little daughter, only thirteen years of age, set out upon the 
fearful peril of a return journey to the house. The girl reached the house still in 
possession of the enemy and persuaded the sentinel to allow her to enter. She 
found the child in a room in the third story, and lifting him joyfully in her arms, 
carried him down and fled with him to the spot where her anxious parents were 
awaiting her return. The shot flew thickly around her, frequently throwing up 
the earth in her way, but with something of her mother's intrepidity, she had 
pushed through in safety. 

Some time after these occurrences, when the family were again inmates of 
their own home, a battle was fought in a neighboring field. When the struggle 
was over, Mrs. Gibbes sent her servants to search among the slain for her nephew 
who had not returned. They identified him by his clothes, his face being so 
covered with wounds that he could never have been recognized. Life was, how- 
ever, not extinct, and under the unremitting care of his aunt, he eventually 
recovered. 

In after years, Mrs. Gibbes was accustomed to point out the spot where her 
eldest son when only sixteen years old had been placed as a sentinel, while British 
ships were in the river and their fire was poured on him. She would relate how, 
with a mother's agony of solicitude, she watched the balls as they struck the earth 
around him, while the youthful soldier maintained his dangerous post notwith- 
standing the entreaties of an old negro servant who hid behind a tree. 

So, we, who enjoy the liberty and peace purchased at such fearful cost, can- 
not fully estimate the sacrifice of the heroines of the Revolutionary War. Sarah 
Reeve Gibbs exhibited always the same composure and the readiness to meet 
every emergency with the same benevolent sympathy for all unfortunates. 

Mrs. Gibbes had a cultivated mind, and in spite of her many cares, still found 
leisure for literary occupation. Volumes of her writings remain, filled with well- 
selected extracts from the many books she read and accompanied by her own 
comments; also essays on various subjects, poetry, and copies of letters to her 
friends. Most of her letters were written after the war, and beside expressing the 



172 Part Taken by Women in American History 

tenderest sensibility and refinement, throw interesting light on the pitiable condition 
of the southern sections at that time. 

During the latter part of her life she resided at "Wilton," the country seat 
of a friend, "Peaceful Retreat" having become uninhabitable. At "Wilton" she 
died in 1825, at the age of seventy-nine. Her remains, however, were laid to rest 
in the family burial ground upon John's Island, the scene of her trials during the 
days of bloodshed and ruthlessness in the Revolutionary War. 

HANNAH CALDWELL. 

Not numbered among the heroic, the strong, the dashing or the prominent 
in the records of the Revolution but held in memory as one of its martyrs, is the 
name of Hannah Caldwell, whose barbarous murder was perpetrated not as "an 
act of vengeance upon an individual, but with the design of striking terror into 
the country and compelling the inhabitants to submission." 

So far from producing this effect, however, the crime aroused the whole 
community to a state of belligerency before unknown. One of the journals of the 
day says : "The Caldwell tragedy has raised the resolution of the country to the 
highest pitch. They are ready almost to swear enmity to the name of Britain." 

And yet, there was probably no one in all the colonies who was leading a 
quieter or more peaceful life than Hannah Caldwell. She was the daughter of 
John Ogden of Newark, and Hannah Sayre, a descendant of the Pilgrims. Her 
brothers were all stout Whigs, and in 1763 she married the Rev. James Caldwell, 
pastor of the first Presbyterian church in Elizabethtown (the Elizabeth of to-day), 
New Jersey, and he was one of the earliest to espouse the cause of this country. 
Her husband acted as chaplain of the Americans who occupied New Jersey, and 
his zeal in throwing the influence of his eloquence for the cause of freedom ren- 
dered him obnoxious to the enemy, and at length a price was put upon his head. 
It is said that while preaching the Gospel to his people he was often forced to 
lay his loaded pistols by his side in the pulpit. The church in which he preached 
became a hospital for the sick and wounded of the American army and the weary 
soldiers often slept upon its floor and ate their hurried and scanty meals from the 
seats of the pews so that worshippers were not infrequently compelled to stand 
through the service. But even this shelter the British and Tories, because of their 
anger toward the pastor of the church, determined to destroy, and accordingly it 
was burned with the parsonage on the night of January 25, 1780. The wife, 
Hannah Caldwell, fled into the interior of the state with her nine children, but 
even here there seemed no peace, for a body of Hessian and British troops had 
landed on the New Jersey coasts and were proceeding to spread devastation and 
terror throughout the colony. When informed of the enemy's approach, the 
pastor put his elder children into a baggage wagon which was in his possession as 
commissary, and sent them to some of his friends for protection. But three of the 
youngest, with an infant about eight months old, remained with their mother in 
the house, Mr. Caldwell having no fears for the safety of his wife and young family 
since he believed it impossible that "resentment could be extended to a mother 
watching over her little ones," He was called to join the force collecting to oppose 



Women of the Revolution 173 

the British marauders, and early in the morning, while his wife was handing him 
a cup of coffee, which he drank as he sat on horseback, he saw the gleam of 
British arms in the distance, and he put spurs to his horse. What followed is best 
given in the simple terrible account of the crime. Mrs. Caldwell herself felt no 
alarm. She placed several articles of value in a bucket and let it down into the 
well, and filled her pockets with silver and jewelry. She saw that the house was 
put in order and then dressed herself with care that, should the enemy enter her 
dwelling, she might, to use her own expression, "receive them as a lady." She 
then took the infant in her arms, retired to her chamber, the window of which 
commanded a view of the road, and seated herself upon the bed. The alarm was 
given that the soldiers were at hand. But she felt confident that no one could 
have the heart to do injury to the helpless inmates of her house. Again and again 
she said: "They will respect a mother." She had just nursed the infant and 
given it to the maid. A soldier left the road and, crossing a space of ground 
diagonally to reach the house, came to the window of the room, put his gun close 
to it and fired. Two balls entered the breast of Mrs. Caldwell ; she fell back on 
the bed and in a moment expired. 

After the murder Mrs. Caldwell's dress was cut open and her pockets were 
rifled by the soldiers. Her remains were conveyed to a house on the other side 
of the road, the dwelling was then fired and reduced to ashes with all the furniture, 
but the ruthless soldiers evidently desired her death to be known, that such a fate 
might intimidate the countryside. 

Some attempts were made by the Royalist party to escape the odium of the 
frightful outrage by pretending that Mrs. Caldwell had been killed by a chance 
shot. The actual evidence, however, sets beyond question the fact that one of the 
enemy was the murderer and there is much reason to believe that the deed was 
deliberately ordered by those high in authority. 

It seems peculiarly sad that such an end should have been the fate of a 
woman known as Hannah Caldwell was for her benevolence, serenity and sweet- 
ness of disposition, but the memory of this martyr to American liberty will long 
be revered by the inhabitants of the land, with whose soil her blood has mingled. 

REBECCA BARLOW. 

Rebecca Barlow was the daughter of Eli Nathan Sanford of Reading, Con- 
necticut. By her marriage to Aaron Barlow she became the sister-in-law of Joel 
Barlow, the poet, philosopher and politician who, it is believed, owed much of the 
formation of his mind and character to this wife of his elder brother. Much of 
his time in early life was spent in the society of this sister-in-law, who was a 
woman of strong mind, and he has admitted that he wrote the "Columbiad" and 
other works under her inspiration. 

When the stirring scenes of the Revolution began, both brothers felt called 
upon to act their part. The husband of Rebecca Barlow entering the service of 
his country was in a short time promoted to the rank of colonel. His military 
duties requiring long absences from home, the young wife was left in the entire 
charge of their estate and of their helpless little ones. At one time a rumor came 



174 Part Taken by Women in American History 

that the British army was approaching and would probably reach her town that 
very night. The terrified inhabitants resolved on instant flight and each family, 
gathering together such of their effects as they could take with them, left the 
village and traveled the whole night to reach the only place of refuge available. 
Mrs. Barlow could not carry away her children and to leave them was out of the 
question. She therefore remained to protect them or share their fate in the 
deserted village. No enemy, however, was near, the groundless alarm having been 
excited by the firing of some guns below. The story of Mrs. Barlow's heroism 
in remaining alone in the village when the attack from the British was expected 
reached the ears of bluff General Putnam, then in command of a brigade of Amer- 
ican troops in the vicinity. It is said that feeling a curiosity to make the acquain- 
tance of a woman whose character so met with his strong appreciation, he took 
a stroll over the fields toward her house, wearing the clothes of a countryman, his 
ostensible errand being a neighborly request that Mrs. Barlow would be kind 
enough to lend him a little yeast for baking. Without ceremony he entered the 
kitchen, where the matron was busily engaged in preparing breakfast, and asked 
for the yeast. She had none to give, and told him so each time his request was 
repeated, without stopping her employment to look at the face of her visitor. It 
was not until after his departure that she was informed by her old black servant 
who it was who had asked the favor with such importunity. "I suppose," was her 
remark, "had I known him I should have treated him with rather more civility, 
but it is no matter now." General Putnam came away from the interview declar- 
ing that she was the proper material for the matrons of the infant nation. A 
few years after the war ended Colonel Barlow with his family removed to Nor- 
folk, Virginia, where he subsequently fell a victim to the yellow fever, and after 
the burial of her husband and daughter Rebecca Barlow returned to her former 
home in Connecticut, where she died at an advanced age. Some of her sons 
have rendered important services to their country as statesmen. The youngest, 
Thomas, accompanied his uncle Joel, when serving as Minister Plenipotentiary at 
the court of France, as his secretary, and after the death of his uncle, in the winter 
of 1813 escorted his wife who had been left in Paris, to America. The remains of 
the Minister were brought with them and placed in the family vault at Washington. 

ANNA BAILEY. 

In every sense of the word Anna Bailey may be called a Daughter cf the 
Revolution. At the time of the burning of New London, Connecticut, a detach- 
ment of the army of the traitor Arnold was directed to attack Fort Griswold, at 
Groton, on the opposite bank of the river. This fort was little more than a rude 
embankment of earth thrown up as a breastwork for the handful of troops it 
surrounded. Although the garrison defending it, under the command of the brave 
Colonel Ledyard, stood their ground they were overwhelmed by numbers, and 
after a fierce and bloody encounter the result was indiscriminate butchery of the 
Americans. On the morning after this massacre Mrs. Anna Bailey, then a young 
woman, left her home three miles distant and came in search of her uncle, who had 
joined the volunteers on the first alarm of invasion and was known to have been 



Women of the Revolution 175 

engaged in the disastrous conflict. His niece found him in a house near the scene 
of slaughter, wounded unto death. It was evident that life was fast departing. 
Perfect consciousness still remained and with dying energy he entreated that he 
might once more behold his wife and child. Such a request was sacred to the 
affectionate and sympathetic girl. She lost no time in hastening home, where she 
caught and saddled the horse used by the family, placed upon the animal the 
delicate wife, whose strength would not permit her to walk, and taking the child 
herself, bore it in her arms the whole distance and presented it to receive the bless- 
ing of its dying father. 

With pictures of cruelty like the scene at Groton fresh in her memory, it 
is not surprising that Mrs. Bailey during the subsequent years of her life was 
noted for bitterness of feeling toward the enemies of her country. In those times 
of trial she nourished the ardent love of her native land and the energy and resolu- 
tion which in later days prompted the patriotic act that has made her name so 
celebrated as the "Heroine of Groton." On the 13th of July, 1813, a British squad- 
ron appearing in New London Harbor, an attack, evidently the enemy's object, 
was momentarily expected. The most intense excitement prevailed among the 
crowds assembled on both sides of the river, and the ancient fort was again 
manned for a desperate defence. In the midst of the preparations for resistance, 
however, it was discovered that there was a want of flannel to make the cartridges. 
There being no time to cross the ferry to New London, Mrs. Bailey proposed 
appealing to the people living in the neighborhood, and herself went from house to 
house to make the collection, even taking garments from her own person to con- 
tribute to the stock. This characteristic instance of enthusiasm in the cause of her 
country, together with the impression produced by her remarkable character, 
acquired for her a degree of popularity which elevated her, as "Mother Bailey," 
to almost the position of patron saint in her state. 

Her maiden name was Anna Marner until she married Captain Elijah Bailey 
of Groton. Her descendants throughout Connecticut have made a museum of 
Revolutionary relics from her belongings, but her gift to them has been the inherit- 
ance of strong mental faculties and ardent patriotism. 

EMILY GEIGER. 

In South Carolina, Emily Geiger's ride, though not as dramatic, is accorded 
all the eulogy of that of Paul Revere, as wrung from New England. It occurred 
when General Nathaniel Greene was moving his army toward Ninety-six, the most 
important post in the interior of South Carolina — it being his intention, to capture 
this place if possible. Pursued by the British army under Lord Rawdon, he with- 
drew northward across the Saluda river. Here he heard that Rawdon's force had 
been divided and therefore immediately determined to send for General Sumter 
a hundred miles away, so that together they might make an attack upon the Gen- 
eral. But in order to do this a courier must be dispatched quickly, and the journey 
was a difficult one through forests and across many rivers. By far the greatest 
hazard, however, lay in the fact that British soldiers guarded all the roads and 
that a large portion of the people living in that region were Tories. Indeed the 



176 Part Taken by Women in American History 

difficulty was so great that no man would undertake the mission. At last a girl 
eighteen years old came to General Greene and offered her services for the des- 
perate enterprise. This was Emily, daughter of John Geiger. The father was a true 
patriot, but being a cripple, was unable to serve as a soldier, and the daughter 
was anxious for a chance to have the family do something for the country. She 
was an expert horseback rider and familiar with the roads for many miles around. 
At first General Greene refused to send a defenseless girl on such a journey. But 
she insisted that being a woman she could do it with less peril than any man, and 
at length the General consented, giving her a letter to General Sumter. The first 
thing she did was to commit to memory the entire letter. Then she made ready 
for her journey. Unarmed, without provisions, this young girl bade the General 
and her friends good-bye and sped away. 

She had crossed the Saluda River and was nearing Columbia when she was 
halted by three of Rawdon's scouts. To their questions she gave evasive answers, 
and observing that she came from the direction of the American army the scouts 
arrested her and took her directly to Lord Rawdon. She was not skilled in the 
art of concealing the truth and the British General became suspicious. Yet having 
the modesty not to search her himself, he sent for an old Tory matron who lived 
some distance away, as being more fitted for the purpose. Emily was not wanting 
in resource. As soon as the door was closed she tore the letter into bits, and one 
after another she chewed and swallowed the fragments. After a while the matron 
arrived. But although she ripped open every seam in the girl's garments she 
could find nothing contraband, and without further questioning Lord Rawdon per- 
mitted the girl to continue on her way. He even furnished her a guide to the 
house of one of her friends several miles distant. When the guide had left her 
she obtained a fresh horse from her patriot friend and continued her journey 
through swamp and forest by a circuitous road. The whole night long she rode 
until daylight, having been fully forty-eight hours in the saddle with the exception of 
the time lost at Rawdon's headquarters. After a short rest until early morning 
at the house of another patriot she pushed on. At three o'clock in the afternoon 
she rode into Sumter's camp, where almost fainting from fatigue and hunger, she 
delivered the message sent by General Greene. She had not forgotten one word 
of the letter and recited it from beginning to end as though she were reading it 
from the written sheet. Scarcely an hour passed before Sumter's army was ready 
for the march. 

Two weeks after her ride of a hundred miles Emily Geiger returned home. 
She afterwards married a wealthy planter, and it is said that her descendants 
cherish a pair of ear-rings and a brooch given her by General Greene as well as a 
beautiful silk shawl presented to her by General Lafayette, when he was in this 
country in 1825. 

ALICE IZARD. 

The correspondence of Ralph Izard has been published and he has been 
acclaimed a great patriot. Few realize, however, how worthy, through her great 
executive ability, and her aid to him in the days of his invalidism, the wife of this 
patriot is of sharing his fame. She was the daughter of Peter Delancey, of West- 



Women of the Revolution 177 

Chester. She was married in 1767 to Ralph Izard. Mr. Izard represented his 
country abroad for many years but during part of the Revolutionary War their 
home was in Dorchester, South Carolina. An interesting anecdote related of Mrs. 
Izard illustrates well to what a severe trial the courage of American women was 
put during this stormy period. Her husband's life was sought by the British 
because of his ardent support of the cause of the colonies. At one time a number 
of British soldiers from Charleston invaded their plantation, surrounded the house 
and demanded that Mr. Izard give himself up. There seemed no way of escape, 
but his wife hastily concealed him in a clothes-press, while she awaited the entrance 
of his enemies. The search was instituted, which, proving unsuccessful, the 
soldiers threatened to fire the house unless he surrendered himself. In their rage 
and disappointment they proceeded to ransack the house. They fell upon the ward- 
robe of Mr. Izard and the marauders arrayed themselves in his best coats. Valu- 
able articles were seized in the presence of the mistress of the house, and an attempt 
was even made to tear the rings from her fingers — all of this being done to draw 
the fire of her temper and compel her to disclose her husband's whereabouts. But 
through all the trying scene Mrs. Izard preserved in a wonderful manner her self- 
control. So calm and dignified was she that the plunderers, doubting the correct- 
ness of the information they had received, and, perhaps, ashamed of themselves, 
withdrew. No sooner were they gone than Mr. Izard made his escape across the 
Ashley and gave notice to the Americans on the other side of the river of the 
approach of the enemy. The neighborhood rallied, met the British detachment, 
and so completely routed them that few of their party returned within their lines 
to relate the disaster. 

After the Revolution Mr. and Mrs. Izard found their estate in a condition 
of lamentable dilapidation, and they would probably have come, as did many others 
at that period, to poverty and suffering but for the energy and good management 
of Mrs. Izard, who soon restored good order and rendered the "Elms," the old 
family residence, a seat of domestic comfort and liberal hospitality. During her 
husband's illness, which lasted several years, she was his devoted nurse, while 
the management of the estate, embarrassed by losses sustained during the war, 
devolved upon her. She conducted all of his business correspondence, and found 
time to read to him several hours every day, and notwithstanding these cares each 
day was marked by some deed of quiet charity. In the faithful preformance of 
the duties before her and in doing good for others her useful life was closed in 
1832, in the eighty-seventh year of her age. 

DORCAS RICHARDSON. 

Dorcas Richardson, bearing more than her share of the terrible trials which 
fell to woman's lot in the Revolutionary War, affords a splendid example of the 
modest heroism and humble, cheerful faith of the women of that time. She was 
the daughter of Captain John Nelson, a native of Ireland, and was married at the 
age of twenty to Richard Richardson, with whom she went to live on a plantation 
on the Santee River in South Carolina. In this home of peace, contentment and 
abundance she enjoyed all the comforts of southern country life among the pros- 

12 



178 Part Taken by Women in American History 

perous class until the outburst of that storm, in which the fortunes and happiness 
of so many patriots were wrecked. At the commencement of the war her husband 
was captain of a company of militia, and when the three regiments of regulars from 
South Carolina were raised and officered in 1775 he was made a colonel. But at the 
surrender of Charleston he was taken prisoner, and in violation of the terms of 
capitulation he was sent to a military station on Johns Island. With the aid of his 
wife he made his escape, and returned to the neighborhood of his home, where he 
concealed himself in the Santee Swamp. At this time the British troops had 
overrun the state, and Colonel Tarleton seized upon the house of Colonel Richard- 
son as a station for his regiment of cavalry. The enemy lived luxuriously on the 
abundance of this richly-stocked plantation, but Mrs. Richardson was restricted to 
a single room and allowed but a scanty share of the provisions furnished from her 
own stores. Even here she exercised great self-denial, that the wants of the one 
dear to her might be supplied. Every day she sent food from her own small 
allowance to her husband in the swamp, by an old Negro, in whose care and dis- 
cretion she could trust implicitly. Expecting the seizure of her horses and cattle 
by the British she had Colonel Richardson's favorite riding horse sent into the 
swamp for concealment. This horse was shut up in a covered pen in the woods, 
which had once been used for holding corn — thence his cognomen "Corncrib," a 
name which clung to the famous charger through the great battlefields on which 
he afterward figured. Mrs. Richardson not only sent provisions to her husband in 
his place of shelter but sometimes ventured to visit him, the stolen meetings being, 
of course, full of consolation to the fugitive soldier. The British being informed 
of Richardson's escape naturally concluded that he was somewhere in the vicinity 
of his family, and a diligent search was instituted, scouts being sent in every direc- 
tion. It was only through the most determined efforts on the part of his wife that 
the searchers were frustrated. Not infrequently did the officers, in the most 
unfeeling manner boast in the presence of the wife of what they would do to her 
husband when they should capture him. On one occasion some of the officers 
displayed in the sight of Mrs. Richardson their swords reeking with blood, prob- 
ably that of her cattle, and told her that it was the blood of her husband whom 
they had killed. At another time they said that he had been taken and hanged. 
And in this state of cruel suspense she sometimes remained for several succes- 
sive days unable to learn the fate of her husband and not knowing whether to 
believe or distrust the horrible tales brought to her ears. Once only did she deign 
the reply, "I do not doubt" she said, "that men who can outrage the feelings of a 
woman by such threats are capable of perpetrating any act of treachery and 
inhumanity toward a brave but unfortunate enemy. But conquer or capture my 
husband if you can do so before you boast the cruelty with which you mean to 
mark your savage triumph. And let me tell you meanwhile that some of you, it 
is likely, will be in a condition to implore his favor before he will have need to 
supplicate or deign to accept yours." This prediction was literally verified in more 
than one instance during the remainder of the war. 

One day, when the troops were absent on some expedition, Colonel Richard- 
son ventured on a visit to his home, but before he thought of returning to his 
refuge in the forest, a patrolling party of the enemy appeared at the gate. Mrs. 



Women of the Revolution 179 

Richardson's presence of mind and calm courage were in requisition, and proved 
the salvation of the hunted patriot. Seeing the British soldiers about to come in, 
she pretended to be intently busy about something in the front doorway and stood 
there retarding their entrance. The least appearance of agitation or fear, the least 
change of color, might have betrayed all by exciting suspicion, but with a self- 
control as rare as admirable she hushed even the wild beating of her heart, and 
continued to stand in the way till her husband had time to retire through the back 
door into the swamp near at hand. 

Later Colonel Richardson left his retreat in the woods to go to the aid of 
General Marion, and together with a handful of men they made several successful 
sorties on the enemy. The British were not long in discovering that the Colonel 
had joined the force of Marion, and their conduct toward his wife was at once 
changed. One and all professed a profound respect for her brave and worthy 
husband, whose services they were desirous of securing. They endeavored to 
obtain her influence to prevail on him to join the Royal Army by promise of wealth 
and honorable promotion. The high-spirited wife treated all such offers with the 
contempt they deserved and refused to be made an instrument in their hands for 
the accomplishment of their purpose. She sent constant messages to her husband 
in his exile assuring him that she and the children were well, and provided with 
an abundance of everything necessary for their comfort. Thus with heroic artful- 
ness did she conceal the privations and want she was suffering, lest her husband's 
solicitude for her and his family might tempt him to waver from strict obedience 
to the dictates of honor and patriotism. 

When peace returned to shed its blessings over the land, Mrs. Richardson 
continued to reside in the same house with her family. Tarleton and his troopers 
had wasted the plantation and destroyed everything movable about the dwelling, 
but the buildings had been spared, and Colonel Richardson, who had been pro- 
moted for his meritorious service in the field, cheerfully resumed the occupation 
of a planter. His circumstances were much reduced by the chance of war, but a 
competence remained, which he and his wife enjoyed in tranquillity and happiness 
for many years. 

Mrs. Richardson died in 1834 at the advanced age of ninety-three. She was 
remarkable throughout life for the calm judgment, fortitude and strength of mind, 
which had sustained her in the trials she suffered during the war, and protected 
her from injury and insult when surrounded by a lawless soldiery. 

ELIZABETH FERGUSSON. 

Elevated by her talents and attainments to a position of great influence and 
an intimacy with the great men of her time, Elizabeth Fergusson's life appears to 
have been darkened by sadness and the cloud of a charge of having attempted by 
bribery to corrupt a general of the Continental Army. And yet when she died, at 
sixty-three years of age, there was a wide circle of adherents who believed in her 
independence and integrity of character. She was born in 1739 and was the daughter 
of Doctor Thomas Graeme, living in a palatial home in Philadelphia afterward 
known as the Carpenter Mansion. When she was quite young her mother's death 



i So Part Taken by Women in American History 

called her to manage her father's house and to preside at the entertainments given 
for his visitors. Later the mansion became the headquarters of the literary coterie 
of that day, with Miss Graeme as presiding genius. Her brilliant intellect, her 
extensive and varied knowledge, her vivid fancy and cutivated taste made her an 
authority on things literary and political. 

It was at one of these evenings that she first saw Hugh Henry Fergusson, 
a young gentleman lately arrived in this country from Scotland. They were pleased 
with each other at the first interview being congenial in literary tastes and a love 
of retirement. Their marriage took place in a few months, notwithstanding the 
fact that Fergusson was ten years younger than Miss Graeme. Not long after 
this event Doctor Graeme died bequeathing to his daughter the country seat 
"Graeme Park," in Montgomery County, which she had always loved. But the hap- 
piness anticipated by Mrs. Fergusson in country seclusion and her books was of 
brief duration. The contentions were increasing between Great Britain and America 
and finally they resulted in the war for independence. It being necessary for Mr. 
Fergusson to take part with one or the other, he decided according to the prejudices 
natural to his birth, and espoused the royal cause. From this time on a separation 
took place between him and his wife, she feeling unable to look upon the desola- 
tions and miseries of her countrymen and have any sympathy with England. In 
spite of this protested sympathy for the American cause, and her secret acts of 
charity for the benefit of suffering American soldiers and their wives, she was to 
be accused of trying to purchase the close of the war for England. It happened 
in this way : In Philadelphia she met Governor Johnson, one of the commissioners 
sent under parliamentary authority to settle the differences between Great Britain 
and America. 

He expressed a particular anxiety to have the influence of General Reed 
exerted toward ending the war, and asked Mrs. Fergusson, should she see the 
General to convey the idea that provided he could, "comfortably to his conscience 
and view of things," exert his influence to settle the dispute "he might command 
ten thousand guineas, and the best post in the government." In reply to Mrs. 
Fergusson's question as to whether General Reed would not look upon such a mode 
of obtaining his influence as a bribe, Johnson immediately disclaimed any such 
idea and said such a method of proceeding was common in all negotiations; that 
one might honorably make it to a man's interest to step forth in such a cause. In 
the end Mrs. Fergusson seems to have been persuaded, and she sought out General 
Reed, who on hearing the proposition brought by her from Governor Johnson 
made the prompt and noble reply, "I am not worth purchasing; but such as I am, 
the king of Great Britain is not rich enough to do it." 

General Reed laid before Congress both the written and verbal communica- 
tions of Governor Johnson, withholding, however, the name of the lady. But of 
course an account of the transaction was also published in the papers of the day 
and it was useless to attempt concealment of her name ; suspicion was at once 
directed to her and her name was called for by a resolution of the Executive Coun- 
cil of Pennsylvania. Congress issued a declaration condemning the "daring and 
atrocious" attempts made to corrupt its members and declaring it incompatible with 
their honor to hold any manner of correspondence with the said George Johnson. 



Women of the Revolution 181 

Brilliant Elizabeth Fergusson reaped a harvest of censure and humiliation. 
In a letter to General Reed, she says: "I own I find it hard, knowing the uncor- 
ruptness of my heart to hold out to the public as a tool of the commissioners. But 
the impression is now made, and it is too late to recall it." And again from her 
now impoverished estate she writes : "Among the many mortifying insinuations 
that have been hinted on the subject none has so sensibly affected me as an intima- 
tion that some thought I acted a part in consequence of certain expectations of a 
post or some preferment from Mr. Johnstone to be conferred on the person dearest 
to me on earth." 

And so, a careless political transaction deprived this woman of world-wide 
knowledge, of marked poetical talent and of a beautiful and benevolent spirit, of 
all the influence she once wielded so royally. She died at the house of a friend 
near Graeme Park, on the twenty-third of February, 1801. 

ELIZABETH PEABODY. 

Elizabeth Smith, better known as Mrs. Stephen Peabody, was the sister of 
Abigail Adams, and was also remarkable in character and influence. She was born 
in 1750 and married the Reverend John Shaw, of Haverhill. Her second husband 
was the Reverend Stephen Peabody, at Atkinson. Like her distinguished sister, 
she possessed superior powers of conversation, combined with a fine person and 
polished and courtly manners. Her house at Haverhill was the center of an elegant 
little circle of society for many years after the Revolution, and the most cultivated 
and learned from Boston and its vicinity gathered there. 

Her correspondence shows her to have been an ardent patriot and advocate 
for her country. "Lost to virtue, lost to humanity must that person be," she writes 
to her brother-in-law, John Adams, "who can view without emotion the com- 
plicated distress of this injured land. Evil tidings molest our habitations and 
wound our peace. Oh, my brother ! Oppression is enough to make a wise people 
mad." 

Mrs. Peabody's very useful life terminated at the age of sixty-three. 

JANE THOMAS. 

It is in wild and stirring times that such spirits as Jane Thomas are matured 
and rise in their strength. She was a native of Chester County, Pennsylvania, and 
the sister of the Rev. John Black of Carlisle, the first president of Dickinson Col- 
lege. She was married about 1740 to John Thomas, supposed to be a native of 
Wales, who had been brought up in the same county. Some ten or fifteen years 
after their marriage Mr. Thomas removed to South Carolina. Their residence 
for some time was upon Fishing Creek in Chester District. About the year 1762 
he removed to what is now called Spartanburg District and built a home upon 
Fair-forest Creek, a few miles above the spot where the line dividing that district 
from Union crossed the stream. From being adjutant and captain of the militia, 
Colonel Thomas was elected to lead the regiment raised in this district. In an 
engagement with the British early in the Revolution he was taken prisoner and 



182 Part Taken by Women in American History 

sent to Charleston, where he remained in durance until the close of the war. The 
district about his home was then continually robbed and pillaged by British invaders. 
The Whigs were robbed of their horses, cattle, clothing and every article of prop- 
erty of sufficient value to be taken away. In this state of things Mrs. Thomas 
showed herself a bright example of boldness of spirit and determination. While 
her husband was prisoner in a local jail before his removal to Charleston she paid 
a visit to him and her two sons, who were his companions in rigorous captivity. 
By chance she overheard a conversation between some Tory women, the purport 
of which deeply interested her. One said to the others, "To-morrow night the 
Loyalists intend to surprise the Rebels at Cedar Springs." The heart of Mrs. 
Thomas was thrilled with alarm at this intelligence, for Cedar Springs was within 
a few miles of her own house, and among the Whigs posted there were some of 
her own children. 

Her resolution was taken at once for there was no time to be lost. She 
determined to warn them of the enemy's intention before the blow could be struck. 
Bidding a hurried adieu to her husband and sons she was upon the road as quickly 
as possible, rode the intervening distance of nearly sixty miles the next day, and 
arrived in time to give information of the impending danger. The moment this 
body of Whigs knew what was to be expected a party of consultation was held and 
measures were immediately taken for defence. So successful were their strategic 
preparations that when the foe advanced warily upon the supposed sleeping camp 
sudden flashes and shrill reports of rifles revealed the hidden champions of liberty 
and the British finding themselves assailed in the rear by the party they had 
expected to strike unawares gave themselves over to overwhelming defeat. The 
victory thus easily achieved was due to the spirit and courage of a woman. Such 
were the matrons of that day ! Not merely upon this occasion was Mrs. Thomas 
active in arousing the spirit of independence among its advocates, and another 
instance of her intrepid energy is still remembered. Early in the war Governor 
Rutledge sent a quantity of arms and ammunition to the house of Colonel Thomas 
to be in readiness for any emergency that might arise. These arms were under a 
guard of twenty-five men, and the house was prepared to resist assault. When, 
however, word was brought to Colonel Thomas that a large party of Tories was 
advancing to attack him, he and his guard deemed it inexpedient to risk an 
encounter with a force so much superior to their own, and they retired, carrying 
off as much ammunition as possible. Mrs. Thomas was left alone with only two 
youths and a few women to guard the considerable supply of powder and arms 
which was necessarily left behind. The Tories advanced and took up their station, 
supposing the place to be heavily guarded, and demanded the treasure. Their call 
for admittance was answered by a volley from the upper story which proved most 
effectual. The old-fashioned batten-door, strongly barricaded, resisted their efforts 
to demolish it. Meanwhile Mrs. Thomas urged on the youths to continue their 
fire from the upper windows, she loading their guns as fast as they discharged 
them. Believing that many men were concealed in the house and apprehending a 
sally, the enemy retired as rapidly as their wounds would permit, little dreaming 
that almost the sole defender of the house had been a woman. 

Mrs. Thomas was the mother of nine children and her sons and sons-in-law 



Women of the Revolution 183 



were active in the American service. She thus became liable to some share in the 
enmity exhibited by the Royalists to another matron against whom the charge, "She 
has seven sons in the Rebel Army," was an excuse for depredations on her property. 
If Jane Thomas had but five sons she saw to it that her daughters married men 
who were both brave and efficient patriots. 

Mrs. Thomas was a woman of considerable beauty, with black eyes and hair, 
fair complexion and a countenance sprightly and expressive. Soon after the close 
of the war Colonel Thomas and she removed to the Greenville District where they 
resided until their death. 

MARTHA BRATTON. 

The year 1780 was a dark period for the patriots of Carolina, and in this 
time of trial none bore the distress or aided the cause with more courage and 
sagacity than shrewd Colonel Bratton and his wife. Mrs. Bratton was a native 
of Rowan County, North Carolina, where she married William Bratton, a Pennsyl- 
vanian of Irish parentage, who resided in the York District in the state of South 
Carolina. Although Charleston surrendered, and General Lincoln and the Amer- 
ican army became prisoners of war, the inhabitants of York District were offered 
British protection if they would swear allegiance to the crown. But almost to a 
man they refused to give their paroles, preferring resistance and exile to subjec- 
tion and inglorious peace. Many of them banded themselves together under such 
men as Colonel Bratton, and harassed the victorious enemy by sudden and desul- 
tory attacks. They were unpaid, and depended on their own exertions for every- 
thing necessary to carry on the warfare. British officers and troops were dis- 
patched to every nook and corner of South Carolina to banish every Whig with 
the utmost disregard of conditions, but the largest detachment of these was met and 
attacked by the party under the command of Colonel Bratton. From that time on 
a price was set on this patriot's head. It was at this time that the heroism of the 
wife of Colonel Bratton was nobly displayed. While her husband was at the front 
one night a British officer rudely entered her house demanding where her hus- 
band was. 

"He is in Sumter's army," was the undaunted reply. The officer then essayed 
persuasion and proposed to Mrs. Bratton that she induce her husband to come in 
and join the Royalists, promising that he should have a commission in the royal 
service. Mrs. Bratton answered staunchly that she would rather see him remain 
true to duty and his country even if he perished in the American Army. Enraged 
at this he sought by violence to get the information that might endanger her hus- 
band's safety. He even stood by while one of the common soldiers, seizing a 
reaping hook that hung near them on the piazza, brought it to her throat with the 
intention of killing her. She would undoubtedly have died, taking the secret of 
her husband's hiding place with her to the grave, had not the officer second in com- 
mand interposed and compelled the soldier to release her. 

Mrs. Bratton was then ordered to prepare supper for the British and it may 
be conceived with what feelings she saw her house occupied by the enemies of her 
husband and her country and found herself compelled to minister to their wants. 



184 Part Taken by Women in American History 

What wild and gloomy thoughts had possession of her soul is evident from the 
desperate idea, afterwards confessed to, which occurred to her of playing a Roman 
matron's part and mixing poison, which she had in the house, with the food they 
had to eat. But her noble nature shrank from such an expedient. She well knew 
the brave spirit that animated her husband and his comrades, and that her husband 
would not approve of such a desperate deed. They might even now be tagging 
the footsteps of this enemy; they might be watching the opportunity for an attack. 
She would not have them owe to a cowardly stratagem the victory they should win 
on the battlefield. So, having calmly prepared the repast, she retired with her 
children to an upper apartment. 

After they had eaten, the British officer drew his men to another house 
about half a mile off to pass the night. They lay in camp about it, the guard keep- 
ing negligent watch and little dreaming of the scene that awaited them. Mrs. 
Bratton had, in the meantime, dispatched a trusted messenger to her husband with 
word of the position and number of the enemy. He thereupon marshalled his piti- 
ful troop of only seventy-five men and proceeded against the impromptu British 
encampment attacking it rear and front at the same time. The British officer failed 
to rally his men, and the spirit and determined fervor of the patriots carried all 
before them. This victory was due to the presence of mind of one loyal American 
woman. 

About daylight, when the firing had ceased, Mrs. Bratton ventured out, 
fearful of finding her nearest and dearest among the dead and dying lying about 
the building, but none of her loved ones had fallen. She opened her house to the 
wounded of both sides and humanely attended the sufferers in person, giving them 
indiscriminately, Loyalist and Whig alike, every relief and comfort in her power 
to bestow. The sequel to this chapter of her courage and resolution is interesting. 
The leader of the British troops having been slain in the battle, the next officer in 
command took his place and he was among the prisoners who surrendered to the 
Whigs. They determined to put him to death. He entreated as a last favor to be 
conducted to the presence of Mrs. Bratton. She instantly recognized him as the 
officer who had interfered and saved her life. Gratitude, as well as the mercy natural 
to woman's heart, prompted her now to intercede for him. She pleaded with an 
eloquence which, considering the share she had borne in the common distress and 
danger, could not be withstood. Her petition was granted. She procured the 
officer's deliverance from the death that awaited him and entertained him in her 
own house until he was exchanged. There is hardly a situation in romance or 
dramatic fiction which can surpass the interest and pathos of this simple incident. 

Another anecdote is related of Mrs. Bratton. Before the fall of Charleston, 
when resistance throughout the state was in a great measure rendered impossible 
by the want of ammunition, Governor Rutledge had sent on a supply to the regi- 
ment to enable them to harass the invading army. The portion given to Colonel 
Bratton was in his absence from home confided to the care of his wife. Some 
Loyalists who heard of this informed the British officer in command of the nearest 
station and a detachment was immediately sent forward to secure the valuable 
prize. Mrs. Bratton was aware that there could be no chance of saving her charge 
but she resolved that the enemy should not have the benefit of it. She therefore 



Women of the Revolution 185 

immediately laid a train of powder from the depot to the spot where she stood and 
when the British detachment came in sight set fire to the train and blew it up. 
The explosion which greeted the ears of the foe informed them that the object of 
their expedition was frustrated. The officer in command demanded who had dared 
to perpetrate such' an act, and swore vengeance upon the culprit. The intrepid 
woman answered for herself: "It was I who did it. Let the consequence be what 
it will I glory in having prevented the mischief contemplated by the cruel enemies 
of my country." 

Colonel Bratton continued in active service throughout the war, and during 
his lengthened absences from home he was seldom able to see or communicate with 
his family. Mrs. Bratton, however, never complained, although herself a sufferer 
from the ravages of war, but devoted herself to the care of her family, striving at 
the same time to aid and encourage her neighbors. On the return of peace the 
husband resumed the cultivation of his farm. Grateful for the preservation of their 
lives and property, they did everything in their power to the other homes that had 
been wrecked by death and devastation. Mrs. Bratton died in 1816 and is buried 
near the scene of her distress and suffering during the war. 

MRS. SPALDING. 

The wife of a patriot during the Revolution should be sufficient title to a 
place among the world's heroines. But it is only through the lives of those few 
whose cases have passed them into the class of super-woman that we call emphasis 
to the brave spirit which must have upheld them. Of such an embodiment of the 
spirit of the Revolution was Mrs. Spalding, the wife of one of the patriots who took 
refuge in Florida, after Colonel Campbell had taken possession of Savannah. In 
1778 Mrs. Spalding left her residence with her child when flight became necessary. 
Twice during the war she traversed two hundred miles between Savannah and St. 
John's River in an open boat, with only black servants on board, and the whole 
country a desert without a house to shelter her and her infant son. The first of 
these occasions was when she visited her father and brothers while prisoners in 
Savannah; the second, when in 1782 she went to congratulate her brothers and 
uncle in their victory. At one time she left Savannah in a ship of twenty guns, 
built in all points to resemble a sloop of war. Without the appearance of a cargo, 
it was in reality a small merchantman engaged in commerce. When they had been 
out some days, a large ship, painted black and showing twelve guns on a side, was 
seen to the windward running across their course. She was obviously a French 
privateer. The captain announced there was no hope to out-sail her should their 
course be altered nor would there be wisdom in conflict, as those ships usually 
carried one hundred and fifty men. Yet he rather thought if no effort were made 
to shun the privateer the appearance of his own ship might deter an attack. Word 
of the peril was sent to Mrs. Spalding, who was below, and after a few minutes 
the captain visited her to find a most touching scene. Mrs. Spalding had placed 
her children and the other inmates of the cabin in the two staterooms for safety, 
filling the berths with cots and bedding from the outer cabin. She had then taken 
her own station beside the scuttle which led from the outer cabin to the magazine, 



1 86 Part Taken by Women in American History 

and there she stood ready with two buckets of water. Having noticed that the 
two cabin boys were heedless she had determined to keep watch herself over the 
magazine. This she did until the danger was passed. The captain took in his light 
sails, opened his ports, and stood upon his course. The privateer waited until the 
ship was within a mile, then fired a gun to windward and stood on her way. The 
ruse had saved the merchantman. The incident may serve to show the spirit of 
this woman, who bore her bitter part in the perils of the Revolution. 

MARGARET ARNOLD. 

Defence as well as eulogy is occasionally necessary in reviewing the names 
of women who have been prominent in American history. Certainly explanation 
or investigation of fact is necessary in rightly judging the character of the wife of 
Benedict Arnold. John Jay, writing from Madrid when Arnold's crime had first 
become known, says, "All the world here curses Arnold and pities his wife." Robert 
Morris writes, "Poor Mrs. Arnold! Was there ever such an infernal villain!" 
But there are others who still believe in her complicity in her husband's plot to 
betray his country, and point to certain significant sentences in her correspondence 
with Andre as denoting that she knew at least something of her husband's treachery. 
The facts of her life would seem to support the theory that all her sympathy would 
naturally lie with the Loyalist's cause. She was Margaret Shippen of Philadelphia. 
Her father, Daniel Shippen, afterwards chief justice of Pennsylvania, was dis- 
tinguished among the aristocracy of the day. He was prominent after the com- 
mencement of the contest among those known to cherish Loyalist principles — his 
daughters being educated in this persuasion and having their constant associations 
and sympathies with those who were opposed to American independence. Mar- 
garet was the youngest, only eighteen years of age, beautiful, fascinating and full 
of spirit, she acted as hostess of the British officers while their army occupied 
Philadelphia. This gay, young creature accustomed to the display of the "Pride 
of Life" and the homage paid to beauty in high station, was not one to resist the 
lure of ambition. 

Her relatives, too, would seem to have passed their estimate upon the 
brilliant exterior of this young American officer, without a word of information or 
inquiry as to his character or principles. One of them writes boastfully in a letter, 
"I understand that General Arnold, a fine gentlemen, lays close siege to Peggy." 

Some writers have taken delight in representing this woman who married 
Benedict Arnold as another Lady Macbeth, an unscrupulous and artful seductress 
whose ambition was the cause of her husband's crime. But there seems no real 
foundation even for the supposition that she was acquainted with his purpose of 
betraying his trust. She was not the person he would have chosen as the sharer 
of a secret so important, nor was the dissimulation attributed to her consistent 
with her character. It is likely, of course, that his extravagance was encouraged 
by his young wife's taste for display and she undoubtedly exercised no saving 
influence over him. Tn the words of one of his best biographers, "He had no 
domestic security for doing right — no fireside guardianship to protect him from 
the tempter. Rejecting, as we do utterly, the theory that his wife was the insti- 



Women of the Revolution 187 

gator of his crime, we still believe that there was nothing in her influence or 
association to overcome the persuasions to which he ultimately yielded. She was 
young, gay and frivolous, fond of display and admiration and used to luxury; she 
was utterly unfitted for the duties and privations of a poor man's wife . . . Arnold 
had no counsellor in his home who urged him to the assumption of homely repub- 
lican principles, to stimulate him to follow the ragged path of a Revolutionary 
patriot. He fell, and though his wife did not tempt or counsel him to ruin, there 
is no reason to think she ever uttered a word or made a sound to deter him." 
This was the judgment of Mr. Reed. Mrs. Sparks and others, who have closely 
investigated the subject, are in favor of Mrs. Arnold's innocence in the matter. We 
cannot but have great sympathy at least for the young wife, whose husband was 
to go down in history as the foremost traitor to his country. 

It was after the plot was far advanced and only two days before General 
Washington commenced his tour, in the course of which he made his visit to West 
Point that Mrs. Arnold came thither with her baby to join her husband, making 
the journey in short stages in her own carriage. Near New York she was met 
by General Arnold, and proceeded up to headquarters. When Washington and 
his officers arrived at West Point, Lafayette reminded the General that Mrs. 
Arnold would be waiting breakfast, to which Washington answered, "Ah, 
you young men are all in love with Mrs. Arnold, and wish to get where she is as 
soon as possible. Go breakfast with her and do not wait for me." Mrs. Arnold 
was at breakfast with her husband and his aid-de-camp when the letter arrived 
which brought to the traitor the first intelligence of Andre's capture. He left the 
room, immediately went to his wife's chamber, sent for her and privately informed 
her of the necessity of his instant flight to the enemy. This, was perhaps the first 
intelligence she received of what had been so long going on, and the news so 
overwhelmed her that when Arnold went from the room he left her lying in a 
faint on the floor. 

Her almost frantic condition is described with sympathy by Colonel Hamil- 
ton in a letter written the next day. "The General went to see her, and she 
upbraided him with being in a plot to murder her child. She raved, shut the doors 
and lamented the fate of the infant. All the loveliness of innocence, all the 
tenderness of a wife, and all the fondness of a mother showed themselves in her 
frenzied conduct." He, too, expressed his conviction that she had no knowledge 
of Arnold's plan until his announcement to her that he must banish himself from 
his country forever. Mrs. Arnold went from West Point to her father's house, 
but was not long permitted to remain in Philadelphia, the traitor's papers having 
been seized by direction of the executive authorities and the correspondence with 
Andre brought to light. Suspicion rested on her, and by an order of the council, 
dated April 27th, she was ordered to leave the state and return no more during 
the continuance of the war. She accordingly departed to join her husband in New 
York. The respect and forbearance shown towards her on her journey through 
the country, notwithstanding her banishment, testified to the popular belief in her 
innocence. It is related that when she stopped at a village where the people were 
about to burn Arnold in effigy they put it off until the next night. And when she 
entered the carriage on the way to join her husband all expression of popular 



i88 Part Taken by Women in American History 

indignation was suspended as if respect for the shame she suffered overcame their 
indignation towards Arnold. 

Mrs. Arnold resided with her husband for a time in the city of St. Johns, 
New Brunswick, and was long remembered by persons who knew her there. She 
afterwards lived in England, surviving her husband by three years, and died in 
London in 1804, at the age of forty-three. Little is known of her after the blast- 
ing of the bright promise of her youth by her husband's crime and a dreary 
obscurity hangs over the close of her career. It is to her credit that her relatives 
in Philadelphia always cherished her memory with respect and affection. 

RACHEL CALDWELL. 

The history of North Carolina is in many ways identified with the life of 
the Reverend David Caldwell and his wife Rachel Caldwell. Mrs. Caldwell was 
the third daughter of the Reverend Alexander Craidhead, the pastor of what was 
known as the Sugar Creek congregation, and in her early life she had a share 
in many of the trials and hardships of the Indian War; the attacks of the savages 
being frequent and murderous, and her home being quite an exposed station. She 
often said in describing these attacks thaf as the family would escape out one door 
the Indians would come in at another. When defeat left the Virginia frontier at 
the mercy of the savages, Mr. Craidhead fled with some of his people, and crossing 
the Blue Ridge passed to the more quiet regions of Carolina, where he remained 
till the close of his life. Rachel married Dr. Caldwell in 1776. He was called the 
Father of Education in North Carolina, because his celebrated classical school 
was for a long time the only one of note in the state, and so great was the influence of 
Mrs. Caldwell in his school that it gave currency to the saying throughout the 
country, ''Doctor Caldwell makes the scholars and Mrs. Caldwell makes the 
preachers." 

Doctor Caldwell's pronounced preaching for freedom, however, made him 
an object of especial enmity to the British and Tories, and finally a reward of 
two hundred pounds was offered for his apprehension. This necessitated his 
going into hiding and leaving Mrs. Caldwell alone and unprotected during those 
days when every part of the country was subject to all manner of spoliation and 
outrage. On the eleventh of March the British army was dispatched to the 
Caldwell plantation and camped there, the officers taking possession of the house. 
They at first announced themselves as Americans and asked to see the mistress. 
A servant had ascertained, by standing on the fence and seeing the redcoats at a 
distance, that they were part of the army of Cornwallis and quickly communicated 
her discovery to her employer. Excusing herself by saying that she must attend 
to her child, Mrs. Caldwell returned to the house and immediately gave warning 
to two of her neighbors who happened to be there so that they escaped through 
another door and concealed themselves. She then returned to the gate and accused 
the British soldiers of masquerading as patriots. They openly demanded use of 
the dwelling for a day or two and immediately took possession, evicting Mrs. 
Caldwell, who with her children retired to the smokehouse and passed a day with 
no other food than a few dried peaches and apples. A physician then interfered 



Women of the Revolution 189 

and procured for her a bed, some provisions and a few cooking utensils. The 
family remained in the smokehouse two days and nights being in the meantime 
frequently insulted by profane and brutal language. To a young officer, who came 
to the door for the purpose of taunting the helpless mother, by ridiculing her 
countrymen, whom he termed rebels and cowards, Airs. Caldwell replied, "Wait 
and see what the Lord will do for us." "If He intends to do anything," roughly 
answered the officer, "it is time He had begun." 

In replying to Mrs. Caldwell's application to one of the soldiers for protec- 
tion, she was told that she could expect no favors, as the women were regarded 
as great rebels as the men. After remaining two days the army took their 
departure from the plantation, on which they had destroyed everything. Before 
leaving the officer in command gave orders that Doctor Caldwell's library and 
papers should be burned. A fire was kindled in the large oven in the yard and 
Mrs. Caldwell was obliged to look on while books, which could not at that time 
be replaced, and valuable manuscripts, which had cost the study and labor of years, 
were carried out by the soldiers, armful after armful, and ruthlessly committed 
to the flames. 

The persecution of Doctor Caldwell continued while the British occupied 
that portion of the state. He was hunted as a felon and the merest pretenses 
were used to tear him from his hiding-places. Often he escaped captivity or death 
by what seemed a miracle. At one time when he had ventured home on a stolen 
visit the house was suddenly surrounded by men, who seized him before he could 
escape, intending to carry him to their British camp. One or two were left to 
guard him while the others searched the house for articles of any value. When 
they were nearly ready to depart Mrs. Caldwell came forward, and with the 
promptitude and presence of mind which women frequently display in sudden 
emergencies, stepped behind Doctor Caldwell and leaning over his shoulder, 
whispered to him as though intending the question for his ear alone, she asked 
if it were not time for Gillespie and his men to be there. One of the soldiers who 
stood nearest caught the words and with evident alarm demanded what men were 
meant. Mrs. Caldwell replied ingenuously that she was merely speaking to her 
husband. In a moment all was confusion ; the whole party was panic-stricken ! 
Exclamations and hurried questions followed in the consternation produced by 
this woman's simple manoeuvre, and the Tories fled precipitately, leaving their 
prisoner and their plunder. The name Gillespie was a terror to the Loyalists, and 
this party never doubted that he was on their trail. 

Some time in the fall of 1780 a stranger appeared before Mrs. Caldwell's 
door, faint and worn, asking for supper and lodging for the night. He was bear- 
ing dispatches for General Greene and he had imagined that he would be free 
from danger under the roof of a minister of the Gospel. Mrs. Caldwell longed 
to offer him shelter, but she was constrained to explain that her husband was an 
object of peculiar hatred to the Tories and she could not tell the day or hour 
when an attack might be expected. She said he should have something to eat 
immediately but advised him to seek some safer place of shelter for the night. 
Before she finished preparing his meal voices were heard without, with the cries 
of "Surround the house," and the dwelling was presently assailed by a body of 



190 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Tories. With admirable calmness Mrs. Caldwell told the stranger to follow her 
and led him out by an opposite door. A large locust tree stood close by and the 
night was so dark that no object could be discerned amid its clustering foliage. 
She urged the man to climb the tree and conceal himself till the intruders should 
be absorbed in plundering her house. He could then descend on the other side and 
trust to the darkness for his safety. The house was pillaged, as she expected, and 
the man bearing the message so important to his country escaped, to remember 
with gratitude the woman whose prudence had saved him while undergoing the 
loss of her own property. 

Another little incident, not without humor, illustrates how a woman's 
intrepidity was sometimes successful in disbanding marauders. Among such articles 
as the housewife so prizes, Mrs. Caldwell had an elegant tablecloth, which she 
valued as the gift of her mother. While the Tories on one occasion were in her 
house gathering plunder, one of them broke open the chest of drawers which 
contained it and tore out the tablecloth. Mrs. Caldwell seized and held it fast, 
determined not to give up her treasure. When she found that her rapacious enemy 
would soon succeed in wresting it from her unless she could make use of some- 
thing more than muscular force to prevent him, she turned to the other men of 
the party and appealed to them with all a woman's eloquence, asking if some of 
them had not wives or daughters for whose sake they would interfere. A small 
man who stood at the distance of a few feet presently stepped up and with tears 
in his eyes said that he had a wife, and a fine little woman she was too, and that 
he would not allow any rudeness to be practiced toward Mrs. Caldwell. His 
interference compelled the depredator to restore the valued article, and then the 
tide of opinion turned, and the British soldiers cheered lustily for courageous 
Rachel Caldwell. After the war Doctor Caldwell resumed his labors as teacher 
and preacher. He died in the summer of 1824, in the one hundredth year of his 
age. The wife who had accompanied him in all the vicissitudes of his long life 
followed him to the grave at the age of eighty-eight. All who knew Rachel 
Caldwell regarded her as a woman of remarkable character and interest and she is 
remembered throughout her state with high respect. 

CORNELIA BEEKMAN. 

In the venerable Van Cortlandt mansion, the old-fashioned 
stone house erected upon the banks of the Croton River many 
years previous to the Revolution, Cornelia, the second daughter 
of Peter Van Cortlandt and Johanna, was born in 1752. Peter 
Van Cortlandt was Lieutenant-Governor of the state of New 
York under George Clinton from 1777 to 1795, and was 
distinguished for his zealous maintenance of American rights. 
His daughter inherited the principles to which in after 



Women of the Revolution 191 

life she was so ardently devoted. On her marriage at about 
the age of seventeen, with Gerard G. Beekman, she removed 
to the city of New York, where her residence was in the street 
which still bears her name. Her husband was in mind, 
education and character worthy of her choice. Not many 
years of her married life had passed when the storm of war 
burst upon the land and taught her to share in aspirations for 
liberty. She entered into the feelings of the people with all 
the warmth of her generous nature. She even spoke with 
enthusiasm of an impressive ceremonial procession she 
witnessed, when the mechanics of the city brought their tools 
and deposited them in a large coffin made for the purpose and 
then marched to the solemn music of a funeral dirge and buried 
the coffin in Potter's Field. They returned to present them- 
selves each with a musket in readiness for military service. 
Finding a residence in New York impossible in the state of 
popular excitement she withdrew to the Peekskill Manor 
House, a large brick building situated two miles north of Peeks- 
kill. Here she resided during the war marked as an object 
of insult by the Royalists, on account of the part taken by her 
relatives and friends as well as her own ardent attachment to 
the American cause. At times in the struggle, when portions 
of the British army were ranging through Westchester she was 
exposed to their injuries, but her high spirit, and strong will 
contributed to her safety, and supported her through many 
scenes and trials. One day, when the troops were in the 
neighborhood a soldier entered the house and walked uncere- 
moniously toward the closet. Mrs. Beekman asked him what 
he wanted. "Some brandy," was the reply. When she reproved 
him for the intrusion he presented his bayonet at her breast 
and with many harsh epithets swore he would kill her on the 
spot. Although alone in the house except for an old black 
servant, she showed no alarm at the threats of the cowardly 



192 Part Taken by Women in American History 

assailant but told him that she would call her husband and 
send information of his conduct to his officer. Her resolution 
triumphed over his audacity, for seeing that she showed no fear 
he was not long in obeying her command to leave the house. 
Upon another occasion she was writing a letter to her father, 
when looking out she saw the enemy approaching. There was 
only time to secrete the paper behind the framework of the 
mantelpiece, where it was discovered when the house was 
repaired after the war. 

The gist of Mrs. Beekman's contemptuous replies to the 
enemy under Bayard and Fanning is related by herself in a 
letter written in 1777. A party of Royalists commanded by 
those two Colonels paid a visit to her house, conducting them- 
selves with the arrogance and insolence she was accustomed 
to suffer. One of them imprudently said to her, "Are you the 
daughter of that old Rebel, Pierre Van Cortlandt?" She replied, 
"I am the daughter of Pierre Van Cortlandt, but it does not 
become such as you to call my father a Rebel." The Tory 
raised his musket, but with perfect calmness she reproved 
him for his insolence and bade him begone. He finally turned 
away abashed. 

The illustrations in every page of the world's history of 
vast results depending upon trivial things finds support in a 
simple incident in the life of Cornelia Beekman. It would really 
seem that in the Providence that disposes all human events the 
fate of a Nation may be found suspended upon this woman's 
judgment. This is the incident : John Webb, familiarly known 
as "Lieutenant Jack," who actively served as aid on the staff of 
the commander-in-chief, was much at her house during 
operations of the American army on the banks of the Hudson. 
On one occasion passing through Peekskill he rode up and 
requested her to take charge of a valise which contained his 
new suit of uniform and a quantity of gold. "I will send for 



Women of the Revolution 193 

it whenever I want it," he added, "but do not deliver it without 
a written order from me or brother Sam." He then threw the 
valise in at the door and rode on to the tavern at Peekskill, 
where he stopped to dine. A fortnight or so after this depar- 
ture Mrs. Beekman saw an acquaintance named Smith, whose 
loyalty to the Whig cause had been suspected, ride rapidly 
up to the house. She heard him ask her husband for Lieutenant 
Jack's valise and Mr. Beekman was about to direct the servant 
to bring it. Mrs. Beekman, however, demanded whether the 
messenger had a written order from either of the brothers. 
Smith replied that he had no written order, the officer having 
had no time to write one. He added, "You know me, Mrs. 
Beekman, and when I assure you that Lieutenant Webb sent 
me for the valise you will not refuse to deliver it, as he is 
greatly in want of his uniform." Mrs. Beekman often said that 
she had an instinctive antipathy toward Smith, and by an 
intuition felt that he had not been authorized to call for the 
article she had in trust, so she answered, "I do know you very 
well; too well to give up to you the valise without a written 
order from the owner or the Colonel." Greatly angered at 
her statement he turned to her husband urging that the fact 
of his knowing that the valise was there and its contents should 
be sufficient evidence that he came by authority. His represen- 
tations had no effect upon Mrs. Beekman's resolution. 
Although even her husband was displeased at this treatment 
of the messenger she remained firm in her denial and the 
disappointed horseman rode away as rapidly as he had come. 
Results proved that he had no authority to make the application, 
and it was subsequently ascertained that at the very time of 
this attempt Major Andre was in Smith's house, and had Smith 
obtained possession of the uniform Andre would have made 
his escape through the American lines. Lieutenant Webb 
confessed that while dining at the tavern that night he had 

13 



194 Part Taken by Women in American History 

mentioned that Mrs. Beekman had taken charge of his valise, 
and told what its contents were. Smith had evidently over- 
heard and Major Andre being of the same stature and form as 
Lieutenant Jack, the scheme to steal the American officer's 
uniform as a disguise for the spy had immediately taken forr> . 
Lieutenant Webb was deeply grateful to Mrs. Beekman for the 
prudence which had protected him from the dire result of his 
own folly, had saved his property, and had prevented an occur- 
rence which might have caused a train of national disasters. 

Many of Mrs. Beekman's letters written during the war 
breathed the most ardent spirit of patriotism. The wrongs she 
was compelled to suffer in person, and the aggregation of 
wrongs she witnessed on every side aroused her just indig- 
nation. Her feelings were expressed in her many and frequent 
prayers for the success of the American armies. Although 
surrounded by peril and disaster she would not consent to leave 
her home ; her zeal for the honor of her family and her country 
inspired her with the courage that never faltered and caused 
her to disregard the wrong she so continually had to bear. 

The energy of mind which characterized her through life 
was evinced on her deathbed. Calmly and quietly, bearing 
much suffering, she awaited the coming of that last enemy, 
whose nearer and yet nearer approach she announced 
unshrinkingly to those about her. When it was necessary to 
affix her signature to an important paper, and being supposedly 
too weak to write, she was told that her mark would be suffi- 
cient, she immediately asked to be raised, called for a pen and 
placing her left hand on the pulse of her right, wrote her name 
distinctly. It was the last act of her life. She looked death 
in the face with the same high resolve and strong will with 
which she had been wont in her lifetime to encounter losses and 
terrible enemies. It was the strength of Christian faith which 
thus gave her the victory over the "King of Terrors." 



Women of the Revolution 195 

Early Women of Prominence. 

The influence wielded by the women in the early days of 
our Republic cannot be underestimated. During the colonial 
period in American history there are some women who shine 
out conspicuously by their brilliancy and mental attainments. 
Their influence in public affairs was conceded at that time and 
appreciated to-day. They were worthy helpmeets of their 
distinguished husbands and did their part in shaping the affairs 
of the nation in its infancy and crudity. 

In 1749, Mrs. Jeykell was quite a leader socially in Phila- 
delphia. Mrs. Schuyler, a niece of the first Colonel Philip 
Schuyler, was born in 1702, and married her cousin, Philip 
Schuyler. The French Canadian prisoners called her the 
"Good Lady, Madame Schuyler." She kept a liberal table and 
had much influence in the primitive society of that day. Miss 
Tucker, who married William Fitzhugh, and from whom the 
Fitzhughs in Virginia, Maryland and western New York are 
descended, was one of the influential women of her time. 

The first wife of Governor Page, Frances Burwell, may 
be mentioned among these. At the time Mrs. Washington 
visited her husband when commander-in-chief of the Colonial 
forces, it is mentioned that at a brilliant entertainment given 
in the camp near Middlebrook, Mrs. Washington, Mrs. Greene, 
Mrs. Knox and other distinguished ladies were present, form- 
ing "a circle of brilliants.'* At the ball given at the Assembly 
Rooms on the east side of Broadway above Wall Street on 
the 7th of May, 1789, to celebrate the inauguration of President 
Washington, the members of Congress and their families were 
present with the ministers of France and Spain, distinguished 
generals of the army and persons eminent in the state. Among 
the most noted ladies were Mrs. Jay, Mrs. Hamilton and Mrs. 
Montgomery, the latter the widow of the hero of Quebec. 



196 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Mrs. Morris, who entertained Mrs. Washington at the 
time of the President's inauguration in Philadelphia, was a 
very remarkable woman rnd became Mrs. Washington's 
intimate friend. At all of Mrs. Washington's drawing-rooms 
and official entertainments, Mrs. Morris sat at her right hand, 
and at all the dinners, both official and private, at which Mr. 
Morris was present, he was placed at the right hand of Mrs. 
Washington. The principal ladies of New York at the time 
the "Republican Court" was established were Mrs. George 
Clinton, Mrs. Montgomery, Mrs. Knox, Mrs. Robert R. Living- 
ston, of Clermont, the Misses Livingston, Mrs. Thompson, Mrs. 
Gary, Mrs. McComb, Mrs. Edgar, Mrs. Lynch, Mrs. Houston, 
Mrs. Provost, Mrs. Beekman, the Misses Bayard, etc. The 
President received every Tuesday afternoon. Mrs. Washing- 
ton received from eight to ten every Friday evening and these 
levees were attended by the fashionable, elegant and distin- 
guished people in society, and it is said Mrs. Washington was 
careful, in her drawing-room, to exact those courtesies to which 
she knew her husband was entitled. "None were admitted to 
the levees but those who had either a right by official station 
or by established merit and character; and full dress was 
required of all." 

At Mrs. Washington's levees, the President appeared as a 
private gentleman, with neither hat nor sword, but at his own 
official levees he wore "his hair powdered and gathered behind 
in a silk bag. His coat and breeches were of plain black velvet ; 
he wore a white or pearl-colored vest and yellow gloves, and 
had a cocked hat in his hand, with silver knee and shoe buckles, 
and a long sword, with a finely-wrought and glittering steel 
hilt. The coat was worn over this and its scabbard of polished 
white leather." He never shook hands at these receptions — 
even with intimate friends — visitors were received with a digni- 
fied bow and passed on. 



Women of the Revolution 197 

Among the other ladies intimate with Mrs. Washington 
besides Mrs. Morris were Mrs. Knox, Mrs. Hamilton, Mrs. 
Powell, Mrs. Bradford, Miss Ross and Mrs. Otis. Mrs. Otis 
was the wife of the Secretary of the Senate and mother of 
Senator Harrison Gray Otis. She was remarkable for her 
beauty and grace of demeanor, wit and powerful intellect, and 
she was a prominent figure during the administration of Wash- 
ington. Mrs. Stewart was the wife of General Walter Stewart. 
Miss Ross was the daughter of Senator Ross, from Penn- 
sylvania. Mrs. Bradford was the only child of Elias Boudinot 
and married William Bradford, who was afterward Judge of 
the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Their house was one of 
the noted social centers and they were distinguished for their 
cordial hospitality. 

Mrs. Carroll, was Harriet Chew, daughter of Benjamin 
Chew, Mrs. Walcott, of Connecticut, was noted for her grace- 
ful manners, culture, intelligence and refinement. It is hardly 
necessary to mention the Carroll family, so well known are 
they. The family of Charles Carroll had been settled in Mary- 
land ever since the time of James the Second, and Charles 
Carroll was among the first to sign the Declaration of 
Independence. His patriotism is illustrated in an incident 
which was told as having occurred at this time. When he had 
signed merely as "Charles Carroll," someone remarked: "You 
will get clear ; there are so many of that name" ; he added to his 
signature "of Carrollton," so there should be no question as to 
which Carroll had sustained the country in its fight for 
independence. 

The wife of Thomas Jefferson was Mrs. Martha Skelton, 
a rich widow who, at the time of her second marriage, was but 
twenty-three years of age, of good family, beautiful, accom- 
plished and greatly admired. Their (laughter Martha was 
entrusted to the care of Mrs. Adams when in Paris and made 



198 Part Taken by Women in American History 

quite an impression abroad. This daughter married Thomas 
Mann Randolph, of Virginia, who attained to a dignified 
station in the general government. The daughters of Henry 
White were greatly admired, their family holding a high 
position among the loyalists before the Revolutionary War. 
One of these daughters became Dowager Lady Hayes, and the 
widow of Peter Jay Monroe. 

Another family prominent in the early history of America 
was the Livingston family, of New York. The original grant 
of land given to Robert Livingston bears the date of July 22, 
1686, and comprised from 120,000 to 150,000 acres on the Hud- 
son River. Philip Livingston, who succeeded to the estate, 
was born in 1686. He married Catherine Van Brugh, daughter 
of Peter Van Brugh, of Albany, an old Dutch family. One of 
her ancestors was Carl Van Brugge, Lieutenant-Governor 
under Peter Stuyvesant. Philip Livingston was one of the 
signers of the Declaration of Independence. William Living- 
ston, Governor of New York, was born in 1723, and married 
Susannah French, of New Brunswick, in 1745, Governor 
Livingston's political principles were so decidedly republican 
that he declined to give to his country-seat at Elizabethtown 
any name more aristocratic than "Liberty Hall." The family 
of Governor Livingston was a large one. Several daughters 
and two sons were born to them. One daughter married John 
Cleve Symmes, another married Mathew Ridley, of Baltimore, 
another married John W. Watkins, and the last married James 
Linn. The sister of Governor Livingston, Sarah Livingston, on 
April 28th, 1774, in her eighteenth year, married John Jay, a 
young lawyer. Mr. Jay rapidly rose in prominence from the 
position of Secretary to the Royal Commission for settling the 
boundary between New York and New Jersey to a member of 
the New York Provincial Congress and of the Committee of 
Safety. His constant absence during this trying period of our 



Women of the Revolution 199 

country's history brought out the splendid heroism and self- 
sacrifice of his wife, and her letters during this period show 
cheerfulness, even when heroically enduring the trials and 
privations and sacrifices demanded by her country. Mr. Jay 
later was sent to Madrid as Minister to Spain. They were 
shipwrecked during this voyage and again Mrs. Jay's strong 
courage was brought to the test. Later, Mr. Jay was 
associated with Dr. Franklin, Mr. Adams and Mr. Laurens in 
a commission to open a way for the negotiation of peace 
between America and England. Franklin and Jay were to 
arrange the preliminaries. Adams was in Holland, Jefferson 
in America and Laurens in London, and it is said that Mrs. Jay 
was almost a participant in these negotiations from her intimate 
association with the members of the commission. 

The scenes and the society amid which Mrs. Jay lived for 
nearly two years presented a brilliant contrast to the trials and 
hardships to which she had been subjected by the war at home, 
as well as to her more retired life during their residence at 
Madrid. Among the first to congratulate Mrs. Jay on her 
arrival at Paris were the Marquis and the Marchioness de La 
Fayette, and the two circles of society where Mrs. Jay was 
most at home during their stay at Paris were those to be found 
in the "hotel La Fayette and Franklin," the residences of La 
Fayette and Franklin. The acquaintanceship of Mr. Jay and 
Madame de La Fayette ripened into a warm friendship and 
their letters later were marked by a tone of sincere regard and 
affection. Mrs. Henry E. Pierrepont, of Brooklyn, a grand- 
daughter of Mrs. Jay, now has in her possession the armchair 
embroidered by Mrs. Jay's own hands and presented by her to 
Madame de La Fayette. Mrs. Jay won for America the 
friendship and regard of many prominent officials of France 
and persons of influence and note, which, no doubt, aided 
largely in the success of her husband. In 1784 Mr. Jay returned 



200 Part Taken by Women in American History 

to America, and we find it said in a memoir: ''Her recent 
association with the brilliant circles of the French capital 
assisted her to fill with ease the place she was now to occupy 
and to perform its graceful duties in a manner becoming the 
dignity of the republic to whose fortunes she had been so 
devoted." Her husband was appointed Secretary for Foreign 
Affairs in the Cabinet, and when Mr. Jay was appointed Chief 
Justice, which carried him into the New England Circuit, 
Mrs. Jay added fresh laurels to those won for herself and her 
country. One of her admirers has said of her that "she is 
entitled to regard on far better grounds than simply as a 
'Queen of American Society/ and her memory may be 
cherished as that of one who exhibited from her youth amid 
trial and hardship a steadfast devotion to her country." 

In point of influence, we find Mercy Warren is conceded 
to be the most remarkable woman who lived in the days of the 
American Revolution. She was the daughter of James Otis, 
of Barnstable, in the old colony of Plymouth. The family of 
Otis came to this country about 1630, and Mercy was born in 
1728, passing her youth in retirement and study. At the age 
of twenty-six she married James Warren, a merchant. Her 
interest in political affairs was so great that she maintained a 
correspondence with many of the leading spirits of the 
Revolutionary era — Adams, Jefferson, Knox and others. It 
is said that they not only wrote her, but consulted her in regard 
to important matters, and during the years preceding the war, 
Mrs. Warren's house was the resort of the principal figures in 
history at that time. Washington, Lee, Gates and other dis- 
tinguished officers were frequently her guests, and this is 
found at the close of one of her biographies: "Seldom has a 
woman in any age acquired such ascendency by the mere 
force of a powerful intellect, and her influence continued to the 
close of life." 



Women of the Revolution 201 

Another prominent family figure in these historical days 
was Mrs. Knox, an intimate associate of Mrs. Washington and 
frequently in the camp of the army. Her influence was shown 
in many ways. She was the comforter of Mrs. Washington 
during the siege of Yorktown. When the capital was removed 
to Philadelphia, the home of Mrs. Knox became one of the 
leading social centers of the capital city. During their stay 
here they entertained the Due de Laincourt, Talleyrand, and 
our great friend, Marquis de La Fayette. She is said to have 
had a mind of high and powerful cast, dignified manner and 
calm and lofty spirit. General and Mrs. Washington always 
paid her the greatest deference and in every way expressed 
their warm friendship and admiration of her. 

The wife of John Hancock, it is said, added luster to his 
fame. She was a leader of society in the best circles, a 
daughter of Judge Edmund Quincy and was born in 1748. In 
1775, she married John Hancock, then Governor of Mas- 
sachusetts, afterward president of the First Congress. The 
strength of her character is shown in an incident worded by 
one of her biographers. While in Philadelphia, Hancock came 
to his wife one day and informed her he had a most disagree- 
able secret to impart to her and that it must be faithfully 
kept. The secret was that he had received a letter from home 
stating it had been thought necessary to burn the city of Boston 
to prevent its falling into the hands of the enemy. All of Han- 
cock's wealth was centered there. He was asked would he be 
willing to sacrifice this for the good of his country, and he had 
given his consent. To his wife he acknowledged it would 
reduce them to absolute want, but his mind was made up and 
he asked her would she join him in this sacrifice. This she 
willingly did. When attending a Quaker meeting a few hours 
afterward, she showed no signs of the painful secret or 
terrible personal sacrifice which she had just been called upon 



202 Part Taken by Women in American History 

to make for her country. Fortunately, later it was found 
unnecessary to carry out this plan and she was spared the 
realization of her expected fate. This shows the kind of 
women who lived at this time and what they did for their 
country. 

Mrs. Greene, who was Catherine Littlefield, daughter of 
John Littlefield, was born on Block Island, in 1753. Her hus- 
band was Governor Greene, one of her kinsmen, to whom she 
was married in 1774. "The incident of her quitting her own 
house when Aaron Burr claimed her hospitality after his duel 
with Hamilton, leaving the house for his use, and only 
returning to it after his departure, illustrates her generous 
and impulsive character." 

Sarah Thompson — the Countess Rumford, — is mentioned 
as one of the women who exercised great social influence. 

Another woman of the official circle in Philadelphia may 
be mentioned — Mrs. Bingham. She was the daughter of 
Thomas Willing, and at the age of sixteen, on October 22, 1780, 
she married William Bingham, who was United States Senator 
from Pennsylvania. A few years after their marriage they 
went abroad and spent some years in France where they 
brought about them a charming circle of the best of the French 
capital. On their return to America in 1795, the Viscount 
de Noailles, brother-in-law to La Fayette, was their guest for 
some time. 

Sarah, the only (laughter of Benjamin Franklin, was born 
in Philadelphia, in September, 1744, and married Richard 
Bache in 1767. She was a prominent figure in the best society 
and her house was a center for the philanthropic work which 
the ladies of Philadelphia carried on for the American Army. 
In 1792, she accompanied her husband to England, later 
returning and settling on their farm near the Delaware. 

Rebecca Franks is mentioned as one of the leaders in 



Women of the Revolution 203 

society in Philadelphia in the days of the Revolution. She 
married Lieutenant-Governor Sir Henry Johnston. General 
Scott visited her some years later. 

Catharine Schuyler was the only daughter of John Van 
Rensselaer. After the surrender of Burgoyne, he and his suite 
were received and entertained by General and Mrs. Schuyler, 
though he had destroyed their elegant country seat near 
Saratoga. Mrs. Schuyler was remarkable for her vigorous 
intellect and keen judgment, and many incidents of her heroic 
spirit have been recorded. Her social influence was widely 
recognized. Her daughter Elizabeth, who married Alexander 
Hamilton, has been already spoken of. Mrs. Wilson was one 
of the most noted women in New Jersey. She was the daughter 
of Colonel Charles Stewart and born in 1758. In 1776, she 
married Robert Wilson, a young Irishman, and went with him 
to Philadelphia to live. She was one of the intimate friends 
of Mrs. Washington. Mrs. Beekman's home was near Tarry- 
town. She was a sister of Mrs. Van Rensselaer and her 
daughter became Mrs. De Peyster. Mrs. Field was the great- 
granddaughter of Cornelia Beekman and related to the most 
prominent families in America at that time — the De Peysters, 
Livingstons, Beekmans, Van Cortlandts and the Van Rens- 
selaers. Miss De Peyster, in 1838, married Mr. Benjamin 
Hazard Field, a descendant of Sir John Field, the astronomer. 
Their home in New York was a leading social center. 

Among the Charleston, South Carolina, ladies prominent in 
society may be mentioned the Misses Harvey, three sisters of 
remarkably beautiful personal appearance. Another was Miss 
Mary Roupell; also Mrs. Rivington, the widow of a wealthy 
planter, and Mrs. Richard Singleton, who came from the best 
Virginia stock and was devoted to the American cause. She is 
said to have occupied her time by going continually from the 
city to the interior, gathering reports of the signs of the times, 



204 Part Taken by Women in American History 

conveying intelligence and sometimes ammunition to friends in 
the army, or evolving schemes for the relief and deliverance 
of the city. Another patriotic woman who devoted herself to 
the American cause was Mrs. Brewton. Rebecca Motte was 
celebrated for her heroic conduct in giving Lee the bow and 
arrows to fire her dwelling when it was occupied by the British. 
She was a daughter of Robert Brewton and was married in 
1758, and died in 181 5. The name of Mrs. Barnard Elliott is 
familiar to everyone in South Carolina. She was a Miss 
Susannah Smith, the daughter of Benjamin Smith, speaker of 
the Provincial Assembly. She was an orphan and had been 
brought up by her aunt, Rebecca Motte, whose patriotism is 
revered to this day. Another prominent woman mentioned is 
Sabina, the wife of William Elliott. Her youngest daughter, 
Ann, married Colonel Lewis Morris, eldest son of Lewis Morris, 
one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. One of 
her devoted friends and admirers was Kosciusko. She is said 
to have saved the life of Colonel Morris when their house was 
visited by the Black Dragoons. Anna Elliott, daughter of the 
brave patriot, Thomas Ferguson, labored constantly for her 
country and ministered to the poor and afflicted, and many 
were the favors granted at her request by the British when they 
held Charleston. The mother of John C. Calhoun was Martha 
Caldwell, whose parents emigrated to Virginia in 1749. She 
was one of the conspicuous figures of that day. 

About the noted women of North Carolina and Kentucky 
we have already written in the chapter on our pioneer women : 
Miss Susan Hart, Sarah Bledsoe, Catherine Sherrill, Mrs. 
Sevier, Sarah Richardson, Charlotte Reeves, who became Mrs. 
Robertson, Mrs. Kenton, Sarah Sibley, who was Miss Sproat, 
Mrs. Talbott, Mrs. Sibley, Rebecca Heald, Mrs. Helm, Mrs. 
Kinsey and others. 




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Prominent Women from the Time of 
Mary Washington. 

Mary Washington, the mother of Washington, was 
descended from an ancient family of note which emigrated 
from England in 1650, and settled in Lancaster, Virginia, on 
the Rappahannock River. Mary, the youngest child of her 
father, Joseph Ball, was born in 1706, at Epping Forest, the 
family homestead, which he inherited from his father, William 
Ball, the first emigrant. Joseph Ball was made Colonel by 
Governor Spotswood in 1710, and known as Colonel Ball, of 
Lancaster. Five years before that time he executed a will in 
which is found the following: "I give and bequeath unto my 
daughter, Mary, four hundred acres of land in Richmond 
County, in ye freshes of Rappa-h-n River, being part of a 
patten of 1,600 acres to her, ye said Mary, and her heirs for- 
ever." She was then five years old. We also have the Ball 
coat-of-arms as follows : "The escutcheon has a lion rampant, 
a coat-of-mail and a shield bearing two lions and a fleur-de-lys. 
The crest is a helmet with closed visor. Above the lion is a 
broad bar, half red and half gold. On the scroll which belongs 
to it are these words : 'Coelumque tueri.' " When Mary was 
twenty-one her mother died, and she was taken by her brother 
Joseph, a lawyer of London, to his home near that city in 
1728-29. In 1729 she met Augustine Washington, a son of an 
eminent and wealthy family of illustrious English descent, and 
described as "a stately and handsome gentleman." In the 
prime of early maturity, a widower with two little sons, he had 
come to England to look after an estate left him by his grand- 

(205) 



206 Part Taken by Women in American History 

father. Renewing, it is supposed, a passing acquaintance, he 
was captivated with Mary Ball and married her. They 
returned to this country and to his Westmoreland planta- 
tion of Wakefield on the Potomac, where George Washington, 
their son, was born February n, 1732. In 1735 their dwell- 
ing was burned to the ground. Instead of rebuilding upon the 
site of the old homestead, Augustine Washington removed to 
his plantation "Pine Grove," in Stafford County, upon the 
Rappahannock River, opposite Fredericksburg, where he died 
August 12, 1743, aged forty-nine years. They took him back 
to Westmoreland County, and laid him in the family vault at 
Wakefield, and the widowed mother returning to the home thus 
suddenly bereft of its honored head, gathered about her the 
fatherless children and "took up with both hands life as God 
had made it for her." Her own five, and the two little lads who 
had been left to her guardianship, with their several estates, 
were a burden and responsibility to appall the stoutest heart; 
but she shrank not from it, and so faithfully and judiciously 
did she carry the burden, that she won and retained the 
affection and respect of all till her life's end — turning over, with 
added value, the shares of her step-sons' property when they 
arrived at maturity. We know with what care and judgment 
she trained her own eldest born for usefulness; how her wisdom 
and firmness kept him from service on a British man-of-war, 
and saved him to his country. The civil engineer of sixteen 
years of age soon became the brave and successful soldier and 
officer, and defender and hope and pride of his country — the 
great General who struggled through eight weary years of war 
to its triumphant close. Early in the struggle her son earnestly 
entreated her to leave her plantation of "Pine Grove," and 
take refuge in the town for better protection and safety, which 
she finally but reluctantly did, establishing herself in a snug 
home near her only daughter, Betty (Mrs. Fielding Lewis), 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 207 

where during those "weary eight years" she labored inces- 
santly with her servants in making homespun clothing for the 
suffering soldiers, herself knitting the stockings. Her big Bible 
with its family record of births, marriages and deaths, is now 
the precious possession of her descendant, Mrs. Ella Barett 
Washington. On "Kenmore," the home plantation of her 
daughter, rises a gentle eminence overlooking the valley of 
the Rappahannock and the lovely ampitheatre of hills rising 
from it, where are clustered a mass of bold rocks sheltered by 
fine old oaks looking towards her old home, "Pine Oak." This 
spot was a favorite resort for the mother for meditation and 
prayer. The hours spent there, her children and grand- 
children held sacred, and never intruded upon. It is still 
venerated as "Oratory Rock." On August 25, 1789, after a 
painful illness, in unfaltering faith, she passed from earth and 
was buried at her own request at this spot, sacred to her for all 
future time unto the Resurrection Morn. 

MARTHA WASHINGTON. 

Though the life of Mrs. Washington was a changeful one, 
and had its full measure of sorrow and joy, it affords little 
material for the biographer. Yet, as some one said in writing 
about her years ago, none who take an interest in the history of 
the Father of this country, can fail to desire some knowledge 
of her who shared his thoughts and plans, and was associated 
with him in the great events of his life. And, indeed, few 
women have been called to move in the drama of existence amid 
scenes so varied and imposing; and few have sustained their 
part with so much dignity and discretion. In the shades of 
retirement or in the splendor of eminent station, she was the 
same unostentatious, magnanimous woman. Through the 
gloom of adverse fortune she walked by the side of the chief, 



208 Part Taken by Women in American History 

ascending with him the difficult path that had opened before 
him, and at length stood with him on the summit, in the full 
light of his power and renown. 

She was born Martha Dandridge, in May, 1732, and was 
descended from an ancient family that migrated to the colony 
of Virginia. Her education was only a domestic one such as 
was given to women in those days when there were few "female 
seminaries" and private teachers were generally employed. 
Her beauty and fascinating manners, with her amiable qualities 
of character, gained her distinction among all those belles who 
were accustomed to gather at Williamsburg, at that time the 
seat of the government. 

When but seventeen, Miss Dandridge was married to 
Colonel Daniel Parke Custis, of New Kent County, where she 
was born. Their residence, called "The White House," was on 
the banks of the Pamunkey River) where Colonel Custis became 
a highly successful planter. None of the children of this 
marriage survived the mother ; Martha, who arrived at woman- 
hood, died at Mount Vernon in 1770, and John died of fever 
contracted during the siege of Yorktown eleven years later. 

Mrs. Custis was early left a widow, in the full bloom of 
beauty and "splendidly endowed with worldly benefits." As 
sole executrix she managed with great ability the extensive 
landed and pecuniary business of the estate. Surrounded by 
the advantages of fortune and position, and possessing such 
charms of person, it may well be believed that suitors for her 
hand were many and pressing. 

"It was in 1758," says her biographer, "that an officer, 
attired in military undress, and attended by a body servant, 
tall and militaire as his chief, crossed the ferry called William's 
over the Pamunkey, a branch of the York River. On the boat 
touching the southern or New Kent side, the soldier's progress 
was arrested by one of those personages who give the beau 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 209 

ideal of the Virginia gentleman of the old regime, — the very 
soul of kindness and hospitality," He would hear of no excuse 
on the part of this soldier, who was Colonel Washington, for 
declining the invitation to stop at his house. In vain the 
Colonel pleaded important business in Williamsburg; his 
friend, Mr. Chamberlayne, insisted that he must dine with him 
at the very least, and he promised, as a temptation, to introduce 
him to a young and charming widow who chanced then to be 
his guest. At last the soldier surrendered, resolving, how- 
ever, to pursue his journey the same evening. They proceeded 
to the mansion. Mr. Chamberlayne presented Colonel Wash- 
ington to his various guests, among whom stood the beautiful 
Mrs. Custis. It is not a violent presumption to suppose that 
the conversation at that dinner turned upon scenes in which 
the whole community had a deep interest — scenes which the 
young hero, fresh from his early battlefields, could eloquently 
describe; and one can fancy with what earnest and rapt atten- 
tion the fair widow listened, and how, "the heavenly rhetoric 
of her eyes," beamed unconscious admiration upon the manly 
speaker. The morning passed; the sun sank low in the horizon 
and the hospitable host smiled as he saw the Colonel's faithful 
attendant, true to his orders, holding his master's spirited steed 
at the gate The veteran waited and marvelled at the delay. 
But Mr. Chamberlayne insisted that no guest ever left his 
house after sunset, and his visitor was persuaded, without much 
difficulty, to remain. The next day was far advanced when 
Colonel Washington was on the road to Williamsburg. His 
business there being dispatched, he hastened again to the com- 
panionship of the captivating widow. * 

A short time after his marriage, which took place about 
1769, Colonel and Mrs. Washington fixed their residence at 
Mount Vernon. The mansion at that period was a very small 
building compared with its present extent. It did not receive 

14 



2io Part Taken by Women in American History 



many additions before Washington left it to attend the first 
Congress and thence to the command-in-chief of the armies of 
his country. He was accompanied to Cambridge by Mrs. 
Washington, who remained some time with him and witnessed 
the siege and evacuation of Boston, after which she returned 
to Virginia. 

It was not often that the interest taken by Mrs. Washing- 
ton in political affairs was evinced by any public expression, 
though an address which was read in the churches of Virginia 
and published in the Philadelphia paper in June, 1780, as "The 
Sentiments of an American Woman," was attributed — it can- 
not be ascertained with what truth — to her pen. 

She passed the winters with her husband during his 
campaigns and it was the custom of the commander-in-chief 
to dispatch an aide-de-camp to escort Mrs. Washington to head- 
quarters. Her arrival in camp was an event much anticipated ; 
the plain chariot, with its neat postilions in their scarlet and 
white liveries was always welcomed with great joy by the 
army and brought a cheering influence, which relieved the 
general gloom in seasons of disaster and despair. Her example 
was followed by the wives of other general officers. 

It happened at one time while the ladies remained later 
than usual in the camp on the Hudson, that an alarm was 
given of the approach of the enemy from New York. The 
aid-de-camp proposed that the ladies should be sent away under 
an escort, but to this Washington would not consent. "The 
presence of our wives/' said he, "will the better encourage us 
to brave defense." 

Lady Washington, as she was always called in the army, 
usually remained at headquarters till the opening of the suc- 
ceeding campaign, when she returned to Mount Vernon. She 
was accustomed afterwards to say that it had been her fortune 
to hear the first cannon at the opening, and the last at the 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 211 

closing of all the campaigns of the Revolutionary War. How 
admirably her equanimity and cheerfulness were preserved, 
through the sternest periods of the struggle, and how inspir- 
ing was the influence she diffused, is testified in many of the 
military journals of that time. She was at Valley Forge in the 
dreadful winter of IJJ7-J&, her presence and submission to 
privation strengthening the fortitude of those who might have 
complained and giving hope and confidence to the desponding. 
She soothed the distresses of many suffering, seeking out the 
poor and afflicted with benevolent kindness, extending relief 
wherever it was in her power, and with remarkable grace 
presiding in the Chief's humble dwelling. In a letter to Mrs. 
Warren she says: "The General's apartment is very small, 
but he had a log cabin built to dine in, which has made our 
quarters much more tolerable than they were at first." 

The Marquis de Chastellux says of Mrs. Washington, 
whom he met at the house of General Reed, in Philadelphia, — 
"she had just arrived from Virginia and was going to stay 
with her husband as she does at the end of every campaign. 
She is about forty, or forty-five, rather plump, but fresh, and 
of an agreeable countenance." One little incident when she 
came to spend the cold season with her husband in winter 
quarters illustrated how those in the humblest sphere regarded 
her presence. In the quarters there was only a frame house 
without a finished upper story, and the General desiring to 
prepare for his wife a more retired apartment, sent for a young 
mechanic and asked him and one of his fellow-apprentices to 
fit up a room in the attic for the accommodation of Lady 
Washington. On the fourth day Mrs. Washington came up 
to see how they were getting on. As she stood looking round, 
the young mechanic ventured diffidently: "Madam, we have 
endeavored to do the best we could; I hope we have suited 
you." She replied smiling: "I am astonished! Your work 



212 Part Taken by Women in American History 

would do honor to an old master and you are mere lads. I 
am not only satisfied, but highly gratified with what you have 
done for my comfort." And seventy years later the mechanic 
— then an old soldier — would repeat these words with tears 
running down his cheeks, the thrill of delight that penetrated 
his heart at the approving words of his General's lady, again 
animating his worn frame and sending back his thoughts to 
the very moment and scene. 

At the close of the Revolutionary War when the victorious 
General was merged in "the illustrious farmer of Mount 
Vernon," Mrs. Washington performed the duties of a Virginia 
housewife, which in those days were not merely nominal. She 
gave directions, it is said, in every department, so that without 
bustle or confusion the most splendid dinner appeared as if 
there had been no effort in the preparation. She presided at 
her abundant table with ease and elegance and was indeed most 
truly great in her appropriate sphere of home. Much of her 
time was occupied in the care of the children of her lost son) 

A few years of rest and tranquil happiness in the society 
of friends having rewarded the Chief's military toils, he was 
called by the voice of the nation to assume the duties of its 
chief magistrate. The call was obeyed. The establishment 
of the President and Mrs. Washington was formed at the seat 
of government. The levees of Washington's administration 
had more of courtly ceremonial than has been known since, for 
it was necessary to maintain the dignity of office by forms that 
should inspire respect for the new government; In this ele- 
vated station Mrs. Washington, unspoiled by distinction, still 
leaned on the kindness of her friends, and cultivated cheer- 
fulness as a study. She was beloved as are few who occupy 
exalted positions. 

On the retirement of Washington from public life, he pre- 
pared to spend the remnant of his days in the retreat his taste 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 213 

had adorned. It was a spectacle of wonder to Europeans to 
see this great man calmly resigning the power which had been 
committed to his hands and returning with delight to his agri- 
cultural pursuits. His wife could justly claim her share in 
the admiration, for she quitted without regret the elevated 
scenes in which she had shone so conspicuously to enter with 
the same active interest as before upon her domestic employ- 
ments. Her advanced age did not impair her ability nor her 
inclination to discharge housewifely duties. But she was not 
long permitted to enjoy the happiness she had anticipated. It 
was hers too soon to join in the grief of a mourning nation 
for the death of Washington — its great Chief and President — 
her husband. From all quarters came tributes of sympathy 
and sorrow, and many visits of condolence were paid by the 
President and others to her in her bereavement, but in less 
than two years she was attacked by a fever that proved fatal. 
When aware that her hour was approaching, she called her 
grandchildren to her bedside, discoursed to them on their 
respective duties; spoke of the happy influence of religion, and 
then, surrounded by her weeping family, died as she had lived — 
bravely and without regret. Her death took place on the 
22nd of May, 1802. Her remains rest in the same vault with 
those of Washington in the family tomb at Mount Vernon.^ 



MARY A. SITGREAVES. 

Among the intimate friends of "Nellie Custis" was Mary A. Sitgreaves, the 
second daughter of Colonel Daniel Kemper of the Revolutionary Army. She was 
born in New York, April 1774. During the occupation of New York by the 
British, her father removed to Morristown, New Jersey. The headquarters of 
General Washington were in the neighborhood and through her frequent visits 
to the camp Miss Kemper became an intimate friend of Mrs. Washington. During 
a visit to her uncle, Dr. David Jackson of Philadelphia, she met in the drawing- 
room of the President Honorable Samuel Sitgreaves, a member of Congress, and 
they were married June, 1796. 



214 Part Taken by Women in American History 



SUSAN WALLACE. 

Mrs. Susan Wallace, the mother of Horace Binney Wallace, lived opposite 
Washington's house in Philadelphia. She was the daughter of Mrs. Mary Binney 
of Philadelphia, and married John Bradford Wallace, who died in 1849. He was 
the nephew of Mr. Bradford, the second attorney-general of the United States. 
Mrs. Wallace was also one of the close friends of Mrs. Washington. 



ABIGAIL ADAMS. 

The letters of Abigail Adams form a valuable contribution 
to the published history of our country, laying open as they 
do the thoughts and feelings of one who had borne an important 
part in our nation's history. Mrs. Adams' character is worthy 
of contemplation for all her countrywomen even to-day, for 
though few may rise to such pre-eminence, many can emulate 
the sensibility and tact which she combined with much practical 
knowledge of life, as well as the firmness that sustained her in 
all vicissitudes. 

She was Miss Abigail Smith, the second of three daugh- 
ters, and was born at Weymouth, November n, 1744. She 
was descended from genuine stock of the Puritan settlers of 
Massachusetts. Her father, the Rev. William Smith, was, 
for more than forty years, minister of the Congregational 
Church at Weymouth, and the ancestors of her mother, Eliza- 
beth Quincy, were persons distinguished among the leaders 
of the church. From the ancestry, it may be inferred that 
her earliest associations were among those whose tastes were 
marked by the love of literature. She was not considered 
physically strong enough to attend school, consequently, the 
knowledge she evinced in after life was the result of her read- 
ing and observation rather than of what is commonly called 
education, which all the more emphasizes her native talents. 
The lessons that most deeply impressed her mind were received 
from Mrs. Quincy, her grandmother, whose beneficial influence 
she reverently acknowledges in her letters. 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 215 

Her marriage to Mr. Adams took place October 25, 1764, 
and she passed the ten years that succeeded, devoting herself to 
domestic life and the care of her young family. In 1775 she was 
called to pass through scenes of great distress amid the horrors 
of war and the ravages of pestilence. 

She sympathized deeply with the sufferings of those around 
her. "My heart and hand," she wrote, "still tremble at the 
domestic fury and fierce civil strife. I feel for the unhappy 
wretches who know not where to fly for succor, and I feel still 
more for my bleeding countrymen, who are hazarding their 
lives and their limbs." To the agonized hearts of thousands 
of women went up the roar of the cannon booming over those 
hills, and many a heart joined in breathing her prayer: 
"Almighty God! Cover the heads of our countrymen and be 
a shield to our dear friends." 

But in all her anxieties her calm and lofty spirit never 
deserted her; nor did she regret the sacrifice of her own 
feelings for the good of the community. During the absence 
of her husband, when Mr. Adams had been sent as a joint com- 
missioner to France, she devoted herself to the various duties 
devolving on her, submitting with patience to the difficulties of 
the time. 

After the return of peace, Mr. Adams was appointed the 
first representative of the Nation at the British court, and his 
wife went to Europe to join him. From this time Abigail 
Adams moved amidst new scenes and new characters, yet in 
all her variety and splendor of life in the luxurious cities of the 
Old World she preserved the simplicity of heart which had 
adorned her seclusion at home. In the prime of life, with a 
mind free from prejudice, her record of the impressions she 
received is interesting and instructive. Her letters of this 
period are filled with that delicate perception of beauty which 
belongs to a poetic spirit. 



216 Part Taken by Women in American History 

As was to be expected, neither she nor her husband were 
exempt from annoyances growing out of the late controversy. 
She writes to Mrs. Warren : "Whoever in Europe is known to 
have adopted republican principles must expect to have all the 
engines of war of every court and courtier in the world dis- 
played against him." 

Yet, notwithstanding the drawbacks that sometimes 
troubled her, her residence in London seems to have been a 
most agreeable one, and, with the unaffected republican simplic- 
ity and exquisite union of frankness and refinement in her man- 
ners, she seems to have won her way even in the proud circles 
of the English aristocracy. 

Her letters are a faithful transcript of her feelings, and 
there is a surprisingly modern note and almost prophetic sug- 
gestion in the following observation from one of her letters to 
her sister: "When I reflect on the advantages which people in 
America possess over the most polished of other nations, the 
ease with which property is obtained, the plenty which is so 
equally distributed, their personal liberty and security of life 
and property, I feel grateful to Heaven, who marked out my lot 
in that happy land; at the same time I deprecate that restless 
spirit and that baleful ambition and thirst for power which will 
finally make us as wretched as our neighbors." When 
Mr. Adams, after having returned to the United States with his 
family, became Vice-President, his wife appeared, as in other 
situations, the pure-hearted patriot, the accomplished woman, 
the worthy partner of his cares and honors. 

He was called to the Presidency, and the widest field opened 
for the exercise of her talents. Her letter written on the day 
that decided the people's choice shows a sense of the solemn 
responsibility they had assumed, with a truly touching reliance 
upon Divine guidance and forgetfulness of all thoughts of pride 
in higher sentiments. 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 217 

In this elevated position, the grace and elegance of Mrs. 
Adams, with her charm of conversation were rendered more 
attractive by her frank sincerity. Her close observation, dis- 
crimination of character and clear judgment gave her an influ- 
ence which men and women acknowledged. Her husband 
appreciated her worth, and was sustained in spirit by her buoy- 
ant cheerfulness and affectionate sympathy in the multiplicity 
of labor which the highest office of his country brought him. 

It was hers, too, to disarm the demon of party spirit, to 
calm agitations, heal the rankling wounds of pride, and pluck 
the root of bitterness away. 

After the retirement of her husband, Mrs. Adams con- 
tinued to take a deep interest in public affairs. Her health 
was much impaired, however, and from this time she remained 
in her rural seclusion at Quincy. 

MARTHA WAYLES JEFFERSON. 

Mrs. Martha Wayles Jefferson, wife of the third President of the United 
States, was born in 1748 in Charles County, Virginia, and died September 6, 1782, 
at Monticello, the famous country home of Thomas Jefferson, near Charlottesville, 
Virginia. Her father, John Wayles, was a wealthy lawyer, who gave his daughter 
all the advantages of refinement and education which were afforded at this time. 
Her first husband was Bathurst Skelton, whom she had married at a very early 
age, becoming a widow before she was twenty. In January, 1772, she married 
Thomas Jefferson. In 1781 Mrs. Jefferson's health became so precarious that her 
husband refused a foreign mission. In the autumn of 1782 she died. She was 
the mother of five children, three of whom survived her. 

MARTHA JEFFERSON. 

Perhaps no better reason why the biography of Martha 
Jefferson is important can be given than the following estimate 
of her, found in a history of our young Republic : "As a child, 
she was her father's only comforter in the great sorrows of his 
life, in matured years she was his intimate friend and compan- 



218 Part Taken by Women in American History 



ion ; her presence lent to his home its greatest charm, and her 
love and sympathy were his greatest solace in the troubles 
which clouded the evening of his life." Thomas Jefferson, 
going, a lonely widower, on his first mission to France, took 
with him his little girl, "Patsy," as he lovingly called her, and 
while she was placed in a convent his regular and constant visits 
to her there brought all the comfort and happiness of life to 
both of them. She was only ten years old at the time of her 
mother's death in 1782, but her own sorrow was almost for- 
gotten in the contemplation which was constantly before her 
of that greater sorrow of her father. She understood it when, 
one night, she entered her father's room, and found him giving 
away to a paroxysm of weeping. But her father would not 
allow her young life to be shrouded in gloom., and later on, when 
she was sixteen, she entered with him the world of Paris, and 
was introduced into the brilliant court of Louis XVI. In spite 
of her youth and her modest, retiring disposition, she was 
considered a remarkable young woman. She did credit to the 
excellent education she had received. She was found to be a 
good elocutionist, an accomplished musician, and one well 
versed in matters historical. She was not beautiful (and per- 
haps it is a relief to learn that she was not, after hearing 
about so many dames and daughters of a by-gone day whose 
wondrous fairness is forever being told in story and rehearsed 
in song) , but she is reputed to have been "tall and stately" and 
to have had an interesting rather than a pretty face. Hints of 
Miss Patsy's good times and of the interesting people whom she 
met when she was a debutante in the Paris world have come 
down to us. We read of her acquaintance with the gay and gal- 
lant Marquis de La Fayette, who never chanced to meet the 
daughter of Thomas Jefferson without pausing to exchange a 
few merry words with her ; and of her enthusiastic admiration 
for Madame de Stael, whom she saw very often in society, and 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 219 

to whose wonderful conversation she invariably listened atten- 
tively. But Martha Jefferson loved her country and her father 
too truly to think of deserting them for the sake of any gallant 
of King Louis' court. Moreover, she knew that in her own 
country there was waiting for her some one infinitely superior 
to anyone she might meet abroad. When, in 1789, she and 
her father and her sister returned to their beloved Virginia 
home, Monticello, she met again this second cousin, Thomas 
Mann Randolph, who had been her childhood sweetheart, and 
on the 23d of February, 1790, "Miss Patsy," as she was called, 
and her cousin Tom were married. She was happy in her hus- 
band, a man, so Jefferson tells us, "of science, sense, virtue, and 
competence.' , With him she led an ideal family life. Her 
home, at Edgehill, the Randolph estate, from which, in the win- 
ter, when the trees were bare, she could see the glimmer of 
the white columns of the portico of Monticello, became filled 
with a host of little people. There were twelve in all, five sons 
and seven daughters, all equally lovable and interesting in their 
mother's eyes. But the most enjoyable times of Mrs. Ran- 
dolph's life were the July vacation months when, with the com- 
ing of summer, President Jefferson, tired of Washington and 
the affairs of state, retired to Virginia and, stopping en route 
at Edgehill, picked up the whole Randolph family, and carried 
them off with him to Monticello. When Thomas Jefferson 
became President, Mrs. Randolph and her sister came from the 
obscurity of their Virginia homes, and began their reign in the 
White House. The two sisters took by storm the Capital of 
the nation. For the first time since their girlhood days in 
Paris at the court of Louis XVI they became a part of the gay 
world. During that winter at the President's home Mrs. Ran- 
dolph was very happy entertaining her father's distinguished 
guests and taking part in all the gayeties of the Capital. She 
was everywhere admired. The Marquis de Yrcijo, who was 



220 Part Taken by Women in American History 

then Spanish Ambassador in Washington, declared that she 
was fitted to grace any court in Europe, and John Randolph, of 
Roanoke, was so impressed with the beauty of her mind and 
character that years after, when her health was proposed at a 
gentleman's table in Virginia, at a time when "Crusty John" 
himself was one of her father's bitterest political foes, seconded 
the toast with the exclamation, "Yes, gentlemen, let us drink 
to the noblest woman in Virginia." In the spring that followed 
this winter of memorable pleasures and excitements Mrs. Ran- 
dolph, with her young family, withdrew from Washington 
society, and returned to live in the utmost simplicity at her home 
at Edgehill. It was a glorious time for Mrs. Randolph when, 
at last, the adored father returned to her, not as President of 
the United States, on a hurried visit to his home and family, 
but as a simple country gentleman, who was never again to be 
deprived of that domestic peace and harmony for which he 
had sighed so many years. When he came this time the 
removal to Monticello was permanent. For the remainder of 
his life Jefferson and his daughter and his daughter's children 
lived happily on the summit of the little mountain, in the home 
that was so dear to them all. 

Her father's death and the loss also of his home, which 
came of the too generous hospitality which always existed at 
Monticello, broke Martha Jefferson's heart. The troubles that 
followed her husband's death, and the worries and vexations 
of poverty found her resigned, almost unmoved. She passed 
her last days in visiting among her children. It was at Edge- 
hill, the home of her eldest son, Jefferson, that she was best con- 
tented, because of the proximity to Monticello. From a win- 
dow of the room that was always reserved for her she could 
look up through the trees and across the meadow to Monticello. 
Here, in sight of the loved home, she lived over again in mem- 
ory the associations and happiness she had once enjoyed. 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 221 

DOROTHY PAYNE MADISON. 

'\ There are few figures; on the canvas of American history 
that stand out with such undimmed charm as that of beautiful 
Dolly Madison.^ Certainly no one of its kerchiefed dames of 
the early Republic made their public and private life a better 
example of American womanhood to American girls of the suc- 
ceeding generation than the bright-eyed Quaker girl-widow, 
who became hostess of the White House in 1809. 

By the chance of a parental visit, it was in the province 
of North Carolina, under the reign of King George III, that 
Dorothea Payne was born, on the 12th of May, 1768. By line- 
age and residence, however, she had a good right to call her- 
self "A Daughter of Virginia," for her parents returned to 
their Hanover county plantation when she was an infant, and 
it was at the old school in Hanover that she learned her first 
lessons. Her grandfather, John Payne, was an English gentle- 
man, who came to Virginia, and married Anna Fleming, a lady 
of Scottish birth, and who was descended, it is claimed, from the 
Earl of Wigton, a Scottish nobleman. Her father, John Payne, 
Jr., married Mary Coles, the daughter of an Irish gentleman 
from Enniscorthy, County Wexford, Ireland. This Mary 
Coles was descended from the Winstons, of Virginia, a family 
known for its aristocratic lineage. Indeed, it is reasonable to 
suppose that much of Dolly Payne's conversational gift was a 
legacy from these Winstons. Her mother's uncle, Patrick 
Henry, the orator, was said to have inherited his talent' from 
his brilliant mother, Sarah Winston, while another cousin, 
Judge Edmund Winston, was a local celebrity. 

Of the three strains of blood, English, Irish and Scotch, 
that flowed in Dolly Payne's veins, the Irish appears to have 
predominated. The roseleaf complexion, the laughing eyes, 
the clustering curls of jet-black hair, the generous heart and 



222 Part Taken by Women in American History 

persuasive tongue, ] all these were legacies from the County 
Wexford ancestors. The ''Cousin Dolly" for whom Dolly 
Payne was named was the lovely Dorothea Spotswood Dand- 
ridge, granddaughter of the famous Sir Alexander Spotswood, 
of Virgina. Curiously enough, this "Cousin Dolly" married 
two of Dolly Payne's mother's cousins — first, Patrick Henry, 
and, after his death, when her little namesake was nine years 
old, Judge Edmund Winston — making a bewildering maze of 
cousins, as they used to do, and still do, down in Virginia. 
Dolly Payne's father was a Quaker, and so little Mistress Dolly 
wore her ashen gown down to her toes and the queer little 
Quaker bonnets and plain kerchiefs and long cuffs covering 
her dimpled arms, as prescribed for those of her sex by 
the decree of the "Friends." But this sober dress was not 
to her mind, it seems, for we read that she wore a gold chain 
about her neck, under the folds of her kerchief, a sin which she 
confessed to the old black "Mammy Rosy," and who, no doubt, 
after scolding her for such an impropriety, consoled her with 
an extra allowance of some particularly longed-for dainty. 

It was on account of John Payne's religious belief that he 
set free his negro slaves, sold his plantation, and moved his 
family to Philadelphia, where he hoped to find more sympathy 
than was to be had from the Virginia cavaliers. But John 
Payne found his financial position much embarrassed with the 
sale of the Virginia plantation, and was, no doubt, glad when 
a desirable suitor, in the person of young John Todd, a Quaker 
lad and rising young lawyer, asked for the hand of Mistress 
Dolly. Mistress Dolly herself was not enthusiastic in the mat- 
ter, but she finally yielded to her father's desire, and was mar- 
ried to Lawyer Todd on the seventh day of January, 1790, in 
the Friends' Meeting House on Pine Street. There were no 
minister, no bridal veil, no wedding music, no dancing, and no 
drinking the bride's health, nor any of the merrymaking her 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 223 

gay young heart would have liked./ Her wedding must have 
cost her many a pang in its absence of all gayety and brilliancy. 
Dolly's years with her first husband were brief, though 
happy, and they ended tragically. Three years later John Todd 
died of yellow fever, that swept over Philadelphia, and Dolly 
Todd was left a young widow in poor circumstances, and with 
one child, Payne Todd, who was in after years to sadden and 
shadow her life. She went to live with her mother, then also 
a widow, in straitened means, who had taken some gentlemen 
to board. But Dolly's sunny nature would not let her brood 
over her grief. Now, for the first time, she was mistress of 
herself. There was no Quaker father or Quaker husband to 
restrain her in her life of frivolity. This period of her life was 
her real girlhood, and that training school for the personal 
charm and social grace wherein lay the secret of her future 
greatness. In about a year after the death of John Todd, 
Aaron Burr, who had been an inmate of Mrs. Payne's house- 
hold, introduced the young widow to James Madison, who had 
already made a wide reputation. Mrs. Todd wrote to a friend 
that Mr. Burr was going to bring "that great little Madison" 
to call upon her. The "great little Madison" called; in the 
words of a biographer, "He came; he saw; she conquered." 
Shortly after this Mrs. Washington sent for Dolly, and ques- 
tioned her about Madison's attentions, strongly advising the 
youthful widow to accept him as a husband. She did so at 
once, receiving the President's and Mrs. Washington's heartiest 
congratulations. Dolly's sister had married George Steptoe 
Washington, the President's nephew, so there was a connec- 
tion in the two families, and the second marriage was solem- 
nized at Harewood, the estate of her brother-in-law, on 
September 15, 1794. From Harewood they went to Mont- 
pelie.r, Madison's home, in Orange county, Virginia, traveling 
over a distance of a hundred miles by coach. 



224 Part Taken by Women in American History 

It was here, through his wife's influence, that Madison was 
induced to hold his .".eat in Congress until the end of the Wash- 
ington administration, which concluded in 1797. When it 
ended Dolly Madison lived in Philadelphia, for Madison did not 
come to take part in national affairs again until Jefferson became 
President, in 1801, and in the meantime the seat of govern- 
ment had been moved to Washington. Then the man who had 
framed the Constitution of the United States, and was known 
as the "Father of the Constitution," was needed, and Jefferson 
appointed Madison Secretary of State. From this time began 
Dolly Madison's social reign in Washington. She became, 
indeed, a power to be reckoned with in political games. For, 
though she made no effort to mix in the affairs of state, her 
influence was felt indirectly in matters of great importance. 

In 1809, Dolly Madison's husband succeeded Jefferson as 
President, and she realized her ambition by becoming the first 
lady of the land. She was equal to the occasion. When shy 
young youths came to the White House it was she who put 
them at ease. When aiders of the opposition party grew most 
bitter, the President's wife was always unfailing in her cour- 
tesy and attention to their wives. In her drawingrobm oppos- 
ing elements met, and she smoothed away the friction with one 
of those rare smiles or a pleasant word. Even during the trying 
period of the War of 181 2, when Madison was torn to -distrac- 
tion by the Peace party, she was the most popular person in the 
United States. The story of her cutting out Washington's por- 
trait from the frame when the British were about to enter the 
Capital, does not seem to be quite true ; she had the frame broken 
because it had to be unscrewed, and there was no time to lose, 
but one of the servants actually did it. It was a sultry August 
day that the English fleet sailed up the Chesapeake' and 
anchored at the mouth of the Potomac. At sight of the ene- 
my's ships Washington presented a spectacle very much like 




V. 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 225 

Brussels had before Waterloo fell. The bewildered crowds 
were employed in conveying valuables out of the city, and an 
endless procession of coaches and chaises, with flurried-looking 
occupants, went streaming out of the Capital. Mr. Madison 
and his secretaries were at Bladensburg, the field of battle, and 
his wife was unwilling to leave Washington until he returned. 
In spite of her great anxiety she kept brave and cheerful, and 
even planned a dinner party for the night which was to wit- 
ness the burning of the Capital. She saw one official after 
another go out of the city, but heroically refused to desert her 
post and, though the British Admiral sent her the startling 
word that he would make his bow in her drawing-room, not 
until a messenger from her husband arrived, crying, "Clear out, 
clear out ! General Armstrong has ordered a retreat !" did she 
turn her back upon the White House. And even then she took 
time to save a carriage load of cabinet papers and the White 
House silver. Then, reluctantly, she took her departure. "I 
longed, instead," she affirmed with spirit, "to have a cannon 
from every window." J 

She barely escaped the marauding British troops, for it 
was only a few hours later that they entered Washington, and 
set fire to the Capitol. By the lurid light of that burning build- 
ing the destroying army marched down Pennsylvania avenue 
to the White House, where they partook of the wines and viands 
that had been prepared for Dolly Madison's dinner party. Mrs. 
Madison, meantime, with her little train of followers, was 
journeying to meet Mr. Madison, as some penciled notes from 
him had directed. Of the next few days' wanderings of the 
President and his wife, which, to us, in our later century, read 
like a comedy of errors, it can only be said that had President 
Madison showed the same coolness and judgment as his wife, 
much of the ridicule to which he was subjected would have been 
avoided. 

15 






226 Part Taken by Women in American History 

But in the days of general rejoicing that followed the 
declaration of peace Mr. Madison's official blunders were for- 
gotten, and Dolly Madison became more popular than ever. 
The soldiers, returning home from, their long service, stopped 
before her home, "The Octagon," to cheer. Her receptions in 
this comparatively small house were more brilliant than those 
of the White House had been. In the gayeties of the "Peace 
Winter" Dolly framed a memorable epic in the annals of Wash- 
ington society. James G. Blaine wrote of her: "She saved the 
administration," and while, perhaps, his praise was too great, 
she held greater social and political sway than any other woman 
of her country. In the midst of her greatest social glory she 
had one great grief. Her son, Payne Todd, the "American 
Prince," had his mother's charm, but not her nobility. 

After Madison's two terms were over he returned again to 
Montpelier, where he lived until the year 1836, when he passed 
out of the world in which he had left so lasting an impression. 

After his death Dolly Madison returned to Washington, 
where the remaining twelve years of her life were spent in the 
house now owned by the Cosmos Club, but which is still called 
the Dolly Madison Mansion. Here the old lady, now in poverty, 
for Montpelier had been sacrificed to pay the gambling debts of 
her unworthy son, lived, still retaining her old popularity, and 
receiving attention from everybody who resided in or came to 
Washington. The nation settled a goodly sum upon her, and 
voted her "A Seat in the House." 

When Dolly Madison died, July 12, 1849, her funeral was 
conducted with pomp that has marked no other American 
woman's last rites. The President and Cabinet, Senate, Diplo- 
matic Corps, Judges of the Supreme Court, and officers of the 
Army and Navy, clergy, and all Washington society attended. 
It was a pageant worth her beautiful life record. In late years 
her body was removed to Montpelier. 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 227 

ELIZABETH K. MONROE. 

Mrs. Elizabeth K. Monroe, nee Miss Elizabeth Kortright, 
was the daughter of Captain Lawrence Kortright, a former 
captain in the British army, who had remained in New York 
after the declaration of peace in 1783, rearing and educating his 
family of one son and four daughters. One of these daughters 
married Mr. Heyliger, late Grand Chamberlain to the King of 
Denmark. Of the other two, one married Mr. Knox, of New 
York, and the other was the wife of Nicholas Gouverneur, of 
New York. 

James Monroe was a senator from Virginia when New 
York was the seat of government, and there met Miss Kort- 
right, who is described as tall, graceful and beautiful, with 
highly polished manners. They were married in New York in 
1786, during a session of Congress. Soon after their marriage 
Philadelphia was chosen as the Capital, Congress adjourning 
to that city. Senator Monroe and his gifted wife took up their 
residence in that city. In 1794 he was appointed Envoy 
Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to France. With 
the prestige of his position as a senator and as a person of 
wealth and with Mrs. Monroe's accomplishments, they were 
destined to represent their country with great success. 

It was while Mr. Monroe was American Minister to 
France that La Fayette, who had so gallantly fought under 
Washington for American independence, was taken prisoner by 
the Austrians and transferred successively from the dungeons 
of Wesel, Magdeburg, Glatz, Neisse and Olmutz, which differed 
only in forms of cruelty and horrors which they inflicted upon 
the defender of liberty in America. La Fayette, suffering in 
addition, unspeakable mental torture over the knowledge of the 
incarceration of Madame La Fayette and two of her innocent 
babes in the prison of La Force, naturally appealed to the 
American Minister. 



228 Part Taken by Women in American History 

The sympathies of Mr. and Mrs. Monroe were equally 
aroused for their friends. Mr. Monroe determined that some- 
thing must be done, or that death would soon end the lives of 
these martyrs to the cause of freedom. Fortunately, the star of 
destiny of America was rapidly ascending, which enabled her 
representatives to assume a loftier attitude in their demands for 
the recognition of the rights of men. Mr. Monroe, intensely 
aroused, made haste to try to relieve Marquis and Madame 
La Fayette. Mrs. Monroe co-operated enthusiastically in the 
plans for their relief, one of which was for Mrs. Monroe to visit 
Madame La Fayette in prison. With a brave heart, she went 
to the prison, and was successful in seeing Madame La Fayette, 
her inhuman captors being afraid to refuse the request of Mrs. 
Monroe, who was almost overcome with the wretched condi- 
tion of that brave lady when she was brought into her pres- 
ence, supported by the guards who watched her day and night. 
The day Mrs. Monroe called Madame La Fayette had been 
expecting the summons to prepare for her execution, and nat- 
urally was greatly alarmed when a gendarme commanded her 
to follow him. More dead than alive, she was ushered into 
the presence of her rescuer. After a few assuring words of 
encouragement to Madame La Fayette, in tones loud enough 
for those in her presence to hear, Mrs. Monroe assured the 
unhappy woman that she would see her on the morrow. Mrs. 
Monroe departed to speedily assist in the deliverance of her 
persecuted friend, which was consummated next day. Madame 
La Fayette left Paris under the protection of an American pass- 
port to join her unhappy husband who, through the interven- 
tion of George Washington and Napoleon Bonaparte, was also 
liberated. It was subsequently learned that the very afternoon 
of Mrs. Monroe's visit Madame La Fayette was to have been 
beheaded. To the day of her death Mrs. Monroe regarded the 
saving of the life of Madame La Fayette as her most gratifying 
achievement. 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 229 

When Mr. Monroe was Governor of Virginia Mrs. Mon- 
roe presided over the executive mansion with so much distinc- 
tion that she won great popularity. She was eminently fitted 
to fill the position of First Lady of the Land when her husband 
succeeded James Madison as President, after the War of 1812. 
The White House in Washington was not what it is to-day, and 
Mrs. Monroe's health was poor during their residence there, 
but one of their pleasures was the entertaining of La Fayette, 
when he visited the United States in 1824. Their youngest 
daughter, Maria, was married in the East Room in March, 
1820, to her cousin, Samuel L. Gouverneur, of New York. 

After the expiration of Mr. Monroe's eight years in the 
White House, they retired to Oak Hill, their beautiful home, in 
Loudon county, Virginia, where Mrs. Monroe continued her 
benevolence and care of those dependent upon her and the 
unfortunates of the community about them. She died sud- 
denly in 1830, beloved by all who knew her. 
■ 

LOUISA CATHERINE ADAMS. 

Louisa Catherine Adams was born in London, February 
12, 1775. Her father, Mr. Johnson, of Maryland, then resided 
in England. Upon the breaking out of the Revolutionary War 
he declared his loyalty to the side of the patriots in America, 
accepting a commission from the Federal government as a 
commissioner to audit the accounts of all official functionaries 
of the United States in Europe, and' removed his family to 
Nantes, France. Still in the service of his country after 
the independence of the colonies had been recognized, he 
returned to London, where he continued to reside until 1797, 
faithfully representing his native land. His daughter, Louisa 
Catherine, had consequently exceptional educational opportuni- 
ties in her youth. 



230 Part Taken by Women in American History 

She first met Mr. Adams in her father's house, in London 
in 1794. They were married July 26, 1797, in the church of 
All Hallows, London. Mr. Adams' father became President 
soon afterwards, and John Quincy was transferred to Berlin, 
whither he took his accomplished bride, whom, it may be said, 
was destined to be a conspicuous figure in the highest social 
circles for the rest of her life. Her career in Berlin, consider- 
ing the conditions, was so successful that it might at this dis- 
tance, through the lapse of time, be called brilliant. Mr. Adams 
returned, with his family, to the United States, and took up 
his residence in Boston. Mrs. Adams was soon the admired 
of all admirers, their popularity putting Mr. Adams in the 
United States Senate from Massachusetts, and they came to 
Washington for the sessions of the Senate. She was very 
happy to be near her own family, the Johnsons, of Maryland, 
as she had been away from them continuously from the date 
of her marriage. For eight years, during Mr. Jefferson's two 
terms as President, she enjoyed her life in Washington. 

On the accession of Mr. Madison to the Presidency, Mr. 
Adams was made our first Minister to Russia. It was a great 
trial to Mrs. Adams to leave two of her children with their 
grandparents, as it seemed wise to do, with the many unfavor- 
able conditions then existing. They took a third child, and 
set sail for Boston in August. After a long and perilous voy- 
age, they reached St. Petersburg in October. The rigorous 
climate, separation from her children, and the trying position 
as the wife of our first Minister to that autocratic court, brought 
into action all her powers of endurance, diplomacy and intuition. 
She was equal to every emergency. 

The six years Mrs. Adams spent in St. Petersburg were 
probably the most eventful in the history of the New World. 
Napoleon was at the height of his imperial sway. He had 
the Old World in turmoil, and was threatening Russia. The 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 231 



War of 1 81 2 between England and the United States broke 
out meanwhile, cutting off almost completely all communica- 
tion with her native land, thereby intensifying her anxiety and 
distress on account of her separation from her children. Mr. 
Adams was indefatigable in his efforts in behalf of his strug- 
gling country, and by his diplomacy, culture, fine talents and 
loyalty so impressed Emperor Alexander that he offered to 
be a mediator between England and the United States. Unfor- 
tunately, this munificent offer was unsuccessful, but probably 
opened the way for the Treaty at Ghent, December 24, 18 14. 
Mr. Adams represented the United States at Ghent, and was 
obliged to leave Mrs. Adams in St. Petersburg while he 
attended the commission. She had lost a baby born in St. 
Petersburg, and but for her remarkable courage and admirable 
character would have been most unhappy and a greater anxiety 
to her husband, already overburdened with affairs which 
threatened dire disaster to his country. After the signing of 
the Treaty she set out for Paris to join Mr. Adams and return 
to the United States. It was an heroic undertaking to make 
this long journey with her child and attendants overland 
through a country recently overrun by contending armies. She 
often told her experiences, and related incidents which taxed 
her genius to avoid serious embarrassment and detention. Pru- 
dence and tact finally enabled her to reach Paris on the 21st of 
March, 181 5, immediately after the arrival of Napoleon and 
the flight of the Bourbons. Mrs. Adams appreciated the fact 
that these events were momentous, but her children were on the 
sea, and she was impatient to proceed to London to meet them, 
after being separated from them six long years. On the arrival 
of Mr. and Mrs. Adams in London, May 25, 181 5, Mr. Adams 
learned that he had been appointed Minister to the Court of St. 
James. Hence, they again took up their residence in Great 
Britain, Mrs. Adams, as ever before, supplementing her illustri- 



232 Part Taken by Women in American History 

ous husband's high character and wise diplomacy with match- 
less intelligence, culture and gracious dignity. 

Mr. Monroe succeeding Mr. Madison as President of the 
United States March 4, 181 7, appointed Mr. Adams Secretary 
of State. Hence Mr. Adams and his family made haste to 
return home, arriving in New York August 6, 181 7. Soon 
afterwards they established themselves in Washington, when, as 
wife of the Secretary of State, Mrs. Adams exerted a marvel- 
ous influence in harmonizing the various personal animosities, 
political rivalries, jealousies and sectional strife. They com- 
manded the highest respect and confidence from the diplomatic 
corps, who depend upon the Secretary of State and his family 
in all matters of an official and social character. 

One source of intellectual development of which Mrs. 
Adams availed herself was the regular correspondence with her 
father-in-law, the illustrious, brainy ex-President, John Adams. 
Their letters to each other were very long and interesting, and 
in them they discussed all subjects — religion, philosophy, poli- 
tics, national, foreign and domestic affairs, with masterful 
ability on both sides. Their letters continued until the death 
of ex-President John Adams, July 4, 1826. 

From Secretary of State to the Presidency was a short 
step for John Quincy Adams. Mrs. Adams' health began to 
fail soon after their occupancy of the White House. She, how- 
ever, as far as her strength would admit, continued her match- 
less hospitality and powerful influence in politics and society. 
It was Mrs. Adams' great pleasure to have the honor of enter- 
taining General La Fayette in the White House. Lack of 
space forbids the description this important event deserves, 
especially the tender leave-taking of the illustrious foreign 
soldier and friend of America in the darkest hour of her his- 
tory. No greater honors have ever been paid a distinguished 
visitor than were heaped upon La Fayette by the grateful 
American people. 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 233 

John Quincy Adams was the ablest and most learned man 
who had ever occupied the Presidential chair up to that time. 
Mrs. Adams was equally endowed with superior natural tal- 
ents, nobility of character and rare accomplishments. And 
while they had appreciated the honors conferred upon them 
by the people of their beloved country, on account of personal 
bereavements and the onerous duties of public life they gladly 
retired to private life on the expiration of Mr. Adams' Presi- 
dential term. But they were not destined to enjoy private 
life long. The people of the Plymouth District insisted upon 
Mr. Adams representing them in Congress. He took his seat 
December 31. On account of advancing age they took little 
part in the gayeties of Washington, living quietly in their own 
house, on I street. In November, 1846, Mr. Adams suffered a 
stroke of paralysis, from which he never fully recovered. | He, 
however, continued to discharge his duties, with intervals of 
protracted illness until the 21st of February, 1848. While in 
his seat in the House he had a relapse, and after being removed 
to the Speaker's room he lingered until the 23rd, when he 
passed away. Mrs. Adams, though very weak and ill, stayed 
beside her husband, soothing him until the last. 

Mr. and Mrs. Adams had four children, three sons and one 
daughter: George Washington Adams, their eldest, born in 
Berlin, April 12, 1801 ; John Adams, born in Boston, July 4, 
1803; Charles Francis Adams, born in Boston in 1807; Louisa 
Catherine Adams, born in St. Petersburg, August 12, 181 1, 
and died there the following year. 

After Mr. Adams' death Mrs. Adams returned to Quincy, 
Massachusetts, where she lived in retirement, surrounded by 
her children and relatives, until her death, on the 14th 
of May, 1852. She was buried beside her husband in the fam- 
ily burying place. She is remembered as one of the most 
remarkable women who has ever graced the White House 



234 Part Taken by Women in American History 

and other exalted positions as a fine representative American 
woman. 

RACHEL JACKSON. 

When, in the year 1789, Andrew Jackson, a tall, red- 
haired, strong-featured young man, made his appearance in 
the new settlement of Nashville, Tennessee, he went to live in 
a boarding house that was kept by a Mrs. Donelson. Mrs. 
Donelson was a widow. Her husband, who had been a pioneer 
in the settlement of Nashville, had been killed, by Indians, it 
was supposed. With Mrs. Donelson lived her daughter, Mrs. 
Robards, and the society of this lady Jackson found to be the 
pleasantest feature in his boarding house life. 

Mrs. Robards was an interesting woman. She was of 
the regular pioneer type, such as was often to be met with in 
the frontier days of our country during the earliest days of the 
Republic. Courageous, daring, full of life and spirit, she was 
universally liked as a merry story-teller, a rollicking dancer, a 
daring horsewoman and, altogether, a most jolly and enter- 
taining companion. She had been a belle among the hearty 
young woodmen and planters who had gone out with Colonel 
Donelson to take charge of the frontier region beyond the big 
salt lake. But it was not to one of those first Nashville settlers 
that she gave her heart and hand. She married a Kentuckian, 
Mr. Lewis Robards. The story of this marriage is not a happy 
one. It is that of a cruel husband and an early divorce, after 
which she came back to take up her life again in the valley of 
the Cumberland. 

It is not surprising that Andrew Jackson and Rachel Don- 
elson, living in the same house, as they did, subjected to the 
common peril of hostile Indians and violence and bloodshed, 
for which this region was noted, congenial in tastes and char- 
acteristics, should have grown to love each other. In the year 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 235 

1 79 1 they were married, and their life together, from their 
wedding day until the death of Mrs. Jackson, is delightful to 
contemplate. In 1804 took place the removal to the "Hermi- 
tage," an unpretentious little block house that stood in the 
midst of flourishing cotton fields, and only a few miles from 
Nashville. And it is with the "Hermitage" that one associ- 
ates all the pleasantest memories of Andrew Jackson and his 
wife. They were known as the "King and Queen of Hospi- 
tality." No one was ever turned away from their door. We 
read of times when each of the four rooms, which was all the 
house possessed, was filled with a whole family, and when the 
piazza and other places of half shelter about the house were 
transformed into bunks for the young men and boys of the 
visiting party. 

In spite of its free-and-easy character, life at the "Hermi- 
tage" was a very busy affair. Mr. Jackson was a man of many 
occupations. He was a slave owner, and a farmer, a store- 
keeper, a lawyer and a soldier. We may imagine that there 
was much for him to do, and much also for his helpful wife to 
do. In his absences from home Mrs. Jackson took charge of all 
things at the "Hermitage," and an excellent manager she 
made. Unlearned though she was in the lore of schools she 
was very wise in knowledge of the woods, the fields, the kitchen 
and the dairy. The simple life in and about the "Hermitage," 
free from all ceremonies and conventions, was exactly suited 
to Mrs. Jackson. She was charming in all its phases. But 
it was different when, as the wife of the "Hero of New' 
Orleans" — Jackson having been made Major General by the 
National Government — she was to visit the scene of her hus- 
band's triumphs. She could not feel at home among the ele- 
gantly clothed people of that city, but confessed that she knew 
nothing of fine clothes and fine manners. The General himself 
was delighted to have his "Bonny Brown Wife," as Mrs. Jack- 



236 Part Taken by Women in American History 

son was called, with him at headquarters. He was blind to the 
difference between her and the other women, and he made it 
evident to all that he thought his wife "the dearest and most 
revered of human beings," and nothing pleased him so much as 
regard bestowed on her. 

It was rather more than five or six years later that the 
General was appointed Governor to Florida, and he and Mrs. 
Jackson, with the two young nephews, one known as Andrew 
Jackson Donelson, went to live in this region of fruit and flow- 
ers. From Mrs. Jackson's pen which, although occasionally 
stumbling, was an interesting one, we have a picture of the 
final evacuation of Florida by the Spaniards, and the formal 
taking possession of the country, Jackson coming in "under his 
own standard," as he had vowed he would. But, hard as had 
been Mrs. Jackson's life with all the hardships and adventures 
of frontier exposure, she was homesick in the midst of the 
flowers and fruit of Pensacola for her log cabin home in Ten- 
nessee. "Believe me," she wrote to her friends at home, "this 
country has been greatly overrated. One acre of our fine Ten- 
nessee land is worth a thousand here." Mrs. Jackson's letters 
give a true picture of the General's state of mind. "The Gen- 
eral is the most anxious man to get home I ever saw," she said. 
And it was, indeed, General Jackson's desire to return to the 
adopted son Andrew and his beloved wife Rachel. But 
though they did return to the "Hermitage" the happy days 
which again saw Rachel Jackson mistress there were not many. 
In the year 1824 Jackson was elected United States Senator. 
During the period of his senatorship the mighty game was 
played which was to make him chief magistrate of the land. 
From the time of Jackson's nomination his victory was sure. 
It is almost impossible to defeat a military hero. His nick- 
name was "Old Hickory," and hickory poles were set up in 
his honor all over the country. But there are always two sides 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 237 

to an election, and Jackson was made to taste the bitterness of 
malice and slander as well as the sweetness of glory. He could 
endure that aimed at him, but what was directed at his wife 
he could not endure. He raged and fumed at the insults that 
were dealt her with the fiery wrath of an old soldier. Mrs. 
Jackson herself was grieved and appalled at the cruel things 
that were said of her, when into the peace and harmony of her 
quiet, retired existence there broke as fierce a volley of taunts 
as ever issued from a political campaign. When the news of 
her husband's election reached her at the Hermitage she 
received it quietly. "Well, for Mr. Jackson's sake, I am glad," 
she said. "For my own part, I never wished it." 

The ladies of Tennessee, who were all proud of Mrs. Jack- 
son, were preparing to send her to the White House with the 
most elegant wardrobe that could be found, and the people 
of the neighborhood were planning an elaborate banquet in 
honor of the President-elect. On the evening before the fete, 
worn out with the excitement and pain of the contest through 
which she had been passing, the mistress of the Hermitage 
died. Mrs. Jackson was heard to say when she was dying 
that the General would miss her, but if she lived she might be 
in the way of his new life. It was thus that she reconciled her- 
self to leaving him. Andrew Jackson proceeded to his place 
at the head of the nation, a lonely, broken-hearted man. The 
memory of the wrong that had been done his wife was always 
present in his mind. Years after, when he came to die, the 
clergyman bent over him, asking the last question. "Yes," 
said the old general, "I am ready. I ask forgiveness, and I 
forgive all — all except those who slandered my Rachel to 
death." 

ANGELICA SINGLETON VAN BUREN. 

President Van Buren had been a widower for seventeen 
years when he was elected President, consequently his daughter- 



238 Part Taken by Women in American History 

in-law, Angelica Singleton Van Buren, presided over the White 
House. Mrs. Van Buren, Jr., came from Sumter District, 
South Carolina. She was educated at Madame Grelaud's Sem- 
inary, Philadelphia. In November, 1838, she was married to 
Major Abram Van Buren, President Van Buren's eldest son, 
a graduate of West Point, and long an officer of the United 
States Army. Mrs. Van Buren was a lady of rare accom- 
plishments and graceful manners, and very vivacious in con- 
versation, and was, consequently, very popular in the White 
House. At the end of President Van Buren's administration 
Major and Mrs. Van Buren visited Europe. Her uncle, Mr. 
Stevenson, was then Minister to England, and she and her 
husband were the recipients of much attention, as London was 
unusually gay on account of the recent coronation of Queen 
Victoria. Returning, they resided throughout his retirement 
with ex-President Van Buren at Lindenwald, and subsequently 
removed to New York City, where Mrs. Van Buren remained 
for the rest of her life. Pier home was the resort of people of 
refinement and education. She was most unselfish and self- 
denying in the distribution of her wealth and influence for the 
benefit of others. She died December 29, 1878. 

13*77 

ANNA SYMMES HARRISON. 

Anna Symmes Harrison, wife of William Henry Harrison, 
ninth President of the United States, was born the 25th of 
July, 1775, at Morristown, New Jersey, her mother dying soon 
after her birth. She was given into the care of her maternal 
grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Tuthill, at Southhold, Long Island, 
at the age of four years. The British were then in possession 
of- Long Island and, notwithstanding her tender years, she 
realized the danger of the journey. Her father, Hon. John 
Cleves Symmes, a colonel in the Continental Army, assumed 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 239 

the disguise of a British officer's uniform, that he might 
accomplish the perilous undertaking of transferring his little 
daughter from Morristown, New Jersey, to Southhold, Long 
Island. He did not see her again until after the evacuation 
of New York, in the fall of 1783. She had most excellent 
care by her worthy grandparents, who did not neglect to give 
Anna religious instruction in her earliest childhood. She was 
also taught that industry, prudence and economy were Chris- 
tian virtues. She was educated in the school of Mrs. Isabelle 
Graham, of New York. In 1794 she accompanied her father 
and stepmother to Ohio, where her father had a small colony of 
settlers at North Bend, on the Ohio River. Judge Symmes was 
appointed one of the associate judges of the Supreme Court of 
the great northwestern territory. His district was a very large 
one, and frequently while he was attending the courts in his 
district Anna visited her sister, Mrs. Peyton Short, at Lexing- 
ton, Kentucky. During one of these visits she met Captain 
William Henry Harrison, the youngest son of Benjamin Har- 
rison, of Virginia, and later married him. After his service in 
the army, General Harrison was appointed the first governor 
of Indian Territory by President Adams, and removed his fam- 
ily to the old French town of Vincennes, on the Wabash, then 
the seat of government of the Indian Territory. Here he and 
Mrs. Harrison and their family lived for many years. Mrs. 
Harrison, through her courteous manners and liberal hospitality 
as mistress of the Governor's Mansion, won for herself a wide 
reputation. She resided in the Governor's Mansion through 
the administration of Adams, Jefferson and Madison, till 181 2, 
when, after the surrender of Hull, Harrison was appointed 
to the command of the Northwestern army. Mrs. Harrison 
remained in Vincennes during the absence of General Harrison, 
when he commanded the army which fought the battle of 
Prophets Town, Tippecanoe and other engagements. After his 



240 Part Taken by Women in American History 

victories General Harrison was appointed Major-General of the 
forces in Kentucky, and removed his family to Cincinnati, where 
Mrs. Harrison and her children remained while he conducted 
his campaign against the hostile Indians. She arranged for 
the education of her children by private tutors, and herself con- 
ducted the entire rearing of her family, displaying the greatest 
executive ability, loyalty and Christian fortitude, bearing 
bravely bereavements that came to her through the death of 
her children and other members of her family. When, after 
his election to the Presidency, General Harrison left his home 
to be in Washington for his inauguration, the 4th of March, 
1 841, he was unaccompanied by Mrs. Harrison, who was in 
very delicate health and, through the advice of her physician, 
did not accompany her husband to Washington. Consequently, 
she never presided over the White House. One month from 
the day of his inauguration President Harrison died of pneu- 
monia. Mrs. Harrison was in her home at North Bend, and 
was overwhelmed for a time by this fearful blow. She rallied, 
however, and lived for many years in the old home. She even- 
tually removed to that of her only surviving son, Hon. J. Scott 
Harrison, five miles below North Bend, on the Ohio River, 
where she resided until her death, the 25th of February, 1864, 
in the 89th year of her age. She lived to see many of her 
grandsons officers and soldiers in the Union Army during the 
Civil War and to predict the elevation of her grandson, Benja- 
min H. Harrison, to the office of President of the United 
States, which office had been filled by his grandfather, General 
William Henry Harrison. 

LETITIA CHRISTIAN TYLER. 

John Tyler, the tenth President of the United States, suc- 
ceeded President William Henry Harrison, whose administra- 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 241 

tion lasted only one month. His first wife was Letitia Chris- 
tian, daughter of Robert Christian, of Cedar Grove, Virginia. 
Mr. Tyler and Miss Christian were married on the 29th of 
March, 18 13. Young Tyler was one of the most prominent 
rising young lawyers of the state of Virginia. Their lives were 
spent surrounded by everything that could contribute to their 
happiness and popularity. Mrs. Tyler, to the day of her death 
in the executive mansion, was noted for her brilliancy of mind, 
liberal hospitality, wifely and motherly devotion, and was in all 
respects a lovely, Christian character. In the various positions 
occupied by Mr. Tyler Mrs. Tyler was an able helpmeet, and 
was as well noted for her great beauty of person, grace of car- 
riage, delicate refinement and exquisite taste. During Presi- 
dent Tyler's occupation of the White House there were many 
distinguished visitors, among them Charles Dickens, Wash- 
ington Irving, and many others, who were charmed by Mrs. 
Tyler's gracious manners. Her children have been the most 
enthusiastic eulogists of her lovely character and motherly 
devotion. She resided in the White House from April, 1841, 
to September 9, 1842, the date of her death, leaving behind her 
an imperishable impression as one of the most accomplished 
women who ever presided in this historic mansion. 

JULIA GARDINER TYLER. 

President John Tyler married, as his second wife, Miss 
Julia Gardiner, on the 26th day of June, 1844, at the Church 
of the Ascension, New York City. Their wedding was the 
first instance of the marriage of a President during his term 
of office. Miss Gardiner was the daughter of a wealthy 
gentleman from Gardiner's Island who had come upon a visit 
to Washington in the winter of 1843, accompanied by his 
beautiful daughter. They were invited by Captain Stockton 



242 Part Taken by Women in American History 

to accompany the President and other friends to Alexandria 
on the trial trip of a new ship which had been manned by 
large guns. On their return, when opposite the fort, an 
explosion took place which changed the merry party to one 
of mourning, Miss Gardiner's father being among the number 
who were killed. There were a great many lost in this accident. 
The bodies of the killed were taken to the White House, from 
which they were conveyed to their last resting places. The 
President's marriage to Miss Gardiner took place some months 
after this disaster. Mrs. Tyler was a queenly woman and 
presided over the White House with exceptional grace and 
acceptability for eight months prior to the expiration of 
President Tyler's term of office. On his retirement they 
repaired to his home in Virginia. The ex-President died in 
Richmond, January 17, 1862. After the Civil War, Mrs. 
Tyler recevied from Congress a pension which was voted to 
her in the winter of 1879. She had suffered great pecuniary 
losses after the death of her husband, and it was proper that 
she should receive this recognition of her husband's services 
to his country. For many years she resided in Georgetown, 
D. C, and being a devout Catholic, found it agreeable to be 
near the Georgetown Convent, where her daughter was 
educated. She died in 1889. 

SARAH CHILDRESS POLK. 

Sarah Childress Polk, nee Childress, daughter of Cap- 
tain Joel and Elizabeth Childress was born near Mur- 
freesboro, Tennessee, September 4, 1803. She was educated 
at the Moravian Institute at Salem, North Carolina. She was 
married at the age of nineteen to James Knox Polk, of Mur- 
freesboro. Mr. Polk was then a member of the legislature of 
Tennessee and in the following year was elected to Congress, 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 243 

and after serving on the most important committees of the 
House of Representatives, he was elected speaker, a position 
for which he was especially fitted. 

Mrs. Polk accompanied her husband to Washington every 
winter and occupied a prominent position in society. Her 
influence was not only social, but political. She took great 
pains to inform herself on political affairs, and was deeply 
interested in all the discussions of the day which in any way 
affected the welfare of her country. She had lived all her life 
in the atmosphere of politics and had extensive acquaintance 
with the public men of the time, and often counseled with her 
husband on national subjects. They resided at Columbia, 
Tennessee. She was a member of the Presbyterian Church of 
that city and was much esteemed for her devotion to her 
religious duties. Mrs. Polk was the recipient of many 
testimonials of high esteem from distinguished men, among 
them she received a copy of verses addressed to her by the 
eminent jurist, Honorable Joseph D. Story. In 1839 Mr. Polk 
was elected Governor of Tennessee and removed his residence 
to Nashville. Mrs. Polk as mistress of the executive mansion 
exercised a powerful influence in harmonizing the bitterness 
which then existed between rival parties.'. In the campaign of 
1844, for the Presidency, in which Henry Clay was the idol 
of the Whig party, and James K. Polk of the Democratic party, 
there was the greatest excitement. Mr. Polk was elected and 
inaugurated on March 4, 1845. Having no children, Mrs. 
Polk devoted all her time to her duties as Lady of the White 
House, and no other mistress of that stately mansion left a 
more favorable impression upon the people and society of that 
day than did Mrs. Polk. It may be said that she maintained the 
dignity of the President's mansion without assuming the 
slightest hauteur and much has been said of her attractive 
manner, queenly bearing and sincere cordiality. The recep- 



244 Part Taken by Women in American History 

tions of President and Mrs. Polk were very largely attended 
and universally enjoyed. Her style of dress was particularly 
becoming to her. She had very black hair and eyes and a 
fair complexion and was much given to wearing bright colors 
and gay turbans. It was with much regret that the social 
circles of Washington saw Mr. and Mrs. Polk depart from 
the White House. It was during Polk's administration that 
we had the war with Mexico and much credit is due to the 
President and Mrs. Polk in causing the settlement of the 
difficulties between the United States and Mexico. Mr. Polk, 
on his retirement from the White House, purchased a house 
in Nashville, Tennessee, but did not live long in enjoyment 
of it. After his death Mrs. Polk lived a great many years in 
this Nashville home, receiving here the homage of all dis- 
tinguished visitors to the capital of Tennessee. The legis- 
lature of that state called upon her in a body every New 
Year's Day when they were in session. During the con- 
federate days of Nashville, Mrs. Polk received the most 
distinguished consideration, all general officers, both Con- 
federate and Union, paying their respects to her by calling in 
person. The writer remembers hearing George Bancroft, the 
distinguished historian, give a graphic account of his charming 
visit to Mrs. Polk not long before her death, which occurred 
in 1 891. 

MARGARET TAYLOR AND MRS. BLISS (NEE 
BETTY TAYLOR.) 

Upon the ascension of General Zachary Taylor to the office 
of the Presidency, much solicitude was expressed as to Mrs. 
Taylor's ability to preside over the executive mansion. General 
Taylor, when notified of his election to the office, said "for 
more than a quarter of a century my house has been the tent 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 245 

and my home the battlefield," an expression which was literally 
true. Notwithstanding this fact he had never lost his regard 
for the proprieties and refinements of life. Mrs. Taylor had 
been his constant companion in all of his campaigns on the 
frontier ! and during the Florida War. Her experience was 
really the most extensive in army life of that of any other army 
woman. She was known as a true American heroine. She 
had no fear and was never willing to be separated from her 
soldier husband. These experiences developed the true nobility 
of her character. She spent much of her time at Baton Rouge 
and in addition to the responsibilities of her household she 
devoted herself to plans for the I building of churches and 
establishing of schools, 'and exercised her influence to quiet 
the alarm of the people after the battle of Palo Alto and 
Resaca de la Palma. v It was during the war with Mexico that 
Lieutenant Jefferson Davis was under the command of General 
Taylor. It was noticed that they were not on friendly terms,' 
and it was afterwards discovered that it was on account of 
General Taylor's opposition to his attention to his daughter 
Sarah. ) The General violently opposed the attentions of army 
officers to his daughters, ' on account of the fact that he con- 
sidered the life of an army officer at that time, fraught with 
too many hardships for a woman. Lieutenant Jefferson Davis, 
however, succeeded in winning the affections of General 
Taylor's daughter and being unable to overcome the father's 
opposition, the young people^ ran away and were married, which 
General Taylor considered a dishonorable thing on the part of 
Jefferson Davis. Mrs. Davis died soon after her marriage, 
which sad event made a very deep impression upon the General's 
and Mrs. Taylor's lives. 

General Taylor's brilliant triumphs in Mexico destined him 
to become the President of the United States, as much as Mrs. 
Taylor opposed his being a candidate for the Presidency. Upon 



246 Part Taken by Women in American History 

receiving the news of his election, General Taylor resigned 
as an officer of the army and it was with much regret that he 
and his family severed their connection with the service, in 
which they had spent nearly their whole lives. Mrs. Taylor 
had no taste for the gayeties of Washington and after the 
inauguration of President Taylor she withdrew from all 
participation in social functions and resigned the duties of the 
mistress of the White House ( to her youngest daughter, 
Elizabeth, the wife of Major Bliss, who had served as General 
Taylor's Adjutant General during the campaign. "Miss Betty p 
as she was called, was young, vivacious, accomplished) and 
eminently fitted to discharge the duties of mistress of the White 
House. Mrs. Taylor selected such rooms as suited her simple 
tastes, and as far as possible resumed the routine that char- 
acterized her simple life at Baton Rouge. General Taylor 
insisted that she should be indulged in exercising her own 
wishes in these matters, since Mrs. Bliss was thoroughly 
competent to relieve her mother of distasteful duties. (^During 
President Taylor's residency in the White House there were 
many illustrious men in the Senate and holding other high 
positions. The rivalries and jealousies in politics reached an 
alarming height, and as General Taylor was the victim upon 
whom was visited many attacks and much vituperation, his 
brave spirit finally succumbed, and he died July 9, 1850, sur- 
rounded by his deeply afflicted family. 

Accompanied by her daughter Mrs. Taylor obtained a 
home among her relations in Kentucky, but soon became very 
unhappy, because of the continued manifestations of sympathy. 
She removed to the residence of her son near Pascagoula, 
Louisiana. Major Bliss' death soon followed that of Mrs. 
Taylor which occurred in 1852, and Mrs. Bliss, childless and 
alone, sought the seclusion of private life among friends in 
Virginia. 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 247 

ABIGAIL FILLMORE. 

Mrs. Abigail Fillmore, wife of President Fillmore, was 
the daughter of Reverend Lemuel Powers, a Baptist clergy- 
man of note. She was born in Stillwater, Saratoga County, 
New York, March, 1798. Dr. Powers was a descendant of 
Henry Leland, of Sherburne, England. Mrs. Fillmore's 
father died while she was in her infancy and she was left to 
the care of her sainted mother, whose small income led her to 
seek a home in Cayuga County, and become a teacher, so that 
she might be able to have her daughter Abigail educated. In 
her personality Miss Powers commanded the greatest admira- 
tion and her exceeding kindness of heart won for her the 
affection of all who knew her. She was distinguished not 
only on account of her great beauty, but because of her keen 
intelligence. She became a teacher, continuing her occupation 
after her mother's second marriage. She and Mr. Fillmore met 
in her little home village, he a clothier's apprentice, she a teacher 
in the village school, and they became engaged. Mr. Fillmore 
did not long continue in the profession chosen for him by his 
father, but as soon as possible began the study of law, in which 
he was most successful. Circumstances compelled him to move 
to Erie County, and the young people waited three years before 
their incomes permitted of their marriage, which event was 
consummated in February, 1826. They established their home 
in a small house built by Mr. Fillmore's own hands, and here 
they both worked very hard for the fulfillment of their 
ambitions. Mr. Fillmore was elected a member of the state 
legislature in two years after their marriage. At every rung 
of the ladder which he climbed, Mrs. Fillmore, with her intel- 
tectual strength, ceaseless industry and devotion to her 
husband's interests, contributed materially to his success. In 
1830, the Fillmores removed to Buffalo, where they continued 



248 Part Taken by Women in American History 

their united efforts and aspirations. Every year added to the 
name and fame of Millard Fillmore. Upon his election to the 
Presidency and their removal to the White House, they found 
it absolutely devoid of books and other evidences of culture. 
It was Mr. Fillmore's first duty to secure an appropriation 
from Congress for a library, and to Mrs. Fillmore belongs the 
credit of selecting the first library in the White House. Mrs. 
Fillmore had suffered the loss of a sister just before their 
removal to the executive mansion and consequently left many 
of the duties devolving upon its mistress to her only daughter. 
Although eminently fitted to preside over any social function 
with unusual grace and dignity, Mrs. Fillmore preferred a 
retired life and the devotion of her time to the welfare of her 
family. She was very proud of her husband's success and has 
left behind her a remarkable example of motherly and wifely 
tenderness. She died at Willard's Hotel, Washington, D. C, 
March 13, 1852. 

MARY ABIGAIL FILLMORE. 

Mary Abigail Fillmore, the only daughter of President Fillmore, was, on 
account of her mother's delicate health, mistress of the White House during 
President Fillmore's term. She was a remarkably intellectual young woman, 
highly educated, and a fine linguist. Her taste and talent for sculpture was scarcely 
second to that of her most intimate friend the distinguished Harriet Hosmer, and 
but for the cutting off of her life by cholera at the age of twenty-two years, she 
might have become as distinguished as this beloved schoolmate. She was much 
admired and attained a national reputation on account of the graceful and accept- 
able manner in which she presided over the White House. 

JANE MEANS APPLETON PIERCE. 

Jane Means Appleton, (laughter of Reverend Jesse Apple- 
ton, D.D., President of Bowdoin College, was born at Hampton, 
New Hampshire, March 12, 1806. She was brought up under 
the most refined, Christian, educational influences. Unfor- 
tunately she was delicate from her childhood and as she grew 
older her nervous organization became more and more sensitive, 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 249 

but her unselfish disposition prompted her to forget herself in 
her desire to contribute to the happiness and pleasure of others. 
Soon after her marriage she was thrown into political society, 
which was peculiarly attractive to her. She made a deep 
impression by her intellectual conversation and her compre- 
hension of political questions. Franklin Pierce was a member 
of Congress when they were married, in 1834, and though she 
shrank at first from Washington society she soon became very 
popular. In 1838 Mr. Pierce removed from Hillsboro to 
Concord, accepting the appointment of Attorney-General in 
the cabinet of James K. Polk. This seemed to be the beginning 
of his national reputation, which eventually made him President 
of the United States. President and Mrs. Pierce had three 
children. The eldest, a son, was traveling with his parents 
from Boston to Concord, on January 5, 1852, before Mr. 
Pierce's inauguration, when by an accident on the Boston and 
Maine Railroad, the car in which they were sitting was over- 
turned, and although the President-elect and Mrs. Pierce 
escaped serious injury, their son was killed. Such a bereave- 
ment on the threshhold of their occupancy of the White House 
threw a pall over the festivities attending the inaugural and 
Mrs. Pierce never rallied completely from this fearful blow. 
One can imagine the effort that it cost her to go through the 
official functions of the White House with such a tragedy ever 
before her. After Mr. Pierce's retirement, in an effort to 
establish Mrs. Pierce's health, they sailed for Europe to spend 
the winter in the Island of Madeira, continuing their journey 
through Portugal, Spain, France, Switzerland, Italy, Germany 
and England. She never regained full health and died on 
December 2, 1863, at Andover, Massachusetts. 

HARRIET LANE. 

Harriet Lane, the niece of James Buchanan, was one of the most attractive, 
intelligent and gracious women who ever presided over the White House. She 
had accompanied her uncle and directed his establishment when he was American 



250 Part Taken by Women in American History 



minister to St. James. Her grandfather, James Buchanan, emigrated from Ireland 
in the year 1783 and settled in Mercersburg, Franklin County, Pennsylvania, 
where he married, in 1788, Elizabeth Speer of Scotch-Irish ancestry. James 
Buchanan, ex-President of the United States, was the eldest son of this marriage. 
Miss Lane's mother, Jane Buchanan, was the second child. The two children, so 
near of an age, were boon companions. Jane, this favorite sister, married Elliot 
T. Lane and Harriet was their youngest child. The mother died when Harriet 
was but seven years old ; her father died two years later, consequently she was at 
once adopted by her bachelor uncle, James, and was never separated from him for 
any length of time afterward. When Mr. Buchanan was a member of Congress he 
brought Harriet Lane from the Pennsylvania home and placed her in the George- 
town Convent, from which she graduated with the highest honors of that institution, 
and was so beloved by the nuns that they kept in touch with her as long as she 
lived. She was a beautiful blonde with a wealth of Titian hair and eyes as soft as 
those of a gazelle. All her features were cast in a noble mold. She was full of 
gay spirits and restless activity; always bright and cheerful. She was an omniv- 
orous reader, whiling away many an hour for her lonely uncle reading aloud to 
him in her sweet and pure voice. Her administration of her uncle's household in 
England won for her the admiration and respect of royalty, and the people of 
England considered her an unusually fine specimen of American womanhood. 
Having spent so much of her life in the society of the distinguished people with 
whom her uncle was intimate, she was eminently fitted to become mistress of the 
White House. The gathering of the war clouds during Mr. Buchanan's administra- 
tion was not accelerated in any way by Miss Lane, whose cordial greeting, cheer- 
ful manner and welcome to the White House were extended alike to war represent- 
atives of all sections of the country. There are people living to-day who cannot 
forget her fascinating manners and genuine hospitality in the historic White House. 
It was said that it was hard to "decide between uncle and niece as to which looked 
the proudest and greatest, the man or the woman, the earlier or the later born," 
as they stood together at the first reception on the first New Year's Day after Mr. 
Buchanan's inauguration. One can readily imagine Miss Lane's difficult position, 
when each day there passed into the White House alternately the bitterest seces- 
sionists and the strongest unionists before the ultimate clash of arms. It required 
almost superhuman tact and diplomacy to show no distinction, but Miss Lane was 
equal to the task. 

In i860, when the Prince of Wales, the late Edward VII, paid a visit to 
the United States, and was the guest of the President and Miss Lane in the White 
House, Miss Lane made an indelible impression upon her royal guest by her fas- 
cinating manner, sincere cordiality and faultless hospitality. Queen Victoria sent 
her acknowledgment of appreciation of the courtesy extended to the Prince in an 
autograph letter couched in the strongest expressions of friendship for Miss Lane 
personally, as well as for the people of the United States, who had received the 
Prince of Wales with so much honor, and later sent autograph pictures of the 
royal family, with Miss Lane's name written upon them. 

After the close of Mr. Buchanan's administration Miss Lane accompanied 
her uncle to his beloved "Wheatland," where she remained with him until his 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 251 

death. After that event she spent part of her time in Baltimore, when not visiting 
friends in other cities. She was married by the Reverend Edward Y. Buchanan 
in January, 1866, to Henry Elliott Johnston. They went to Cuba and spent a 
month or two, after which Mr. and Mrs. Johnston took up their residence in Balti- 
more in the beautiful home which Mr. Johnston had provided with great thought- 
fulness, taste and liberality for his bride. Mrs. Johnston regained some of her 
former cheerfulness and brightness. She seemed very happy as a wife and mother. 
She had two sons and it seemed that her life was destined to be a happy one. But, 
alas, for human hope, on the 25th of March, 1881, her son, James Buchanan Johns- 
ton, died, and she was again overwhelmed with grief. A few years subsequently 
the second son died, and also Mr. Johnston, and Harriet Lane Johnston, widowed 
and childless came back to Washington to spend the remaining years of her life. 
She was the recipient of distinguished honors by the people of Washington, by whom 
she was greatly beloved. After her death in 1904 it was found that she had 
willed her residence in Washington, and endowed it, as a home for dependent 
women. She also left means to build and endow the National Cathedral School 
for Boys, at Washington, D. C. 

THEODOSIA BURR. 

Someone has said of this daughter of Aaron Burr: "With a great deal 
of wit, spirit and talent, and a face strikingly beautiful she inherited all that a 
daughter could inherit of a father's courage — she was a realization of her father's 
idea of a woman." And it is his love for this daughter, so tender and touching, 
that makes an appeal to our sympathy, however strong condemnation of his public 
acts may have been. 

At the time of her birth in 1784, Burr was a successful young lawyer. Hand- 
some, fascinating, of good family and considerable fortune, he might have aspired 
to the hand of a Clinton, a Livingston or a Van Rensselaer, but instead he had 
married a woman ten years his senior, neither rich nor pretty, and a widow with 
two sons. "The mother of my Theo," he was heard to say in the days when she 
of whom he spoke had been long dead, "was the best woman and finest lady I 
have ever known." It was, however, the general opinion that the coming of 
Theodosia, their only child, was the explanation of the success of the inexplicable 
marriage. It became Aaron Burr's great ambition to make of this daughter an 
intelligent and noble woman. One evening a volume entitled "A Vindication of 
the Rights of Woman," by Mary Wollstonecraft, chanced to come under his notice 
and he sat up reading it until late in the night. In the spirit of that book he 
undertook the education of his daughter. He went on the principle that Theodosia 
was as clever and capable as a boy, and he gave her the same advantages as he 
would have given a son. This was an unusual principle in the days when Theodosia 
Burr was a girl, and in her education she may be said to be the first exponent of 
the college woman in America. Her father himself superintended her education 
even to the smallest details. From Philadelphia, where he was stationed as United 
States senator, he sent her fond letters of advice and criticism and at his request 
she sent him every week a journal of her doings and of her progress in learning. 






252 Part Taken by Women in American History; 

These are charming pictures we have of Aaron Burr waiting about in the govern- 
ment building for the arrival of the post that should bring the letter or diary 
directed in his daughter's girlish handwriting; and again seated at his desk in the 
noisy senate chamber writing a reply to his "Dear Little Daughter," in time to 
catch the return mail to New York. 

While she was still a child in years Theodosia Burr assumed charge of her 
father's house, and the distinguished men who gathered there were charmed with 
the little hostess, her playful wit, her self-poise and dignity of manner. In those 
days, when she was mistress of "Richmond Hill" after her mother's death, she 
was more than ever the object of her father's thought and love. He continued 
to superintend her education, and no social duties, no business or pleasure of any 
sort were allowed to interfere with her advancement of learning. At sixteen she 
was still a schoolgirl, though her companions of the same age had relinquished 
all study books and were giving their entire attention to gowns, parties and beaux. 
And in later years, in spite of her beauty and talents and her high position as the 
daughter of Aaron Burr, she was delightfully simple and unaffected. Such was 
the result of sensible education and her own sweet nature. She also had many 
admirers. We have a hint of them in one of the jovial Edward Livingston's puns 
that have come down to us. He was Mayor of New York when Miss Burr was 
one of the ruling belles. One day he took the young lady aboard a French frigate 
lying in the harbor. "You must bring none of your sparks on board," he warned 
her in merry raillery, "for we have a magazine here and we shall all be blown up." 
However, Miss Burr's "sparks" were not long allowed to remain in evidence for 
there came impetuous young Joseph Alston from South Carolina, who straightway 
routed his rivals and captured her. 

Through all the period of wifehood and motherhood, as in those earlier 
days when she was his little daughter, his pupil and mistress of his home, she 
remained the dearest thing in the world to her distinguished father. On the night 
before his duel with Hamilton his last thoughts before going to the field were 
of his daughter. To her he wrote : "I am indebted to you for a very great portion 
of the happiness which I have enjoyed in this life. You have completely satisfied 
all that my heart had hoped." 

News of the duel reached his daughter in her far-away home. Its shadow 
fell on her with awful blackness. Her father was a fugitive from justice with an 
indictment of murder hanging over him. Her days of gladness were over, and 
her days of anxiety and sorrow had begun. She did not see her father for almost 
a year, but when he did come to her, blackened through many miles of travel in 
an open canoe, ruined in fortune and repute, he was as welcome as ever he had 
been in days of his prosperity. His disgrace had saddened his daughter. It had 
not lessened her love for him nor her belief in him. Her love and her belief were 
yet to undergo their trial. The duel with Hamilton was but the beginning of Burr's 
downfall. The Mexican scheme soon followed. In it Theodosia and her hus- 
band became involved. When Burr was to be King of Mexico, she was to be 
chief lady of the court and her husband chief minister and her little son, Aaron 
Burr Alston, was to be heir presumptive to the throne. But while they talked of a 
visionary dynasty the President issued his proclamation, and Burr was summoned 
to appear before the tribunal at Richmond to answer to the charge of high treason. 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 253 

Throughout the trial Mrs. Alston was at Richmond. Her presence there 
was a great help to Burr's cause. She was universally admired for her beauty, 
her ability and her blind faith in her father. Many believed in Aaron Burr 
because she believed in him. Luther Martin, her father's counsel, had the keenest 
admiration for the daughter of his client. "I find," wrote one statesman of this 
time, "that Luther Martin's idolatrous admiration of Mrs. Alston is as excessive 
as my own, as it is the medium of his blind attachment to her father." 

Burr was acquitted, but popular feeling was so strong against him that he 
was forced to leave America. In the spring of 1808, the year after his trial, he 
sailed from New York, and his daughter, sick, sorrowful, but as true as ever, 
left her Carolina home and journeyed north to see him once more before he went, 
and to bid him good-bye. The night before his departure she spent with him at 
the house of a loyal friend. Father and daughter were both brave, and in the 
morning he parted from her and sailed away in the ship that was carrying him 
from all that he held most dear. The years of Burr's exile were sad years for 
his daughter. She realized with keen distress the bitterness of his position, and 
indeed she herself was made to feel some of the odium that was directed against 
him. She longed earnestly for his return and pleaded eloquently and pathetically 
with those in authority that her father might be allowed to come back to America. 
But when in the year 1812 he did come back to New York and his daughter started 
to join him there, the ship on which she had taken passage went down off Cape 
Hatteras and not a soul on board was saved. The father and husband waited in 
agonized expectancy, but at length came the news of her tragic fate. Thus Burr 
was left alone, but he did not complain. He was silent through his great sorrow. 
But there were those who remembered him in his last days, a solitary old man 
walking along the Battery and looking wistfully toward the horizon for ships. 
The look was a habit he had acquired while waiting for the ship which never 
brought his daughter. 

ELIZABETH PATTERSON BONAPARTE. 

Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte was born in Baltimore, Maryland, February 
6, 1785. She was the daughter of William Patterson, who came a poor boy from 
Ireland to Maryland, where he became a prominent merchant, and one of the 
wealthiest citizens. She was a beautiful girl of eighteen when she met Jerome 
Bonaparte at a social gathering in Baltimore, and despite the opposition of her 
father, a marriage was speedily arranged, the ceremony taking place with all legal 
formalities on Christmas Eve, 1803, when the groom had just passed his nineteenth 
birthday. Mr. Patterson's fears that the marriage would be offensive to the First 
Consul proved to be well grounded. Attempts were unsuccessfully made, through 
Robert R. Livingston, the American minister at Paris, and through influential 
persons, to reconcile Napoleon to his brother's marriage. He ordered Jerome to 
return immediately to France, "leaving in America, the young person in question." 
Jerome refused to obey and a year was spent in travel and in residence at Balti- 
more. Meanwhile, Napoleon had proclaimed himself Emperor, and in 1805 Jerome, 
hoping for a reconciliation with his brother, took his wife to Europe. They 
reached Lisbon in safety, but there Jerome was arrested and taken to France, his 



254 Part Taken by Women in American History 

wife not being allowed to land. Her message to the Emperor was: "Madame 
Bonaparte demands her rights as a member of the Imperial family." She then 
proceeded to England where a boy was born to her and christened, Jerome 
Napoleon. The Emperor refused to recognize her marriage, but promised Eliza- 
beth an annual pension of $12,000 provided she would return to America and 
renounce the name of Bonaparte, which conditions she accepted. She returned to 
Europe on occasional visits, where she was the center of attraction, winning atten- 
tion not only from her husband's mother and other members of the family, but 
also from the Duke of Wellington, Madam de Stael, Byron, and even Louis XVII, 
who invited her to appear at court, but as she still received a pension from the 
exiled Emperor she declined. Her husband married Catharine, daughter of the 
King of Westphalia. He then sent to America for his son, Jerome Napoleon, but 
Madam Bonaparte refused to give him up, scornfully declining the offer from her 
husband of a ducal crown with an income of $40,000 a year. The son frequently 
visited his father's family in Europe, where he was treated as a son and brother. 
His subsequent marriage with Miss Williams of Baltimore caused his mother 
great anger. His cousin, Emperor Napoleon III, invited him to France, where he 
was legitimized and received as a member of the family. He declined a duchy, 
refusing the condition which demanded the surrender of the name of Bonaparte. 
On the death of King Jerome in i860, Elizabeth Patterson, as his American wife, 
unsuccessfully contested his will. The last eighteen years of her life were spent 
in Baltimore. She left a fortune of one million, five hundred thousand dollars, 
to two grandsons, Jerome Napoleon and Charles J. Bonaparte. The latter was 
secretary of the navy and attorney-general during the administration of Presi- 
dent Roosevelt. Madame Bonaparte died in Baltimore on April 4, 1879. 

THE MOTHER OF WEBSTER. 

Daniel Webster spent his childhood in a log cabin on the banks of the 
Merrimac in an unfrequented part of New Hampshire. From his mother he 
received those lessons which formed his mind and character and fitted him for 
the great part he was to play in public life. She denied herself everything pos- 
sible that he might go to Exeter Academy and to Dartmouth College. Her faith 
in his ability for future greatness being so strong, she desired to give him every 
opportunity for education. To her Webster always gave the credit for his success 
in life. 

Prominent Women Who Have Wielded a Strong 
Influence for the Good of the Country. 

MRS. LOUIS McLEAN. 

In the letters of Washington Irving we find Mrs. Louis McLean mentioned 
as a prominent leader in the fashionable society of Washington city. She was the 
eldest daughter of Robert Milligan and in 1812 married the son of Alan McLean 
of Delaware, who was elected to Congress from that state in 1817. In 1827 he was 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 255 

elected senator and in 1829 was sent by President Jackson as minister to England. 
In 183 1 he returned to accept the portfolio of the Treasury in Jackson's cabinet 
and two years later was made secretary of state. While Washington Irving was 
on a visit to this country he was entertained at Mr. McLean's home. Irving also 
mentions a Miss Barney as a great belle and Miss Butt of Norfolk. 

CORNELIA VAN NESS. 

The niece of Mrs. Van Ness was universally admired and wielded a per- 
sonal sway in the society of the national Capital in the winter of 1828-29. She 
was a Miss Cornelia Van Ness, the daughter of Cornelius P. Van Ness who was 
chief justice and governor of Vermont. Mrs. C. P. Van Ness, who was the 
sister-in-law of the wife of General Van Ness, occupied a position not less dis- 
tinguished than that of her sister-in-law. Her husband was the governor of Ver- 
mont and she presided over his home sustaining her position with dignity and 
added an elevating social influence to its political supremacy. Her house was the 
resort of distinguished travelers from every part of the United States as well as 
Europe, and here General Lafayette was entertained when he re-visited the United 
States. She accompanied her husband when he was sent as minister to Spain and 
made, while there, an enviable reputation for her countrywomen. Their daughter, 
Miss Cornelia Van Ness, while on a visit to her uncle, General Van Ness of 
Washington city, became one of the belles of Washington. While with her parents 
in Madrid she became conspicuous and made a most pleasing impression, receiv- 
ing marks of honor and personal favor from the Queen. She spoke both French 
and Spanish with fluency. After twenty months in the Spanish capital, she went 
to Paris on a visit, and here at the house of Mr. Reeves in the presence of a most 
distinguished gathering, among them General Lafayette, she was married to Mr. 
James J. Roosevelt of New York. In September 183 1, Mr. and Mrs. Roosevelt 
returned to the United States and took up their residence in New York City. In 
1840 Mr. Roosevelt was elected a member of Congress and the following year, 
accompanied by his family, he took up his residence in Washington City, and 
during the winters of 1842-43 Mrs. Roosevelt became prominent in society and 
they were among the first to introduce a new fashion of entertaining. During 
Washington's administration very simple forms of entertainment prevailed, and 
one of the rules for the President, established with the concurrence of Jefferson 
and Hamilton, was that the President was never to visit anyone but the Vice- 
President, or even to dine out. Most of the entertaining was done by the President 
and foreign ministers but in 1842 Mr. and Mrs. Roosevelt brought about a social 
revolution by frequent and agreeable dinner and evening parties which President 
Tyler attended as an unassuming guest, and it is related by Mr. Ingersoll in giving 
an account of social matters in Washington at this time that he had the honor to 
play a rubber of whist with President Tyler, Lord Ashburton, ex-minister to Eng- 
land. Many letters were written to Mrs. Roosevelt by statesmen of the greatest 
distinction in American political life on affairs of national importance, which serve 
to show the high esteem in which she was entertained and the respect for her 
judgment and opinions in matters wherein women were not supposed (at that time) 



256 Part *Taken by Women in American History 

to have opinions of value. Mrs. Roosevelt for many years was a leader in society 
in the city of New York. Her entertainments were always marked by splendor 
and refined taste; her dignified manner, her intellectual conversation gave a charm 
to the social intercourse wherever she presided. She was a patron of many of 
the charitable affairs and institutions of New York and she aided conspicuously 
in the Sanitary Fair held in New York City. 

LADY WILLIAM GORE OUSELEY. 

Mrs. Roosevelt's sister was also conspicuous in social life. Her husband 
was Sir William Gore Ouseley, connected with the British legation in Washington 
in 1829, when they were married. His life as a diplomat to the various European 
courts and those of South America was interesting. During Lady Ouseley's stay 
in Washington she took a prominent part in the social life of that city. 

MRS. WINFIELD SCOTT. 

The wife of General Winfield Scott was a prominent figure in social life. 
She was a Miss Maria Mayo, the daughter of Mr. John Mayo of Richmond, 
Virginia. General and Mrs. Scott had seven children. 

MRS. MERRICK. 

Mrs. Merrick, the wife of Judge Merrick of the District of Columbia was 
the daughter of Charles Wickliffe and was a leader in the social life of Washington. 

MRS. DANIEL WEBSTER. 

The wife of Daniel Webster, Caroline Leroy, accompanied her husband in 
1839, when he went abroad and was received at the courts of Europe. They spent 
their winters in Washington, where Mrs. Webster became prominent socially. 
Mrs. Webster not only shared his wanderings but was a helpmeet in every sense 
of the word to her distinguished husband both in public and private affairs. She 
assisted him in his correspondence and Mr. Webster relied on her in all matters 
where sound judgment and discretion were required. During his secretaryship 
both under Presidents Tyler and Fillmore she was his efficient aid, at the same 
time she made his house the center of a brilliant society, drawing about them the 
finest minds of the century and those of high position in our country's history. 

MRS. JOHN J. CRITTENDEN. 

Mrs. John J. Crittenden was one of the American women who shared the 
glory and distinction of her husband, contributing her part as a wife to his success. 
The ancestors of Mrs. Crittenden were from Albemarle and Goochland Counties, 
Virginia. Her great-grandfather was General John Woodson, who had inherited 
from his father a large estate on the James River in Goochland County, called 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 257 

Dover. He married Dorothea Randolph. One of her sisters was the mother of 
Thomas Jefferson. Another, Mrs. Pleasants, was the mother of Governor Pleas- 
ants of Virginia. Her only brother was Thomas Mann Randolph. A son of Mr. 
and Mrs. Woodson, Josiah, married his cousin, Elizabeth Woodson, and their 
daughter, Mary, in 1801, married Dr. James W. Moss of Albermarle County, Vir- 
ginia, and they were the parents of Elizabeth Moss, who became later Mrs. Crit- 
tenden. Elizabeth was born while her parents were living in Kentucky but when 
quite a young girl they removed to Missouri which had just been admitted as a 
state to the Union. Their home was for a time in St. Louis, but later her father 
removed to the town of Columbia in that state. Elizabeth married when quite 
young a physician, Dr. William P. Wilcox, who was at that time a member of the 
state legislature. Dr. Wilcox survived but a short time, leaving his wife with two 
daughters. The eldest, Mary, became the wife of Mr. Andrew McKinley, only 
son of Justice McKinley of the Supreme Court of the United States. The young- 
est daughter, Anna, became the wife of Honorable E. Carrington Cabell, a represent- 
ative in Congress from Florida and son of Honorable William Cabell late Chief 
Justice of Virginia. In 1832 Mrs. Wilcox married General William H. Ashley, 
then the only representative in Congress from Missouri. General Ashley was a 
resident of St. Louis and one of its distinguished citizens. Mrs. Ashley accom- 
panied her husband to Washington immediately after their marriage and at once 
became the subject of general admiration and the center of a large social circle. 
Her natural grace, affability, frank cordiality, intellectual cultivation and above 
all her genuine kindness of heart drew about her those who appreciated such 
sterling qualities and charming graces. In 1838, General Ashley died and Mrs. 
Ashley returned to her home in St. Louis. Occasionally she spent her time in 
Philadelphia and Washington while her children were being educated. She was 
always a favorite wherever she went and remained unspoilt notwithstanding the 
attentions and homage lavished upon her. It is said of her she was never known 
to speak harshly or censoriously of anyone, nor did she ever forget an acquaint- 
ance or wound by a change of manner. She was perfectly familiar with all the 
political issues of the day but never advocated as a partisan either side; always 
intelligent and fluent in conversation, she never assumed the slightest superiority 
or seemed conscious that her own opinion or judgment was better than that of 
others. Her delicate tact and regard for the feelings or the pride of others 
rendered her an ornament of every social circle. Honorable John J. Crittenden, 
then attorney general of the United States in Mr. Fillmore's cabinet in 1853, 
won the heart of this distinguished woman. After Mr. Crittenden's retirement 
from the cabinet he was returned to the senate, where he remained "until his 
death in 1863. Mrs. Crittenden always accompanied her husband to Washington 
and it is said the political and diplomatic world flocked about them. Mr. Critten- 
den's service was during the stormy days which preceded the outbreak of the 
Rebellion and many were the trials they were called upon to endure. Mrs. 
Crittenden sympathized deeply with her husband in his efforts to preserve the 
Union. After Mr. Crittenden's death Mrs. Crittenden remained for a time at 
Frankfort. Kentucky, and later removed to New York City. 

17 



258 Part Taken by Women in American History 



MRS. SLIDELL. 

Mrs. Slidell, the wife of the senator from Louisiana, was conspicuous abroad 
among the ladies devoted to the Confederate cause and her influence in society 
was remarkable. Mrs. Slidell was Miss Daylond of Louisiana. Her home was on 
the Mississippi coast. 

MRS. DUVALL AND OTHERS. 

Another of the brilliant and intellectual women from the South was Mrs. 
Duvall, the wife of Mr. Duvall, a planter from Louisiana and son of former Chief 
Justice of Maryland. Among the social queens of the Confederate court in Rich- 
mond, Virginia, was Mrs. James Chestnut of Camden, South Carolina, Mrs. Davis 
and Mrs. Clement Clay. Mrs. Reverdy Johnson was a prominent leader of the 
society of Baltimore. She was very beautiful and queenly woman and helped 
greatly to advance the fortunes of her husband. Mrs. Myra Clarke Gaines was 
another southern woman prominent in the social life in Washington. Her name 
is familiar to everyone and her romantic history well known. The history of her 
claim to her father's estates, prosecuted under various discouragements for thirty- 
five years, and granted in her favor only a few days before her death, is considered 
one of the most extraordinary cases as well as one of the most interesting, in the 
annals of American jurisprudence. 

LUCY CRITTENDEN. 

^nss Lucy Crittenden who was the sister of John J. Crittenden, the dis- 
tinguished senator, was a woman possessed of superior intellect and extensive 
social influence. She married Judge Thornton, a member of Congress from Ala- 
bama, the first land commissioner of California, and they made their home in 
San Francisco. 

MRS. JAMES W. WHITE. 

/■vmong the women who were distinguished for their efforts for charity, for 
the poor and afflicted, and who wielded a wide influence through her domestic life, 
and who commands the admiration of all as a wife, mother and friend, may be 
mentioned Mrs White. Her mother was the daughter of General Whitney, a 
wealthy land owner. Her father was General Waterman, one of the earliest set- 
tlers of Binghamton, New York. Mrs. James W. White's name before her mar- 
riage was Rhoda Elizabeth Waterman, and when quite young she married James 
W. White a young lawyer of Irish descent and a nephew of General Griffin, author 
of "The Collegians." Mr. and Mrs. White took up their residence in the city of 
New York in 1834, and this home was known among her friends as "Castle Com- 
fort." Mrs. White considered it her most sacred duty to God and her husband to 
deepen, purify and increase in her own heart and in his. the conjugal affection 
which bound them together and which she prized as Heaven's best gift. We regret 
that this idea and conception of married life is not more general to-day. In 1853 
Mrs. White arranged a private concert in Niblo's salon in aid of charity, at which 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 259 



Madame Sontag sang, and this proved the great fashionable event of the season. 
In 1856 Mrs. White was solicited by the Sisters of Charity to aid them in the 
re-building of their hospital, and a meeting of the ladies representing the different 
Catholic churches was called for the purpose of carrying out Mrs. White's plan 
for a fair to be held in the Crystal Palace. A storm of opposition greeted this 
proposal but this did not deter Mrs. White from proceeding with the plan and, 
though the ladies manifested their opposition to the very hour of the opening of 
the fair, this great "Charity Fair" cleared thirty-four thousand dollars, a splendid 
memorial of the indomitable energy, practical wisdom and noble zeal of the 
ruling spirit of this enterprise. At the close of the fair the sisters urged upon 
Mrs. White the acceptance of a massive piece of silver as a mark of their grati- 
tude, but she declined the gift and asked that it be disposed of for the benefit of 
the hospital. In 1859, Mrs. White was president of an association which brought 
to a successful ending a large fair in aid of the Sisters of Mercy which was held 
in the Academy of Music. One of Mrs. White's contributions was a large volume, 
elegantly bound and valued at twenty-five hundred dollars, containing the rarest 
and most valuable autographs ever collected. The book was drawn in a lottery 
after a large sum had been raised by the sale of tickets and the fortunate winner 
presented it to the original donor. Mrs. White carried on during her lifetime an 
extensive correspondence with the learned, gifted and distinguished persons of 
this country and Europe, and some have called her "the Sevigne of the United 
States." Among these correspondents may be mentioned President Lincoln. 

MRS. THOMAS ADDIS EMMET AND MRS. DUBOIS. 

Among other social leaders prominent in the charitable work of the city 
of New York may be mentioned Mrs. Thomas Addis Emmet and Mrs. Dubois, 
who was Miss Delafield, at that time quite a noted artist in sculpture and cameo 
cutting. Mrs. Emmet was the widow of Thomas Addis Emmet, the son of the 
distinguished Irish patriot who was a prominent lawyer in New York City. Mrs. 
Emmet's father was John Thorn, of the firm of Hoyt & Thorn, noted East India 
merchants. Mrs. Emmet was a noted leader in the best circles of the metropolis, 
who devoted much of her time to public and private charities. 

CHARLOTTE AUGUSTA SOUTHWICK. 

Charlotte Augusta Southwick was the daughter of Jonathan Southwick a suc- 
cessful merchant of New York City. She is descended from some of the 
distinguished families of the early period of Colonial history, the Washingtons 
and Elys. Richard Ely came to America in 1660. John Ely was a colonel in 
the Revolutionary Army and a celebrated physician. In 1770 he commanded Fort 
Trumbull, having raised and equipped his regiment at his own expense. The 
eldest son of John and Sarah Worthington was Worthington Ely, the grand- 
father of Charlotte Southwick. His wife was Miss Bushnell, of Connecticut. Their 
youngest daughter, Lucretia, was the mother of Charlotte Augusta Southwick, 
afterward Mrs. Coventry Waddell. Soon after leaving school Miss Southwick 



260 Part Taken by Women in American History 

married Mr. McMurray who lived but a few months, and later she married Mr. 
William Coventry Waddell, who was connected with some of the noble families 
of England. Mr. Waddell held many important trusts under the government and 
was at the time of their marriage, in an official position. Their residence was 
at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Forty-seventh Street, called Murray Hill and 
occupied an entire block. Their summers were passed at Saratoga. Mrs. Wad- 
dell's graceful manners, good humor and kindness of heart, added to her 
intellectual charms and brilliant conversation gave her supremacy in the social 
circles of New York City and at Saratoga Springs, the fashionable resort of the 
times. In the monetary crisis of 1857 Mr. Waddell lost his fortune and he was 
compelled to sacrifice his beautiful home on Murray Hill and they removed to a 
residence two miles north of Newburg on the Hudson. 

ADELICIA ACKLEN. 

Mrs. Acklen, the daughter of Oliver D. Hayes, a native of South Hadley, 
Massachusetts, was a prominent leader in the social life of Nashville, Tennessee. 
Her mother was Sarah T. Hightower, the daughter of Richard Hightower, of 
Williamson County. Their daughter Adelicia married when quite young Mr. 
Isaac Franklin, a planter of Louisiana, who lived but a few years. After his 
death she married Colonel Joseph Acklen, of Huntsville, Alabama, who also 
lived but a few years. After his death Mrs. Acklen spent much time in Europe. 
After her return to this country she married Dr. W. A. Cheatham, making 
her home in Nashville, where she became noted for her cordial hospitality and 
her house a resort for the celebrities of that section. 

EMILY MASON. 

Another distinguished woman of this time was Miss Emily Mason, of Ken- 
tucky. Her mother was descended from the Marshall and Nicholson families. 
Her paternal grandfather and uncle were both United States Senators from that 
state. Her father, General Mason, moved to Kentucky and here Emily was born 
in the city of Lexington. Her brother was the governor of the Territory of 
Michigan and the family followed, residing in the city of Detroit. At the age 
of seventeen Emily presided over the governor's mansion at Detroit, where she 
entertained and exercised unlimited sway in the fashionable society of that day. 
Her sprightly wit and remarkable powers of conversation even at a very early 
age, gave her a social pre-eminence unrivalled by any woman in the western 
country. After her brother's death she returned to Virginia and here and in 
New Orleans she became a celebrity in society. Later in life, after the death of 
both her parents, she met with severe reverses. Her home was taken from her 
during the war "for military purposes," during her absence in the North. She 
was suspected as a Southern spy. Her property was entirely destroyed. She 
went into the hospital work and devoted her energies to the inmates of the 
Winder Hospital near Richmond. Here and in the prisons s^° *■'' "to care 
for the sick, wounded and dying and after the close of worked 

indefatigably for the cause of humanity among her own South. 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 261 



MRS. HILLS. 

Mrs. Hills lived for many years in the city of New York where her morning 
receptions were quite noted. Her great passion was the cultivation of music and 
the promotion of the best and highest in art. The daughter of Mrs. Hills was 
Mrs. John Schermerhorn who inherited her mother's talent in music, and it is 
said that Gottschalk complimented Mrs. Schermerhorn on the playing of his 
compositions. Mrs. William Schermerhorn, who was also a prominent figure 
socially, in New York City, was a Miss Cotinet, and gave during the winter of 
1867 three of the most splendid receptions ever given in that city. 

WIFE OF JUDGE HUNTINGTON OF INDIANA. 

Was esteemed as one of the bright ornaments of western society. She was 
a daughter of Dr. Christopher A. Rudd, a prominent physician of Springfield, 
Kentucky, who was descendant of the Carroll family of Maryland. Mrs. Hunt- 
ington's first husband was Clarke Fitzhugh, of Louisville, Kentucky, a nephew 
of General George Rogers Clarke. While a widow Mrs. Fitzhugh went to 
Washington with her cousin Mrs. Florida White and became one of the well- 
known belles of the Capital city. It was during this visit that she met with 
Honorable E. M. Huntington, then commissioner of the General Land Office in 
Washington, and they were married soon afterward. Mr. Huntington was an 
especial friend of President Tyler, who appointed him to the position of Judge 
of the United States Court in Indiana, and they removed to that state, making 
their home in Terre Haute, and Mrs. Huntington became the center and leader 
of social life in that part of the state. 

ELLEN ADAIR. 

The daughter of Governor Adair, of Kentucky, was noted throughout the 
Gulf states for her accomplishments and charm and became one of the belles in 
Washington city in later years. She married Colonel White, of Florida, and 
was often called Mrs. Florida White in allusion to the state represented by her 
husband in Congress. After Colonel White's death, while on a visit to New 
Orleans, she met Mr. Beattie, an Irish gentleman whom she married. Her sister, 
Mrs. Benjamin F. Pleasants, was well known and greatly admired in Washington 
city and always took a great interest in public affairs. 

PAMELA WILLIAMS. 

Was another prominent woman in the social life of Washington. She was 
born in Williamston, Massachusetts, in 1785, and at eighteen married General Jacob 
Brown, and they went to reside at Brownsville, in Jefferson County. During 
their residence in the Capital city their house was the center of a cultivated circle 
where were welcome the statesmen and scholars, the gifted and distinguished, with 
the less fortunate who were in need of sympathy and encouragement. 



262 Part Taken by Women in American History 



SALLIE WARD. 

Among the noted women of Kentucky, whose beauty and influence became 
world-wide, none was more entitled to distinction than Miss Sallie Ward, of 
Louisville, Kentucky. The high position of her family, her marvelous personal 
beauty and fascination of manner, placed her even in her youth among the 
conspicuously observed wherever she went. Her ancestors came of old Huguenot 
stock who had fled from France, bringing to the southern states some of the 
best blood which was infused into our young nation. Major Mattheus Flournoy 
served with distinction in the war of the Revolution. Afterwards he purchased 
a country seat in Scot County, Kentucky, where Sallie Ward was born. Her 
father, Honorable Robert J. Ward, was a man possessed of the highest intellectual 
qualities and of that high standard of justice and moral integrity which secured 
for him lasting friendships. At twenty-eight he was elected speaker of the Kentucky 
Assembly. Mrs. Ward was one of the most remarkable women of the day, 
distinguished for her personal loveliness and intellectual gifts. To their daughter, 
Sallie, they gave every advantage of education and moral training, and while 
reared in the lap of luxury, enjoying everything which wealth could bestow, receiv- 
ing from society the most flattering homage, Sallie Ward was unspoiled by adulation 
and grew up an amiable, gracious, attractive woman, well developed in 
mind and principles. She possessed a remarkable memory and quick perception, 
which enabled her to acquire foreign languages with readiness. A talented musician 
and possessing every accomplishment which could add to her natural charms. Every 
one in Kentucky seemed to take a pride in her loveliness and the fact that she 
was a native of their state. She was always interested in the various enterprises, 
patriotic and municipal. White Sulphur Springs, the noted resort of Virginia, 
has many legends of her beauty and charm. Statesmen, soldiers, foreign diplomats 
followed in her train but she gave her hand to Dr. Hart, of New Orleans, and 
in this city she and her husband established a magnificent home, where her sway 
continued. In her domestic life Mrs. Hart displayed the noble gifts of her 
true nature. She had but one child — a son — and after her husband's death she 
devoted herself to the education and rearing of this boy. Perhaps in the United 
States there has been no woman so flattered and courted, and the fact that she 
retained the pure simplicity of her character unimpaired, argues a truly elevated 
mind. 

MARCIA BURNS VAN NESS. 

One of the most distinguished and charming women, who gave dignity 
elegance and grace to the social circles of Washington City, was the wife of 
General Van Ness. She was the daughter of David Burns of excellent family 
who had inherited a fine estate near the Potomac in the District of Columbia and 
held the office of civil magistrate. The building now owned by the Daughters 
of the American Revolution and the building of the American Republics are now 
situated where was once the magnificent home and estate of General Van Ness. 
The seat of National Government was removed to Washington, in May, 1802. 
Miss Burns had returned home from school in 1800, not long before her father's 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 263 

death, and from him she inherited a large fortune. From the very first she 
was one of the prominent belles of Washington City. It is said Mrs. Madison 
was one of her intimate friends. At the age of twenty she married Honorable 
John P. Van Ness, a member of Congress from New York. After their marriage 
he became a resident of Washington, and their home was one of the most 
brilliant social centers in the Capital city, Mrs. Van Ness drawing about her the 
refined and cultivated persons of the day. Chief Justice Marshall, Henry Clay, 
President Monroe, General Jackson, Mr. Calhoun, Mr. McDuffie, Daniel Webster, 
Mr. Hayne and many other noted celebrities of that time were on familiar terms 
with General Van Ness and frequent visitors in his home. The only daughter 
of Mrs. Van Ness was Ann Albertina, an accomplished, intelligent young woman. 
Mrs. Van Ness' influence was always for good, and her example noble and 
elevating; her friendships true and warm. She ever ministered to the sick and 
suffering; her deeds of charity were unostentatious. Mrs. Van Ness never 
recovered from the death of her daughter, which occurred soon after her mar- 
riage. A lasting monument of Mrs. Van Ness' charity was the establishing of 
the Washington City Orphan Asylum by her. To this she gave four thousand 
dollars, besides many small contributions from time to time, and her indefatigable 
exertions obtaining, with the aid of a few friends, from Congress an Act of Incor- 
poration and a donation of ten thousand dollars for its permanent support. She 
also gave directions that a legacy of a thousand dollars should be given this 
institution after her death. Mrs. Madison was the first directress of the 
institution, but after her departure Mrs. Van Ness was induced to accept this 
office, which she held until her death, on the 9th of September, 1832, at the age 
of fifty years. Her husband, General Van Ness was mayor of Washington at 
the time; and it is said Mrs. Van Ness was the first American woman buried 
with public honors in Washington. Few women have indeed ever occupied a 
larger field of usefulness or been more devotedly engaged in the work for 
humanity than Mrs. Van Ness. 



MARY TODD LINCOLN. 

Mary Todd Lincoln, the wife of the immortal Abraham 
Lincoln, was a Kentuckian, and a member of the distinguished 
family of Todds of Lexington. At the age of twenty-one, on 
the 4th of November, 1832, she was married to Abrahm Lin- 
coln, who though a prominent lawyer of Springfield, Illinois, 
gave no evidence of the immortality which he was to achieve. 
Mr. Lincoln was elected to Congress four years subsequently 
and took his seat December, 1847. Mrs. Lincoln did not 
accompany Mr. Lincoln to Washington while he was a member 



264 Part Taken by Women in American History 

of Congress. They had three sons, Robert T. Lincoln who still 
survives, and Willie and Thaddeus, the latter better known as 
"Tad." When Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln came into the White 
House, war, grim-visaged war, threatened our country. The 
excitement between the North and South was so intense that 
Mr. Lincoln came to Washington incognito, Mrs. Lincoln and 
the children and servants following by another route. Many 
were the forebodings as to what might be the fate of the 
President-elect before his inauguration. Mrs. Lincoln's tem- 
perament was such that she could not bear the excitement with 
the repose of a woman of less emotional nature. Of all the 
criticisms that have been made of Mrs. Lincoln, no one has been 
unkind enough to accuse her of disloyalty to her husband, or 
lack of appreciation of his exalted position to which she had 
been elevated through his election to the presidency, and it is 
to be regretted that a keener appreciation of the trials to which 
she was subjected was not then understood. The political 
excitement and war's alarms were enough, but to these was 
added the great bereavement of President and Mrs. Lincoln 
by the death of their beloved second son, Willie, and it is 
recorded that the mother never afterward entered the room in 
which he died, or the Blue Room in which his body lay. Mrs. 
Lincoln's hospitality and generosity were well known, and it is 
a melancholy thought that just after the close of the Civil War, 
when they were enjoying the victories of Mr. Lincoln's second 
election that the tragedy of tragedies occurred and beyond 
question Mrs. Lincoln never rallied from this unspeakable blow. 
As soon as she was able to leave, she departed from the White 
House and went to live with her sister at Springfield, Illinois, 
where her paroxysms of grief were so overwhelming that those 
nearest and dearest to her could do nothing to alleviate her 
sufferings. Her sorrow was greatly increased again by the 
death of her son "Tad." It was suggested that she travel in 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 265 

Europe for diversion and resignation by change of scene. 
Congress, in 1870, voted her a pension of $3,000 a year. After 
her return to the United States in 1880, she again took up her 
residence with her sister, Mrs. Edwards, in Springfield, Illinois, 
but her mind was so unsettled that it was found necessary to 
place her in a private asylum. Congress increased her pension 
to $5,000 and added a gratuity of $1,500, so that she might be 
properly provided for. She paid little attention to anything, 
her mind seeming to be a blank as to what was going on about 
her, and on the night of the 15th of July, 1882, she was stricken 
with paralysis and died on the 16th, and her remains were 
deposited beside those of President Lincoln and her children 
in the Lincoln monument vault at Springfield, Illinois. 

ELIZA McCARDLE JOHNSON. 

/ 

Eliza McCardle, wife of Andrew Johnson, was the 

daughter of a widow. She was a beautiful girl who had had 
some opportunities of education and was considered quite an 
advanced scholar. She was married to Mr. Johnson when 
seventeen years of age and entered with much enthusiasm upon 
the labor of assisting him in the acquirement of his ambition. 
He was a poor boy, his chief capital consisting of high 
aspirations and indomitable energy. While he was struggling 
with poverty as a tailor his loyal wife knew no abatement in 
her energy and vigilance in taking advantage of every oppor- 
tunity to advance her husband's fortunes. /They resided in 
Greenville, Tennessee, near a college, and the intercourse with 
the students in the college served to keep alive Mr. Johnson's 
eagerness for the acquisition of an education. Mrs. Johnson 
being very popular with these young students, they made many 
visits to their modest but hospitable home where, without 
knowing it they aided Mr. and Mrs. Johnson in their 



266 Part Taken by Women in American History 

educational desires. They continued this struggle for many 
years with more or less success. 

Mr. Johnson being a member of the Tennessee legislature 
at the time of the breaking out of the Civil War he was most 
active as a Unionist and was subsequently elected to the Senate 
of the United States. Mrs. Johnson came to Washington in 
the spring of '61 to be with her husband during the sessions of 
the Senate. During the rebellion they had very trying 
experiences, as they were the victims of the vengeance of the 
Confederates. Through it all, however, Mrs. Johnson managed 
to command the respect and protection of the officers of the 
Confederate and Union armies, but Mr. Johnson dared not 
return to Tennessee, She displayed marvelous ability and 
diplomacy in her efforts to protect her family. The Convention 
of 1864 nominated Andrew Johnson for the vice-presidency 
on the ticket with Mr. Lincoln. In March, 1865, Mr. Johnson 
left his family in Nashville and came to Washington. The 
world knows of the assassination of Mr. Lincoln on the 14th of 
April, 1865, and of the promotion of Mr. Johnson from the 
vice-presidency to the presidency. It was with many forebod- 
ings and little enthusiasm that Mrs. Johnson came to the White 
House as its mistress. Her health was very much broken and 
as a result her daughters, Mrs. Patterson and Mrs. Stover 
accompanied her and were soon installed as the ladies of the 
executive mansion. Mrs. Johnson was a confirmed invalid, 
and was unable even to appear at any social function, but Mrs. 
Patterson and Mrs. Stover were quite equal to the duties of 
conducting the affairs of the White House. Mrs. Patterson's 
husband was a member of the Senate and she had been 
accustomed to the society of the Capital, but it seemed that the 
shadows which had gathered over the White House after the 
assassination of Mr. Lincoln were not to be dispelled during 
Mrs. Johnson's occupancy of the executive mansion. On 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 267 

account of the impeachment trial of Mr. Johnson their last 
days in the White House were those of intense grief and 
anxiety. After their return to Greenville, Mr. Johnson became 
a candidate for the Senate as successor to Mr. Brownlow. He 
was defeated, but his indomitable will caused him to become a 
candidate the second time, when he was successfully elected 
and took his seat at the beginning of the session, December, 
1874. He occupied that position during the extraordinary 
session which followed, when he made a speech of great 
importance to himself in vindication of his course as President 
of the United States. This speech was of such a personal 
character that it is of great doubt whether it should have been 
made or not. Returning home in midsummer, he was stricken 
with illness and on the morning of the 31st of July, 1875, he 
died in the home of his youngest daughter near Greenville, 
Tennessee. 

. Mrs. Johnson survived him but six months and died at the 
home of her eldest daughter, Mrs. Patterson, on the 13th of 
January, 1876. She was buried beside her husband. Their 
children have erected a magnificent monument to the memory 
of Andrew and Eliza Johnson. Mrs. Johnson was a noble 
woman and lived a life of self-denial and self-sacrifice. 

JULIA DENT GRANT. 

Julia Dent Grant was a Missourian by birth, being the 
daughter of Judge Dent, of St. Louis, who resided on a large 
farm near that city. Here Mrs. Grant spent her girlhood. Her 
youngest, brother, Frederick J. Dent, was appointed to West 
Point and formed a strong attachment for his classmate, 
Ulysses S. Grant, who had been appointed to the Military 
Academy from Ohio: This intimacy caused young Grant to 
come with his caciet friend young Dent, to St. Louis, when they 



268 Part Taken by Women in American History 

had their first furlough. The result of the meeting of young 
Grant and Miss Dent was their marriage on the 22nd of 
August, 1848, at Judge Dent's city residence in St. Louis. 
Through all the trials to which Mrs. Grant was subjected as 
the wife of a lieutenant in the army in the forties and fifties, 
she bore herself with much loyalty to her husband and to her 
children; in fact her devotion to her husband and her children 
was her most striking characteristic. 

When the war of the Rebellion broke out Lieutenant 
Grant had resigned from the army and was living at Galena, 
Illinois. They had four children, three sons and one daughter, 
and were in reduced circumstances. Governor Yates in his 
great dilemma for mustering officers, received from E. B. 
Washburn a recommendation of Ulysses S. Grant, a citizen of 
Galena. The ex-lieutenant of the army made haste to respond 
to the call of Governor Yates and engaged in drilling the troops 
at Springfield. Soon after he was appointed Colonel of the 
2 1st Infantry Volunteer Regiment, in May, 1861, and from 
that time until his victorious entry into Washington at the 
close of the war, Mrs. Grant remained with her family except 
for making an occasional visit to her husband in the field. 
Through every phase of her husband's brilliant promotion 
from one high position to another, Mrs. Grant was the same 
unaffected, sincere, devoted wife, mother and friend. 

When General Grant was elected to the Presidency she 
assumed the duties of Lady of the White House with the same 
simplicity of manner, sincerity and cordiality that had 
characterized her whole life. At no time in the history of 
the country has any woman who presided over the White 
House been called upon to conduct more brilliant functions 
than was Mrs. Grant. Entering the White House so near the 
close of the war there were more distinguished visitors to 
Washington than there have ever been during any adminis- 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 269 

tration. She received royalty and the most illustrious of our 
country with such genuine hospitality and graciousness as to 
avoid all criticisms and to win universal admiration. For 
eight years she was the first Lady in the Land, and it can be 
claimed that she made no enemies and was much beloved for 
her goodness of heart and sympathetic disposition. 

At the close of General Grant's administration, in their 
journey around the world, they were received by the crowned 
heads of every country, and Mrs. Grant was universally 
admired for the simplicity of her manner and sincerity of her 
greeting. Her absolute devotion to her husband and children 
has left an example worthy of emulation. Her faithful 
vigilance during General Grant's long illness is especially to 
be admired. 

Weary of excitement and of being in the public eye, her 
children being married and away from her, she sought the 
National Capital for a home in which to spend her declining 
years. She received the continued respect and loving thought 
of the Nation .to the day of her death in 1902. Her remains 
rest beside her husband's in the tomb on Riverside Drive, New 
York. 

LUCY WEBB HAYES. 

Lucy Webb Hayes was born in Chillicothe, when it was 
the capital of Ohio. She was the daughter of Dr. James Webb 
and the granddaughter of Dr. Isaac Cook. The Webbs were 
natives of North Carolina. Her father died of cholera in 1833, 
in Lexington, Kentucky, where he had gone to complete the 
arrangements for sending slaves, whom his father and himself 
had set free, to Liberia. After the death of her father her 
mother removed to Delaware, Ohio, in order to be near the 
Western University, where her sons were educated. Mrs. 
Hayes pursued her studies and recited with her brothers to 



270 Part Taken by Women in American History 

the college instructors, by whom she was prepared for the 
Western Female College at Cincinnati, entering that institution 
at the same time that her brothers entered the medical college. 
Mrs. Hayes was very fortunate in having a home in Ohio, 
which was among the first states to advocate the equal education 
of men and women. She was a great favorite of Rev. and 
Mrs. T. B. Wilbur, the principals of the college. She was a 
devout member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, follow- 
ing in that respect closely in the footsteps of her mother. 
It was while she was a student that she met Rutherford B. 
Hayes. They were married December 20, 1852. Mrs. Hayes' 
chief characteristics were her womanly and wifely qualities and 
devotion to her religion. 

Rutherford B. Hayes was a graduate of Kenyon College 
and of the Cambridge Law School. He practiced law before 
the Supreme Court of Ohio and established himself at Fremont, 
Ohio, but subsequently removed to Cincinnati, where he 
remained for many years. He was made city attorney twice. 
At the outbreak of the Civil War he volunteered in the 23rd 
Ohio Regiment (Infantry) and was subsequently made major 
of the regiment of which General Rosecrans was colonel and 
the late Stanley Matthews was the lieutenant-colonel. They 
were assigned to the army of the Potomac. He was four times 
wounded and served to the close of the war notwithstanding 
the fact that he was urged to enter politics. Mrs. Hayes spent 
two summers and a winter taking care of her husband and his 
soldiers in the field. After his return from the service he was 
twice elected to Congress, after which he was made Governor 
of Ohio and they occupied the executive mansion at Columbus. • 
Mrs. Hayes made a national reputation by her pre-eminently 
social qualities while occupying the executive mansion at 
Columbus. She seemed to feel that a state or national execu- 
tive mansion belonged to the people of the state and the nation 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 271 

and she threw open the doors of the executive mansions in 
Columbus and Washingon ,bn all occasions that it was proper 
that she should extend their hospitality to the people, or to 
distinguished visitors from other lands. She worked with 
earnestness as the wife of the Governor in the interest of the 
charities, of the state, and was one of the most popular women 
of her day. Mrs. Hayes was probably one of the most highly 
intellectual and accomplished of the women who have ever 
graced the White House and was at the same time the most 
cordial, unaffected and genial. She had been the idol of the 
soldiers during the war, /as well as of the people of Ohio, and 
when she came to Washington there was great solicitude as to 
whether she was worthy of her universal popularity, and 
people waited with impatience for her first reception. Those 
who attended that reception went away enthusiastic in their 
praises of her. While she could not be called a beautiful 
woman, she had a most attractive face, very bright and 
expressive eyes and beautiful black hair. She had wonderful 
health and would not admit that she experienced any fatigue, 
although she gave more receptions and social entertainments 
than any occupant of the White House. 

There were very many illustrious men in this country 
when President and Mrs. Hayes were in the White House, and 
it was her pleasure to make everyone feel at home, and few 
who called to pay their respects failed to go away without sing- 
ing her praises. The poorest person who sought alms at 
the White House was not denied some recognition. She 
was passionately fond of flowers and there was a profusion 
of flowers in the White House on every occasion. She created a 
sensation when she decided not to serve wine on the President's 
table during their residence in the White House. The adverse 
criticisms made no impression whatever upon her. She would 
not discuss the subject, but persisted in her decision, and many 



272 Part Taken by Women in American History 

time since persons have wished that her example might have 
been followed by her successors. She was very much interested 
in the missionary cause, and there is in Washington the Lucy 
Webb Hayes Home for Deaconesses and retired missionaries, 
which was named in her honor. A life-sized portrait of Mrs. 
Hayes by Huntington, was placed in the White House by the 
Temperance Women of this country. No passing of a Mis- 
tress of the White House was more sincerely regretted than 
was that of Mrs. Hayes, and no one has been more sincerely 
missed since her untimely death at Fremont, Ohio, in 1889. 

LUCRETIA RUDOLPH GARFIELD. 

Lucretia Rudolph Garfield was the daughter of Zebulon 
Rudolph, a farmer who resided near Garrettsville, Ohio. He 
was one of the founders of Hiram College. Her mother was 
the daughter of Elijah Mason of Lebanon, Connecticut, a 
descendant of General Nathaniel Greene. She first met her 
future husband, James A. Garfield, at the Geauga Seminary. 
They attended this school together until young Garfield 
entered Hiram College, of which institution he was a graduate. 
Not long after he entered the college he was called upon to 
take the place of one of the teachers because of illness. Into his 
classroom came his school-girl friend, Lucretia Rudolph, 
whom he considered one of his brightest pupils. She was 
especially apt in Latin and was so well instructed by Mr. Gar- 
field that twenty years after she prepared her boy in Latin to 
enter college. After she graduated from Hiram College, she 
also became a teacher. When Mr. Garfield went to Williams 
College to finish his education she went to Cleveland to teach 
in one of the public schools. By that time they were lovers 
and both studied very hard, believing that there was a great 
future before James A. Garfield. ) 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 273 

/ Their marriage took place at the house of the bride's 
parents, November 11, 1858, Mr. Garfield then being President 
of Hiram College. Their resources were not very great, so 
they boarded for several years, each year finding them much 
advanced in worldly goods and reputation. 

Young Mr. and Mrs. Garfield resided in Cleveland until 
i860, when he was elected to the State Senate and went to 
Columbus. In 1861, he left the State Senate to become colonel 
of the 42nd Ohio Regiment. He went into the army a poor 
man and it was with the money he saved as an officer of the 
Union Army that his wife bought a house and lot in Hiram, 
which cost eight hundred dollars. This sum suggests the style 
of house which was their home until 1870, when, as a member 
of Congress from the state of Ohio, he came to Washington. 
Here his salary of $5,000 a year, with the simplicity of living in 
those days, enabled him to save enough money to give his 
family a comfortable home in the Capital of the Nation. 
Through the helpfulness and economy of his unusually intel- 
lectual and economical wife they were able to purchase a farm 
at Mentor, Ohio, which they named Lawnfield, and where was 
erected the historic house that was so much advertised during 
the campaign of 1880. This house was designed by Mrs. Gar- 
field and is a fine specimen of architecture. During the war, 
Mrs. Garfield lived in her home in Hiram and directed the 
education of her boys, having only the companionship of 
Mother Garfield. After the battle of Corinth, Brigadier- 
General Garfield was at home for six months, suffering from 
malarial fever. On his return to the front he was assigned 
chief of stafT to General Rosecrans and at the battle of 
Chickamauga won his major-general's star. Before his 
return home his baby girl died, which caused him very great 
distress. In 1863, the people of his district elected him to 
Congress, where he served for eight terms, and was elected to 

18 



274 Part Taken by Women in American History 

the Senate, and from the Senate, to the Presidency. During 
all these years Mrs. Garfield was known as the most devoted 
wife and mother. Her unusual intelligence and education 
fitted her pre-eminently for the high positions to which her 
husband was from time to time promoted. She was never in 
any sense considered a fashionable woman or a devotee of 
society. Her ambitions were on a higher plane, but no woman 
ever received more flattering compliments from her husband 
and those who knew her best, than Mrs. Garfield. The control 
she had over her emotional nature was manifested during the 
ordeal through which she passed at the time of President 
Garfield's assassination and the eighty days of anxiety and 
suspense before his death. After the President's death she 
repaired to Mentor and no woman could have conducted her- 
self with greater propriety, dignity and appreciation of her 
position than did Mrs. Garfield. The fact that her sons have 
attained prominent positions is as much due to their mother's 
care and training as to the inheritance of an illustrious name. 

MRS. ELIZA GARFIELD. 

Mrs. Eliza Garfield, the mother of James A. Garfield, was an admirable 
illustration of the true nobility of the women of the earlier days of the Republic. 
Her devotion to the memory of her husband, her struggle for the maintenance 
and education of her family, her pure Christian character, native generosity and 
sympathy with those about her, her self-denial, her humility, her pride in her 
illustrious son, make her a remarkable woman of her time. She is the only 
mother of a President who ever resided in the White House. The nation was 
deeply impressed by the honor paid her by her son after he delivered his inaugural 
address. Embracing her in the presence of the multitude immediately after he 
had pronounced the last syllable of that wonderful address, was the greatest 
tribute a son could have paid a mother and does credit alike to the son and the 
venerable mother. She survived her distinguished son but a few years. 

MARY ARTHUR McELROY. 

President Arthur, successor to James A. Garfield, had been a widower for 
many years, and Washington was much concerned as to who would preside over 
the White House during the presidency of Chester A. Arthur. The continuous 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 275 

stream of visitors through the White House during President Garfield's long 
illness was so destructive to everything in the executive mansion that it was 
really almost uninhabitable when President Arthur took the oath of office, and 
there was much solicitude lest on account of the absence of a lady of the White 
House, it would be long before it would resume its attractive appearance. They 
little realized that President Arthur was a man of exquisite taste and perfect 
knowledge as to the appointments of an elegant home, and in as brief a time 
as any woman could have directed its rehabilitation, it presented as attractive an 
appearance as if a, magician's wand had been waved in every room of the historic 
home of the presidents. Re-furnishings, re-decoration and the addition of up-to- 
date accessories transformed it into a luxurious home before the meeting of 
Congress in December, 1881. President Arthur had selected his sister, Mary 
Arthur McElroy, wife of Reverend John E. McElroy, of Albany, New York, to 
preside over the White House and take charge of his daughter, Nellie, an 
attractive schoolgirl. 

Mrs. McElroy, the youngest of several children of Reverend William 
Arthur, a Baptist clergymen of Vermont, was born in Greenwich, Washington 
County, New York. She was educated in the famous school of Mrs. Willard in 
Troy. Her mother was a most accomplished woman and transmitted many of 
her virtues and talents to her children. As Mary Arthur, Mrs. McElroy, had 
every advantage that could be given at that time. She came to the White House 
well fitted to grace the historic mansion. It can be said without fear of con- 
tradiction, that the social entertainments, state dinners, evening receptions and 
all social functions given at the White House during President Arthur's admin- 
istration were the most magnificent and enjoyable of any that had ever been given 
in the White House by any president and the lady presiding. Mrs. McElroy, as 
the mistress of the White House, distinguished herself by her graciousness, 
hospitality, cordiality, good taste and geniality. She allowed no one to feel that 
they were unwelcome or that she felt bored and fatigued by their presence. She 
drew about her many young people, among them her own daughter and the 
President's daughter, Nellie, who added much brightness on every occasion. She 
introduced the custom of serving tea and other refreshments after every reception. 
The hospitality thus extended seemed to infuse much good feeling and cheerfulness 
among the guests, and those who were privileged to enter the White House on 
these occasions. Mrs. McElroy was a devout Christian and attended St. John's 
Church on Lafayette Square, where President Arthur, also worshipped. Mrs. 
Haynsworth, another sister of President Arthur, frequently assisted Mrs. McElroy 
in the distribution of the hospitalities of this lavish administration. • She rarely 
failed to have about her the ladies of the Cabinet and other distinguished women 
of Washington. Mrs. McElroy was deeply regretted when she ended her reign 
and took her departure from Washington. 

ROSE ELIZABETH CLEVELAND. 

It was a curious coincidence that President Cleveland, President Arthur's 
successor, was, like Mr. Arthur, a bachelor and had to depend upon someone other 



276 Part Taken by Women in American History 

than a wife to preside over the White House during his first administration. His 
choice was his sister, Miss Rose Elizabeth Cleveland, a young woman of fine 
culture, high attainments and superior character, who was destined to fill the 
position with infinite credit to herself and the women of the nation. Miss Cleve- 
land was the daughter and granddaughter of New England ministers; a sister 
and sister-in-law of ministers and missionaries. She was the youngest of the 
nine children of Richard Falley and Anne Neal Cleveland. She was born in 
Fayetteville, New York. Her parents subsequently removed to Clinton, New 
York, and she became a student in Hamilton College. From Clinton her father 
removed to Utica to become the pastor of a church in that city. He did not, 
however, long survive. Miss Cleveland was too young to appreciate the full 
measure of this calamity. As the family were poor, they had to give up the 
parsonage, but the friends of her husband presented Mrs. Cleveland with a 
small cottage, where she resided until her death. During their life in the cot- 
tage the family had a desperate struggle, but through the dignity of character, 
economy and discretion of their mother, their slender means were eked out 
so wisely that the children were able to pursue their studies. Mrs. Cleveland 
was a southerner and had been born and raised in luxury in the city of Balti- 
more, where Mr. Cleveland was employed as a teacher, and after graduating 
in the theological department of Princeton College they were married. The young 
bride little realized the self-denial and self-sacrifice that she must practice as the 
wife of a young minister, but she loved her husband and during her whole life 
was an uncomplaining, devoted wife and mother. Rose, the youngest child, was 
a studious girl and took advantage of every opportunity to acquire an education. 
After finishing school, Miss Cleveland went as a teacher to Houghton Seminary, 
when she remained for two years, at the end of which time she accepted the position 
of principal of the Collegiate Institute at Lafayette, Indiana, after which she taught 
in private families. When, later, it became necessary for her to remain with her 
mother, she conceived the idea of lecturing, proposing it to the principal of Houghton 
Seminary, who accepted the idea with much enthusiasm. Miss Cleveland prepared 
a course of historical lectures, which were very successful. Her mother died in 
the summer of 1882. Miss Cleveland was earnestly urged by her brothers and sisters 
to choose a home among them but remained in Holland Patent, the old home, except 
when on lecturing tours, until she was invited by her brother Grover to become 
mistress of the White House. Miss Cleveland was very reserved in manner, 
thoughtful and dignified, but most cordial in her reception of people in the White 
House. She came into the White House heralded as an intellectual, cold woman 
but proved herself to be a most attractive, womanly woman, thoroughly under- 
standing human nature and what was due the callers at White House. She 
gave many beautiful entertainments, especially for the house guests, of whom she 
had many. It is said that she was Mr. Cleveland's best adviser during his first 
term as President, and while she never presumed to express her opinions on 
official matters publicly, she was prone to council with her brother privately and 
freely express her opinions on political questions. She had no ambition to become 
a social leader or to dictate in frivolous affairs, but she was so affable and agreeable 
and intellectual that she was greatly admired and will be long remembered as one 
of the most gracious women who presided over the White House. 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 277 

FRANCES FOLSOM CLEVELAND. 

Rose Elizabeth Cleveland presided over the White House 
most acceptably for about a year, when it was rumored that 
she was to be succeeded by her brother's bride, and much 
interest was manifested as to who that fortunate person was 
to be. It finally developed that it was the beautiful Miss Frances 
Folsom, of Buffalo, New York, who immediately on her return 
from Europe, was married to Grover Cleveland, the President 
of the United States. 

Miss Folsom was the daughter of Mr. Cleveland's former 
law partner, and she was his ward from the time of the tragic 
death of her father, who was killed in an accident. She had 
been educated at Wells College and had spent a year in Europe 
after Mr. Cleveland's election to the Presidency. It was 
claimed the engagement existed at the time of his election but 
desiring to spend a year abroad before assuming the grave 
responsibility of Mistress of the White House, the wedding 
was not hastened. She was but twenty-two years old at the 
time of her marriage. On the 27th of May, she arrived in New 
York from her European sojourn. It was found that unusual 
preparations were being made in the White House for 
expected guests. Miss Cleveland, Mistress of the White 
House, accompanied by Mr. Cleveland's secretary, Mr. Lamont, 
and his wife, and several of the ladies of the Cabinet, hurried 
to New York to meet Miss Folsom and her mother on their 
arrival on the "Noordland" from Antwerp. The party 
immediately repaired to the Gilsey House where they were 
soon after joined by the President and the friends who 
accompanied him. They returned on Monday to Washington, 
Mrs. Cleveland and her mother going to the White House 
with the party. They remained as guests until on Wednesday 
evening, June 3rd, when the President and Miss Folsom were 



278 Part Taken by Women in American History 

married in the presence of members of the Cabinet and a few 
friends. Every detail of the important event was charac- 
terized by refinement and dignity. After their marriage, the 
President and Mrs. Cleveland went to Deer Park, Maryland, 
where the cottage of ex-Senator Davis, of West Virginia, had 
been prepared for their reception. In a few days they 
returned to the White House and no mistress of that staid old 
mansion ever presided with more grace, dignity and genuine 
hospitality than did Mrs. Grover Cleveland. Tall and grace- 
ful with dark brown hair, worn loosely back from the forehead, 
the most distinguishing features of her face were her beautiful 
violet eyes and exquisitely mobile mouth, which imparted to the 
face a very sweet expression. As beauty ever paves a way for 
its possessor, Mrs. Cleveland was admired from the first as a 
woman of rare attractions. Her personality was exceedingly 
agreeable. She had by nature all acquirements and attained the 
art of pleasing in an eminent degree. Mrs. Cleveland displayed 
at all times wonderful tact and simplicity of manner. She was 
not in the least spoiled by the adulation she received. Ruth, 
President and Mrs. Cleveland's first child, was born in the 
White House. They retired at the end of Mr. Cleveland's first 
term, to be absent only four years, when she was again installed 
in the White House as its Mistress for the second time. It 
would be a very fault-finding person who could point out any 
act of Mrs. Cleveland's while she was the Mistress of the White 
House that could be criticised. When she took her departure 
for the second time she left behind her many devoted friends 
and admirers. No complaint was ever lodged against her as 
having extended scant courtesy to any visitor entitled to 
consideration at the National Executive Mansion. 

In establishing their private home in Princeton, New 
Jersey, she at once became popular with the faculty, trustees 
and students of Princeton College. Entering at all times 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 279 

heartily into every scheme for the pleasure of the college 
people, she won their imperishable admiration. Her uniform 
dignity and the maintenance of her high position as the widow 
of an ex-President of the United States has been above 
criticism. 

Her good taste in accompanying her children to Europe 
to give them some opportunities in the old world, and the 
modesty with which she took up her residence in Geneva to 
quietly carry out her plans, is worthy of the highest commen- 
dation of our American Nation. 

CAROLINE SCOTT HARRISON. 

Mrs. Harrison was among the most highly educated and 
accomplished women who ever occupied the White House. 
Caroline Scott Harrison was born in Oxford, Ohio, October 1, 
1832. Mrs. Harrison's ancestors were Scotch, emigrating to 
America and settling in the Valley of Neshaminy, Bucks 
County, Pennsylvania, where the village of Hartsville now 
stands, twenty miles north of Philadelphia. At this place 
Reverend William Tennent, in 1726, founded the historic Log 
College, which was the original of Princeton College. Mrs. 
Harrison's great-grandfather, John Scott, son of the founder of 
the family in this country, took up his residence in Northampton 
County, Pennsylvania, and purchased land opposite Belvidere, 
New Jersey, which is still known as the Scott Farm. During 
the Revolutionary War he was a quartermaster in the Penn- 
sylvania line. His brother, Matthew Scott, after serving as 
Captain in the army, moved to Kentucky. Mrs. Harrison's 
grandfather, Reverend George McElroy Scott, graduated from 
the University of Pennsylvania in 1793, and studied theology 
with the President of Princeton College, Reverend Stanhope 
Smith. His first charge was Mill Creek Church, Beaver 



280 Part Taken by Women in American History 

County, Pennsylvania, the first Presbyterian Church of that 
locality. He occupied the pulpit in 1799. Her father, Dr. 
John W. Scott, was born in 1800, while his father was pastor 
of the Mill Creek Church. Descending from an educated 
ancestry, Mrs. Harrison had superior educational advantages 
early in life. She graduated in 1852 from Oxford, Ohio, 
Female Seminary. Benjamin Harrison, her future husband, 
took his degree at Oxford University in the same town. They 
were engaged at the time of their graduation, but Mrs. 
Harrison taught music in Carrollton, Kentucky, for one year 
before her marriage October 20, 1853, and removed to Indian- 
apolis, Indiana. When the Civil War broke out, Benjamin 
Harrison decided to enter the army, his wife saying to him 
"Go and help to save your country, and let us trust in the 
shielding care of a higher Power for your protection and safe 
return." 

She took great pride in her husband's distinguished ser- 
vice, especially in his heroic deeds at Resaca and Peach Tree 
Creek, Georgia. She was a woman of strong individuality and 
deep sympathy for those in distress; she was generous and 
benevolent to a fault; she was one of the most active workers 
in the Presbyterian Church and Sunday school and in all 
patriotic and charitable organizations; she was universally 
popular. During Senator Harrison's six years in the United 
States Senate, prior to his election to the Presidency, Mrs. 
Harrison was one of the best known and universally beloved 
ladies of the Senate. 

When her husband was made President, Mrs. Harrison's 
experiences had served to fit her for the duties of Mistress of 
the White House, and no criticism was ever made of her con- 
duct. She recognized the fact that the house belonged to the 
Nation, but at the same time she macle it a home for her family 
and none of her predecessors made it more attractive for all 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 281 

who cared to visit the White House. Her receptions and other 
social functions were charming in every sense of the word. Her 
long illness and pathetic death have left a lasting impression 
upon the Nation. 

IDA SAXTON McKINLEY. 

The wife of President McKinley was born Ida Saxton on 
the 8th of June, 1847, in Canton, Ohio. Her father died just 
as she was entering upon her young womanhood; her mother 
having died when she was but a child. She was therefore, 
early left an orphan, and lived with her sister. It was decided 
that she should go abroad as a diversion from the grief over 
the death of her father. Soon after her return, on January 25, 
1 87 1, she was married to Major William McKinley, then a 
rising lawyer and statesman of the town of Canton, Ohio. She 
had been delicate from her childhood and after the death of 
the two children born to her she became a confirmed invalid. 
The world has long since read of the matchless tenderness 
and devotion and thoughtfulness of her husband, who was 
rapidly promoted from one high position to another. She 
greatly appreciated the attention bestowed upon her but the 
story of her resignation, gentleness and beautiful character 
can never be told. Her most charming characteristic was her 
perfect sincerity and thoughtfulness for others. 

President McKinley had been a member of Congress for 
fourteen years, Governor of the state of Ohio, and constantly 
occupied with public affairs before he was nominated for the 
Presidency of the United States. Through all of these positions 
Mrs. McKinley had caused herself to be beloved on account 
of her amiability, patience and devotion to her husband and 
those who ministered to her wants. She was never able to do 
what she desired in the White House, yet the effort she made 



282 Part Taken by Women in American History 



was quite remarkable, in the face of her invalidism. The whole 
world was deeply touched by her sufferings when she was 
informed of the tragic death of her husband, and no one 
expected that she would survive as long as she did her hus- 
band's loss. Mrs. McKinley died in 1907, and her remains 
were placed beside those of her illustrious husband in the 
magnificent monument built by the Nation to perpetuate his 
memory. 

EDITH KERMIT CAROW ROOSEVELT. 

The fearful tragedy which made Vice-President Roosevelt 
President of the United States was so overwhelming in its 
effect that no one thought of the consequences on society of 
such a sudden change in the administration, or seemed to give 
any thought as to Mrs. Roosevelt's fitness for the position of 
Mistress of the White House. 

Fortunately there was no need of anxiety, as Mrs. 
Roosevelt was reared amidst the luxuries of life and had 
received every advantage for the cultivation of her superior 
mind. With a heart full of tenderness and absolutely without 
guile, Mrs. Roosevelt had little to learn when she assumed the 
duties of presiding over the White House. She was so well 
informed on all subjects of which many women are ignorant 
that she was well equipped to meet the most learned and cul- 
tured people of the land. She was so gracious and natural in 
her manner that she inspired the confidence and admiration of 
all who met her. She was a devoted wife and mother. She 
disliked notoriety and was so simple and refined in her tastes 
that critics had little ground for discussion as to what she did 
or what she wore. Her aversion to gossip and her reticence 
more than once silenced would-be detractors. Her influence was 
ever exerted for true loyalty, freedom and humanity and it 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 283 



can truthfully be said that her departure from the White House 
was much regretted. 

Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt was born at Norwich, 
Connecticut, August 6, 1861. She was the daughter of Charles 
and Gertrude Elizabeth Carow. She was educated at Corn- 
stock School, New York. Married Theodore Roosevelt at St. 
George's Church, London, December 2, 1886. She is the 
mother of four sons and one daughter. 

HELEN HERRON TAFT. 

The wife of the President of the United States was born in 
Cincinnati, June 2, 1861, and is the daughter of John William- 
son and Harriet Collins Herron. She was educated at private 
schools in Cincinnati, and at her home there was married June 
19, 1886, to William Howard Taft. Mrs. Taft is a woman of 
strong character and an equal degree of intensity in her aims; 
she is sympathetic, straightforward, sincere, with a whole- 
some contempt for artificial veneers, social shams and the 
glitter that has no gold behind it. But for impaired health, 
which beset her shortly after her occupancy of the White 
House, she would doubtless have made one of the most forceful 
and brilliant mistresses of the national executive mansion. 
Mrs. Taft is well and broadly educated, a trained musician 
and has had every advantage which culture anl travel can 
give. She has journeyed much, and lived in many lands. She 
is the mother of three children — two sons, Robert, a student at 
Yale, and Charles, a schoolboy at Groton, Massachusetts, and 
of one daughter, Miss Helen Taft, an accomplished graduate of 
Bryn Mawr, and now her mother's right hand in all social 
matters. 

MRS. JAMES RUSH. 

The ideas which Mrs. Otis applied with such charming results in Boston were 
also applied by Mrs. James Rush, of Philadelphia, to the social life of that city. 



284 Part Taken by Women in American History 

She, like Mrs. Otis, "had learned social democracy abroad where American women 
are still frequently obliged to go to learn it." In spite of our pretended democracy 
very frequently extreme formality and ridiculous social customs prevail in this 
country. Mrs. Rush's husband was one of the great physicians of his day, a man 
of wide cultivation and a great student, and their circle gave Mrs. Rush ample 
opportunity for the social reforms which she inaugurated. Among the first changes 
she made was the abolition of the day at home, and instead she established a 
fashionable hour for promenade, and at this time the walk to the river in the 
afternoon was quite the fashionable thing of Philadelphia social life. 

Mrs. Rush's dinners and receptions were quite affairs of state. She took 
these gatherings quite seriously and studied to bring together interesting people. 
Miss Wharton says Mrs. Rush's recipe for making up a party ran: "An ex-presi- 
dent, a foreign minister, a poet, two or three American artists, as many lady 
authors, a dozen merchants, lawyers, physicians, and others who are there on the 
simple footing of gentlemen — their wives, who come as respectable and agreeable 
'ladies' — fifty young men who are good beaux and dance well, fifty pretty girls 
without money but respectable, well dressed, lively, charming, are always indis- 
pensable at a party." 

The effect in a community of such a circle is incalculable. It breaks down 
prejudices and caste, it starts lines of thought and creates breadth of opinion. 
There is no activity of a community, political, social, philanthropic, educational, 
artistic, which does not receive impulses from circles made up as Mrs. Rush did 
hers on the base of character and achievement, which should be the basis for 
every social circle of every city of America, at our national Capital particularly. 

Mrs. Rush was a graduate of Mrs. Emma Willard's Seminary of Troy, 
New York. Mrs. Willard herself was a great social leader. The life at her 
seminary reflected in those years in a rather unusual way the strong social 
instincts of its great founder, and the effect was felt all over the country as those 
women went out into the various sections to establish their homes. 

MRS. HARRISON GRAY OTIS. 

Among the women conspicuous by their leadership during the '40's and '50's, 
none are more entitled to mention than Mrs. Harrison Gray Otis, of Boston, who, 
after several years' residence abroad, undertook the task of lifting the social life 
of Boston from its old ruts of pretentious formality and exclusiveness, breaking 
up its stiffness and bringing the social life to a more enjoyable and democratic 
status. Only such an independent and courageous spirit as Mrs. Otis possessed 
would have dared such an undertaking. Mrs. Otis was the daughter of one of 
Boston's richest merchants. Her name before her marriage was Elizabeth Board- 
man, and her husband, Harrison Gray Otis, was a nephew of James Otis and of 
Mercy Otis Warren. Several years after her marriage she was left a widow with 
three sons. At this time she became a social leader and it is said among her 
many admirers were Daniel Webster and Henry Clay. In 1835 she went to 
Europe to educate her sons, and while there studied and became a ready con- 
versationalist in several languages. The experience of these years in the flexible, 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 285 

lively, stimulating, intellectual circles of Europe had given Mrs. Otis convincing 
proof of what a woman might accomplish for a community if she handled the 
social circle with brains and independence. So, on her return to Boston, she set 
out at once to build up in her home a social circle where naturalness and sim- 
plicity should rule. At that time, elaborate heavy dinners were considered the 
proper social entertainment for elders and balls for the younger set. There was 
very little informal visiting. Mrs. Otis swept all of this out of the way and 
ignored functions, banquets and balls, but instead opened her house every Satur- 
day morning and every Thursday afternoon to her own set and many more invited 
guests. No aspiring worthy young writer, singer or artist of talent who fell in 
Mrs. Otis's way but was welcome in her circle. A big, wide-awake informal circle 
was soon about her, and instead of the previous form of entertainment, she sub- 
stituted simply tea and cakes. No matter what the occasion, "tea and cakes" were 
all her guests received, and when entertaining even President Fillmore, Lord 
Elgin and many other dignitaries, tea and cakes were the only refreshment at 
the affairs given in their honor. But her innovations were founded on good 
sense and genuine love for people, and therefore they were a success from the 
beginning. Her book "The Barclays of Boston" embodies her ideas, and is a 
valuable document on the manners and customs of Boston in her time. The 
results of Mrs. Otis's stand were altogether beneficent and stimulating. Mrs. 
Otis's great passion was the life and character of George Washington. On Febru- 
ary 22nd her house was always thrown open and she entertained elaborately. It 
was her work that made that date a legal holiday in Massachusetts and gave the 
strongest impulse toward making it a national day. It was natural that she 
should take a leading part in the enterprise of buying Mr. Vernon for a national 
monument, and the money which completed the purchase of Mt. Vernon was 
raised by a ball engineered by Mrs. Otis and given in the Boston Theatre on 
March 4, 1859. She was also one of the leading spirits in the ball to raise the 
money for the completion of the Bunker Hill Monument. The success of this 
affair was due largely to a woman — Mrs. Sarah Josepha Hale — the best-known 
editor at that time among American women. 

MRS. JOSHUA SPEED AND MRS. NINIAN EDWARDS. 

Mrs. Joshua Speed and Mrs. Ninian Edwards, of Springfield, Illinois, were 
conspicuous leaders in their home city, the capital of Illinois. They gathered 
about their table and in their drawing-rooms such men as Abraham Lincoln, 
Stephen A. Douglas, John J. Hardin, James Shields, the Edwardses, John Stuart, 
David Davis, and Edward D. Baker, all distinguished men in the history of our 
country. At this time all the women were interested in politics and national 
affairs. Throughout all the West, indeed, there flowed an enthusiastic spirit which 
made up for everything else. The women of the West were a part of the great 
growth of that country. They felt their responsibility in the westward move- 
ment, the obligations which had been laid upon them as wives and mothers, the 
obligation of establishing homes while their husbands established the towns and 
cities, of looking after the education of their children while their husbands made 



286 Part Taken by Women in American History 



the money to pay for these opportunities, and of preserving and developing the 
morals not only of their children but of their husbands and the men about them. 

ELIZABETH PALMER PEABODY. 

The persistency and skill of Miss Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, called "The 
Grandmother of Boston," in keeping an open house for social gatherings was one 
of the really valuable contributions to the social life of Boston. Her little shop 
has been called "a kind of Transcendental Exchange," and her home was the 
same, and it is said she was the first woman in Boston to give a regular evening 
to her friends, and to the last days of her life she continued these delightful social 
gatherings. 

MRS. BENJAMIN BUTLER. 

In many instances the wife of a great man has failed to prove herself 
worthy even of reflected glory, but the wife of Benjamin Butler was such an 
active factor in his career, along military as well as civil lines, that she well 
deserves a biography of her own. I give it, however, in the words of her dis- 
tinguished husband, as I have taken it from the story of his own life: "In the 
year 1830, I made the acquaintance of Fisher Ames Hildreth, the only son of Dr. 
Israil Hildreth, of Dracut, a town joining Lowell on the north side of the Merri- 
mac River. That acquaintance ripened into an affectionate friendship which ter- 
minated only with his death thirty years later. Doctor Hildreth had a family 
of seven children, six being daughters. The son, having invited me to the family 
gathering of the Thanksgiving feast I there first met Sarah, the second daughter. 
I was much impressed with her personal endowments, literary attainments and 
brilliancy of mind. Doctor Hildreth was an exceedingly scholarly and literary 
man, who was a great admirer of English poets, especially of Byron, Burns and 
Shakespeare, and had early taught the great poet's plays to his daughter, who in 
consequence developed a strong desire to go on the stage. Her father approved of 
this and she appeared with brilliant success at the Tremont Theatre in Boston 
and the Park Theatre in New York, her talent for the delineation of character 
being fully acknowledged by all. When our acquaintance began I had never seen 
her on the stage, her home life being sufficient to attract me. She declined to 
leave her profession, however, until I had won my spurs in my own profession. 
But a most cordial and affectionate intimacy existed between us, and in the spring 
of 1843, I visited her at Cincinnati, Ohio, where she was a star. There we became 
engaged and we were married on the sixteenth of May, 1844." 

Having thus concisely outlined his wife's girlhood and their courtship, the 
General proceeds with his tribute to her value as the helpmate of a public man: 
"My wife, with a devotion quite unparalleled," he says, "gave me her support by 
accompanying me, at my earnest wish, in every expedition in the War of the 
Rebellion and made for me a home wherever I was stationed in command. She 
went with me in the expedition to Ship Island after the attack upon New Orleans, 
where I was exposed to the greatest peril of my life, and only when my ship was 
hourly expected to go to pieces and when I appealed to her good sense that our 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 287 

children must not be bereft of both parents did she leave me to seek safety on 
board a gun boat. She suffered great privation and hardships on Ship Island, 
while we were awaiting the attack of New Orleans. 

"In 1864 she went with me to the field and remained with me during most 
of the campaign of 1864. Thus I had an advantage over most of my brother 
commanding-generals in the field in having an adviser, faithful, true and cool- 
headed, conscientious and conservative, whose conclusions could always be trusted. 
In the more military movements although she took full note she never interfered 
by suggestion. In other matters all that she agreed to was right. And if there 
is anything in my administration of affairs that may be questioned it is that in 
which I followed the bent of my own actions. 

"Returning home with me after I had retired to civil and political life, Mrs. 
Butler remained the same good adviser, educating and guiding her children during 
their young lives with such skill and success that neither of them ever did an act 
which caused me serious sorrow or gave me the least anxiety on their behalf. 
She made my home and family as happy as could be. She took her place in 
society when in Washington and maintained it with such grace and dignity and 
loveliness of character that no one ever said an unkind or a disparaging word 
of her." 

Mrs. Benjamin Butler died in Lowell in 1877. Her veracity and strong 
mental characteristics survived pre-eminently in her grandson, Butler Ames, the 
son of her eldest daughter, who has for some years represented the district of 
her birth in the National Congress. 

MRS. HENRY D. GILPIN. 

Mrs. Henry D. Gilpin was the widow of an eminent man, and had a ruling 
influence in Philadelphia owing to her intellectual superiority, her culture and 
refinement. She was the daughter of Dr. John Sibley, a distinguished physician in 
Louisiana until the close of his life and exercised throughout that state a wide 
influence. Leaving school at an early date she joined her father in Louisiana 
and married Josiah S. Johnston, then Judge of the Western District of that state. 
He was afterwards elected to the House of Representatives and served for three 
terms in the Senate of the United States. Mr. and Mrs. Johnston resided in 
Washington and while there their house was celebrated for its hospitality. After 
the death of Mr. Johnston, Mrs. Johnston became the wife of Honorable Henry 
D. Gilpin, United States Attorney for the District of Pennsylvania, and whom 
Mr. Van Buren, after he was elected President called to his cabinet as Solicitor 
of the Treasury and subsequently to the office of Attorney-General of the United 
States. Their home in Philadelphia was the resort of distinguished strangers, 
artists, connoisseurs. The library of Mr. Gilpin was perhaps the largest private 
collection in America and was bequeathed by him (after his wife's death), to the 
Historical Society of Pennsylvania. His works of art were left to the Pennsyl- 
vania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia and to this collection Mrs. Gilpin 
added the portraits of Mr. Gilpin and herself. Mrs. Gilpin took a prominent part 
in the great Sanitary Fair held in Philadelphia: was chairman of the Ladies' A fc 
Committee, which department alone realized thirty-five thousand dollars. 



288 Part Taken by Women in American History 



MARY THOMPSON HILL WILLARD. 

The mother of Frances E. Willard was born January 3, 1805, near North 
Danville, Vermont. She was the daughter of John Hill, of Lee, New Hampshire 
and Polly Thompson Hill. Mary Hill received her early education in the district 
schools. At that time these schools were largely taught by students or graduates 
of Dartmouth and Middlebury colleges. When she was twelve years of age her 
father removed to the Genessee Valley in Western New York, and in a new 
settlement fourteen miles from Rochester, known as the town of Ogden, Mary 
spent her early girlhood. At the age of fifteen she taught her first school and 
continued in the work as a teacher for eleven years. It is said "she possessed in 
an unusual degree a love for the beautiful, had a poetic faculty, a sweet voice, 
remarkable gifts in conversation, rare tact, delicacy and appreciation of the best 
in others." On November 3, 1831, she married Josiah F. Willard, the son of one 
of her father's neighbors. Four children were born. The second daughter was 
Frances Elizabeth Willard, who being rather a delicate child, her parents moved 
to Oberlin, Ohio, to secure for her educational advantages which were offered 
in that city. The lives of both Mr. and Mrs. Willard were beautiful and well 
ordered, their children sharing in every interest. They formed a circle for study 
long before women's clubs were heard of. Mr. Willard's health failing it became 
necessary for them to move to what was then the territory of Wisconsin, and in 
1846 they settled near Janesville, Wisconsin. They soon became the leaders in the 
church and affairs of the community. The Willards resided in this home for 
twelve years, and then moved to Evanston, Illinois, near Chicago in order that 
their daughters might be educated without being separated from their parents 
and the home life. In 1862 Mary, the younger daughter, died and in 1868 Mr. 
Willard passed away and in 1878 the son Oliver. 

Frances Willard in her early youth wrote these words of her mother. "I 
thank God for my mother as for no other gift of his bestowing. My nature is 
so woven into hers that I think it would almost be death for me to have the bond 
severed and one so much myself gone over the river. I verily believe I cling to 
her more than ever did any other of her children, perhaps because I am to need 
her more." "Enter every open door," was her advice to her daughter, and much 
of the distinguished career of Frances E. Willard was rendered possible through 
the courage and by the encouragement given her by her mother. Mrs. Willard 
preserved her mental powers to the last, and died after a brief illness, August 7, 
1892, at the age of nearly eighty-eight years. These words were said at her 
funeral : "She was a reformer by nature, she made the world's cause her own 
and identified herself with all its fortunes; nothing of its sadness, sorrow or pain 
was foreign to her. With a genius, a consecration, a beauty and a youth which 
had outlived her years, a soul eager still to know, to learn, to catch every word 
God had for her, she lived on, a center of joy and comfort in this most typical 
and almost best known home in America. She stood a veritable Matterhorn of 
strength to this daughter. Given a face like hers, brave, benignant, patient, yet 
resolute,, a will inflexible for duty, a heart sensitive to righteousness and truth, 
yet tender as a child's, given New England puritanism and rigor, its habits of 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 289 

looking deep into every problem, its consciousness full of God, its lofty ideal of 
freedom and its final espousal of every noble cause, and you and I shall never 
blame the stalwart heart, well-nigh crushed because mother is gone." Her house- 
hold name was "Saint Courageous." 

MRS. JOHN HAYS HAMMOND. 

The wife of this most distinguished mining engineer of the world was born 
Natalie Harris, the daughter of a Mississippi judge. Miss Harris was married 
to "the highest salaried man in the world" in 1881, and her early married 
experiences were sometimes of a very trying sort. To quote her own words: "We 
have suffered many hardships in common and during my early life at mines I 
have known what it was to be underfed and cold. I have slept with a baby on 
my breast, under a cart in the dust of the roads. We have traveled together in 
every known sort of vehicle — bullock wagon, Cape cart and private pullman — 
for days at a time my saddle has been my pillow." Mrs. Hammond has always 
been her distinguished husband's comrade, greatest admirer and best friend. She 
is the mother of four sons and one daughter. Mrs. Hammond is a brilliant 
woman and amply fulfils the demands made upon her, whether these take the 
form of philanthropic effort, as in serving as president of the woman's branch 
of the National Civic Federation, or high social position as wife of the special 
ambassador to the coronation of Britain's king. Mr. and Mrs. Hammond make 
their winter home at the nation's Capital and summer in their magnificent yacht 
"The Alcodo" or at their seashore residence at Gloucester, Massachusetts. 

MRS. CHAMP CLARK. 

Genevieve Davis Bennett, wife of Champ Clark, speaker of the House 
of Representatives, and daughter of Joel Davis Bennett and Mary McClung 
McAlfee, his wife, was born in Callaway County, Missouri ; educated in the public 
schools and at the Missouri State University, and is a member in good standing 
of the Presbyterian Church and the Congressional Club. On both sides of the 
house, Mrs. Clark is descended from colonial ancestors. Her parents were both 
from Kentucky, her mother being born in Mercer County and her father in Madi- 
son County. Both sides of her family took part in the French and Indian War, 
the American Revolution and the War of 1812. In the Civil War, which divided 
the states, Mrs. Clark had first cousins on both sides. In one instance, she had 
two cousins, brothers, who served on different sides of the great struggle. 

On her mother's side, Mrs. Clark comes of Scotch-Irish stock. Two of her 
ancestors, father and son, were at the battle of the Boyne; on her father's side 
she is descended from the first Colonial Governor of Virginia ; collaterally she is 
descended from George Rodgers Clark and Joseph Hamilton Daviess. Her grand- 
father, George McAlfee, served in the War of 1812 and was at the Battle of the 
Thames, fighting in Colonel Dick Johnson's regiment. Her great grandfather, 
George McAlfee, Sr., was with General George Rodgers Clark in his expedition 

19 



290 Part Taken by Women in American History 

against the British and Indians, and received for his services a grant of 1400 acres 
of land from Benjamin Harrison, then Governor of Virginia. 

On her father's side Mrs. Clark's great grandmother, Margaret Dozier, wife 
of Captain James Davis, was the heroine of a dramatic incident during the closing 
months of the Revolutionary War, which has been handed down by tradition and 
told in all the histories of Kentucky. Captain Davis had placed his family, con- 
sisting of his wife and four children, a negro slave woman and her child, an infant, 
at the fort (which was under the command of Captain Jesse Davis) while he went 
with a body of troops under the command of Colonel Floyd, of Virginia, to find 
and punish a band of marauding Indians for their depredations committed in the 
neighborhood of Blue Licks. While they were gone, the Indians surprised the 
fort, killed all the inmates with great slaughter and burnt the fort. Mrs. Davis, 
Mrs. Clark's great-grandmother, escaped with her infant son, and the negro ser- 
vant also had the good fortune to escape with her child. Everybody else was 
killed but the three little Davis girls, Margaret, Rebecca and Martha or (as they 
were then called Peggy, Becky and Patty). These children, according to tra- 
dition were saved on account of their remarkable beauty, the Indians being 
actuated by the desire to extort a great ransom made them captive. In the mean- 
time, the mother and servant with their children undertook to make their way 
to the nearest station to get someone to come and rescue her little girls, but they 
lost their way in the darkness and wandered around and were picked up after 
three days and taken to the station. The Indians in the meantime had gotten 
such a start with the children that it was impossible to overtake them. They 
were taken to Detroit, and kept there for eighteen months under the care of 
Major DePeyster who was then commandant at the fort ; the children were treated 
with every consideration. Major DePeyster was a man of considerable taste and 
accomplishments. His wife was childless and conceived a great fancy for little 
Peggy Davis and her sisters, and was anxious to adopt Peggy who was the oldest 
and promised her a life of luxury if she would consent, but young as she was 
she was not to be weaned from her home and country. The children were finally 
returned to their parents in Madison County, Kentucky, grew up to womanhood 
and married three brothers, Joseph, Elijah and Moses Bennett, from Maryland, 
and from them have descended some of the most notable families in America. It 
is from Peggy Davis who married Joseph Bennett that Mrs. Champ Clark is 
descended. 

BELLE CASE LA FOLLETTE. 

Mrs. Belle Case La Follette was born in April, 1859, at Summit, Juneau 
County, Wisconsin. Pier father's name was Anson Case. Her mother was Mary 
Nesbit. Their home, at the time of Mrs. La Follette's childhood, was in Bar- 
aboo, Wisconsin. She attended the public schools of that city and was a graduate 
later of the State University, winning at this institution in 1879 the Lewis Prize. 
In 1881 she became the wife of Robert M. La Follette, a lawyer, who had formerly 
been her classmate at school. Taking an active interest in her husband's career 
she decided to enter the Wisconsin Law School, where she was admitted in 1883, 
graduating in 1885. She was the first woman to receive a diploma from that 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 291 

institution. During that year Mr. La Follette was elected to Congress, which pre- 
vented Mrs. La Follette from taking up the active duties of the profession which 
she had chosen. Mr. La Follette's career has been most successful. Having been 
elected to the United States Senate, he to-day occupies one of the most conspicuous 
positions as a member of that body. He has forged rapidly to the front by his 
independent thoughts and ideas, and to-day is the leader of what is known as the 
progressive element in politics. Their home is in Madison, Wisconsin. Mrs. 
La Follette has proved herself a most worthy and capable companion for her dis- 
tinguished husband in his political and professional career. She is generally known 
in Washington social circles as one of the brainy women of the day. Their 
daughter, Fola, has entered the theatrical life as a profession. 

BERTHA HONORE PALMER. 

Bertha Honore Palmer was born in Louisville, Kentucky, where she passed 
her childhood, receiving a common school education. She afterward took a course 
in the Georgetown, D. C. Convent, where she graduated in 1871. Shortly after- 
ward she became the wife of Potter Palmer, the Chicago millionaire, who was 
many years her senior. Since her marriage she has been a recognized social 
leader of that city. She is an accomplished linguist, musician and woman of 
marked executive ability. She was chosen president of the Board of Lady Man- 
agers of the Exposition of 1893, and in 1891 went to Europe in the interest of 
this section and succeeded in interesting many of the prominent women of Europe 
in the women's department of the World's Fair, and much of the success of this 
department is due to her work. Since the death of her husband she has spent 
much of her time abroad, and during the reign of King Edward, of England, 
occupied a house in London, where she entertained extensively gaining for her- 
self a high position among the social leaders of the most exclusive and royal 
circles. She keeps her residence in Chicago, Illinois, where her large interests 
are located. 

IDA LEWIS. 

Is better known as the "Grace Darling of America." She 
was born in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1841. Her father was 
Captain Hosea Lewis, and was keeper of the Lime Rock light- 
house in Newport harbor. She early became her father's 
assistant in his duties at this station. She made her first res- 
cue when but seventeen years of age, saving the crew of a 
boat lost in a storm near the lighthouse, and landed them in 
safety at Fort Adams, when even men did not venture to launch 
a boat to aid the helpless men. She received from the United 



292 Part Taken by Women in American History 

States Government a gold medal, the first ever given to a 
woman; a silver medal from the Humane Society of Massa- 
chusetts, and also one from the Life-saving Benevolent Society 
of New York, and her home is filled with testimonials in rec- 
ognition of her heroism. She is one of the most distinguished 
examples of American heroism among women. 

MARY ELIZABETH LEESE. 

Born in Pennsylvania, September II, 1853. Her father was Joseph P. Clyens 
and her mother, Mary Elizabeth Murray Clyens. In 1873 sne married Charles L. 
Leese, and has since been a resident of Wichita, Kansas. She took up the study 
of law, and has been actively engaged in politics of recent years. The political 
revolution in Kansas brought her to the front and she became prominent as a 
Populist leader and through her bitter opposition to the re-election of Senator 
John J. Ingalls. During the campaign of General Weaver, the Populist candidate, 
she accompanied him and spoke in his interest from public platforms. She has 
occupied the position of president of the board of trustees of some of the char- 
itable institutions of the state of Kansas, and other public offices. Her items are 
radical and her cause has been most aggressive, which has brought much criticism 
upon her methods. 

ELIZABETH TILLINGHAST LAWTON. 

Elizabeth Tillinghast Lawton, a direct descendant of Elder Pardon Tilling- 
hast, the noted Baptist Divine, was born July 15, 1832, and died March 1, 1904. 
Mrs. Lawton was one of the most widely known and highly respected residents 
in Newport County, Rhode Island, and was always prominently identified with 
the educational progress of Tiverton, Rhode Island. She was one of the first 
women in the country on a school committee, serving as chairman and superin- 
tendent of schools, and for years was the only woman holding the office of super- 
intendent. She was an unusually strong character with a keen intellect which 
she retained up to the time she was stricken with apoplexy which almost imme- 
diately caused her death. It was always said that in all action she showed the 
marked characteristics of her distinguished ancestor, who succeeded Roger Wil- 
liams in his labors in the First Baptist Church, Providence. 

ELEANOR BOYLE EWING SHERMAN. 

Mrs. Sherman was born in Lancaster, Ohio, October 24, 1824. She was 
descended from a long line of Scotch and Irish ancestors. Her father, Thomas 
Ewing, was one of the most eminent lawyers of his day and was twice a Senator 
of the United States and twice a member of a President's Cabinet. Her mother. 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 293 

Maria Boyle, was a woman of strong character and gentle mien. When a boy 
of nine years, William Tecumseh Sherman was adopted by Mr. Ewing on account 
of the strong affection he bore his family, and at the age of seventeen Eleanor 
Ewing became engaged to young Sherman. They were married May I, 1850, in 
Washington, her father, at that time, being a member of President Taylor's Cabinet. 
Her husband resigned from the army in 1853 to accept a position in a bank in 
California, and there they went to reside, returning East again in 1857. During 
the Civil War, not only was Mrs. Sherman's husband fighting for the Union, but 
her brothers were also in the army. When grave charges and newspaper criticism 
were brought upon her husband she went personally to Washington and saw Presi- 
dent Lincoln and convinced him that matters had been misrepresented to him. 
She again rose to her husband's defense at the close of the war when he was 
severely criticised for his part in the terms of the Johnson Treaty. After the 
war the family resided in St. Louis, where Mrs. Sherman was most conspicuous 
in her charitable work for the Roman Catholic Church, of which she was a devoted 
member. In 1869 her husband's promotion to the command of the United States 
army took the family to Washington, and here they resided until his retirement. 
Mrs. Sherman organized the Aloysius Aid Society and inaugurated this by a great 
charity fair held in Washington. She was very sympathetic to those persons with- 
out friends in the Capital city. Their family consisted of seven children, two of 
whom died when quite young. The eldest daughter, Minnie, was married in 1874 
to Lieutenant Thomas William Fitch, Assistant Engineer, U. S. N. On May 18, 
1879, their youngest son, Thomas Ewing Sherman, entered the Order of Jesuits, 
and was ordained in July, 1889. Their daughter Eleanor became the wife of 
Lieutenant Alexander Montgomery Thackara, U. S. N., in 1880. Lieutenant 
Thackara resigned from the navy and later entered the consular service of the 
United States and is now Consul General at Berlin. ' Philemon Tecumseh Sher- 
man, another son, was a member of the New York bar. Rachel Ewing Sherman 
married in December, 1891, Dr. Paul Thorndyke. Mrs. Sherman died in New 
York City November 28, 1888, and was buried in St. Louis, where General Sher- 
man now rests beside her. 

MARGARET STEWART SHERMAN. 

Mrs. Sherman was the only child of Judge Stewart of Mansfield, Ohio. 
She was well educated. On December 31, 1848, she married John Sherman then 
a young lawyer of some prominence, a brother of General W. T. Sherman, and 
later U. S. Senator from Ohio. During President Hayes' term, Senator Sherman 
was Secretary of the Treasury, and Secretary of State in President McKinley's 
Cabinet. Mrs. Sherman fulfilled with dignity and credit her part in all the posi- 
tions of honor to which her husband was called by the people of his state. 

CLARA HARRISON STRANAHAN. 

Mrs. Clara Harrison Stranahan was born in Westfield, Mass., and in 1879 
she became the wife of Hon. J. S. T. Stranahan, of Brooklyn, New York. In 



294 Part Taken by Women in American History 

all the active career of her husband, both political and municipal, Mrs. Stranahan 
has been a powerful factor and a recognized leader in the city of Brooklyn. Mr. 
Stranahan received an unusual mark of esteem from the people of Brooklyn who 
erected, while he was living, in June 1891, a bronze statue to his honor under 
the title "First Citizen of Brooklyn." 

KATHERINE TINGLEY. 

Mrs. Tingley was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, July 6, 1852. Was 
descended from one of the early colonial families and was the daughter of James 
P. and Susan Wescott. She attended the public schools and had private instruction. 
In 1879 she married T. B. Tingley, an inventor. She is the leader and official 
head for life of the universal brotherhood of the Theosophical Society throughout 
the world, "an outer head" of the inner school of theosophy, the successor of 
Blavatsky. From 1896-7 she conducted two theosophy crusades around the world, 
established relief work for Indian famine sufferers, and founded the International 
Brotherhood League and a summer home for children at Spring Valley, New 
Jersey, in 1897. Her claim for fame rests upon the society and academy, or as 
she calls it, the School of Antiquity and the Raja Yoga Academies, located at 
Point Loma and San Diego, California. She has founded three academies for 
boys and girls in Cuba; was one to organize relief corps in New York, and helped 
to establish a hospital at Montauk Point, New York, for the sick and wounded 
soldiers of the Spanish American War. She was quite active in carrying on this 
humanitarian work in Cuba, where the Government granted her permission to 
establish hospitals both in Cuba and Manila, P. I. She is the owner of the Isis 
Theatre in California, and of large properties in California, Sweden, England and 
San Juan Hill, Cuba. She is the editor of the Century Path, a theosophy publica- 
tion, published at Point Loma, California. 

MRS. JULIUS C. BURROWS. 

The maiden name of Mrs. Julius C. Burrows, of Michigan, was Frances L. 
Peck, daughter of Horace M. Peck and Emilia Barnes of best New England stock. 
She was born in Michigan, and is a graduate of Rockford College, Illinois. Mrs. 
Burrows was always active in church work and the club life of Kalamazoo, Mich- 
igan, until the election of her husband to the United States Senate, which has 
necessitated her residence in Washington much of the time. 

She is a charter member of the national organization of the Daughters of 
the American Revolution, was vice-president-general of that society, was national 
president of the Children's Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, 
is a member of the Society of Colonial Dames, was president of the National 
Relief Association organized at the time of the Cuban War, which accomplished 
much helpful work. 

During Senator Burrows' thirty-two years of official life in Washington, 
Mrs. Burrows has been one of the most influential women in society, charity, and 
is prominent in all good works. 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 295 
emilie schaumburg. 

Miss Emilie Schaumburg was a Philadelphia social celebrity. Her grand- 
father, Colonel Bartholemew Schaumburg, of New Orleans, was a ward of the 
Landgrave of Hesse Cassel, and educated under the auspices of Frederick the 
Great at the German Military School. He was commissioned an officer in the 
Grenadier Guards, and was sent to this country as adjutant and aide-de-camp to 
General Count Donop. Colonel Schaumburg, however, never joined Count Donop, 
as their vessel became separated from the fleet in a storm and came up the Dela- 
ware, anchoring at Newcastle where they learned the nature of the struggle for 
independence. Preferring to fight for a people struggling for their independence 
rather than for England they joined General Washington and were incorporated 
into General Sullivan's German Legion and served loyally under Washington 
throughout the Revolutionary War. Colonel Schaumburg sacrificed his title and 
much of his property by espousing the American cause. He was later earnestly 
solicited by his relatives to return to Germany, but he refused and married a lady 
who was a descendant of a noted Indian chief of the Lenape Tribe who signed 
the Treaty of 1685 with William Penn, selling him the large tract of land on 
which Philadelphia is situated. Miss Schaumburg is the eighth descendant in a 
direct line from this aboriginal princess, and was born in New Orleans, though 
she spent most of her life in Philadelphia. The early portion of her education was 
largely directed by the Honorable H. D. Gilpin. She had the added accomplish- 
ment of speaking several modern languages. When the Prince of Wales visited 
Philadelphia with his suite, he spent the only evening of his stay at the Academy 
of Music. He was greatly attracted by the beauty of Miss Schaumburg, and it is 
said that he declared her the most beautiful woman he had seen in America. When 
the great Sanitary Fair was held in Philadelphia, a play was given in which the 
principal parts were taken by the leading society people of Philadelphia. The 
one given under the title "The Ladies' Battle," in which Miss Schaumburg sus- 
tained the principal role, created a great furore and it was remembered as a piece 
of acting unrivaled on the American stage. Miss Schaumburg was invited to 
Chicago when the fair was given there, to take the leading part, and she sustained 
with credit the great role of Peg Woffington. Miss Schaumburg frequently lent 
her talent to the cause of charity, and became quite well known throughout the 
United States for her remarkable gifts in this line. 

MARY ELIZABETH LOGAN TUCKER. 

Mary Elizabeth Logan Tucker, daughter of Major-General and Senator 
John A. and Mary S. Logan, was born in Benton, Franklin County, Illinois. In 
personal appearance and disposition she is strikingly like her illustrious father, 
and has many of his features and traits of character. She was educated at the 
Convent of the Visitation, Georgetown, D. C. one of the oldest schools in the 
United States. She was the organizer and founder of the alumnae of her alma 
mater, March 3, 1893, and was elected and served as its first president. Mrs. 
Tucker was married on the twenty-seventh day of November, 1877, in the home 



296 Part Taken by Women in American History 

of her parents in Chicago, Illinois. Not long after her marriage she removed to 
Santa Fe, New Mexico. General Logan having secured the appointment of her 
husband as an officer in the United States army he was ordered to that remote 
station. Notwithstanding her youth she adapted herself to all the inconveniences 
of army life which existed twenty-five years ago. 

By her keen intelligence, happy disposition, knowledge of human nature, 
generous hospitality and versatility in originating entertainments, and helpfulness 
in all efforts for the betterment of conditions and welfare of the army people, and 
in all emergencies, she won for herself great popularity and the highest esteem 
of the citizens of Santa Fe and her associates in the army. In 1886 her husband 
was ordered to Washington, hence it happened they were both with her parents 
when her distinguished father died. They remained with the widowed mother for 
eight years. Part of this time Mrs. Tucker was engaged as one of the staff of 
the Home Magazine, then published in Washington, D. C. Her literary career 
was interrupted by her husband's orders to other posts of duty as an army 
officer, including the stations of St. Paul, Chicago and Manila, P. I. Mrs. Tucker 
is the mother of three sons, two of whom are dead. Her youngest son died in 
Manila, August 5, 1905. Mrs. Tucker is a woman of marked ability, keen per- 
ception, and dauntless moral courage. She has traveled extensively, is an omniv- 
orous reader, and has an unusually extensive knowledge of affairs political and 
otherwise, her perfect taste guiding her aright in the refinements of life. She is 
deeply interested and ever ready to join in every movement for the uplift of man- 
kind and the advancement of civilization. She is a member of the Society of the 
Daughters of the American Revolution, Civic Federation and the Society of the 
Army of the Tennessee, and is to deliver an address before this Society at the 
meeting, October 11, 191 1, at Council Bluffs, Iowa. 

MRS. CHARLES EMORY SMITH. 

Was the granddaughter of the late Hon. Charles Nichols, United States 
Minister to The Hague, and great-granddaughter of Benjamin Romaine, at one 
time second comptroller of New York City. Her husband, Hon. Charles Emory 
Smith, was at one time United States Minister to St. Petersburg, and afterwards 
in the cabinets of Presidents McKinley and Roosevelt as postmaster-general. 

CAROLINE E. POREE. 

Was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, September 30, 1842. One of her 
ancestors was John Baptiste Poree, Counsel of America, in 1812. She was for 
thirty-eight years assistant in the Boston Public Library, in charge of the Men's 
Reading Room, Periodical Department. For many years she has been an assistant 
in the new Library of Copley Square. 

MARY R. WILCOX. 

Was the daughter of Hon. John A. Wilcox and Mary Donelson Wilcox. 
Her mother enjoyed the distinction of being the first child born in the White 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 297 

House. She is the granddaughter of Major Andrew J. Donelson, Minister to 
Prussia in 1846, and Mrs. Emily A. Donelson, who presided over the White 
House during the administrations of Andrew Jackson, her uncle. She was for 
some years the recording secretary-general of the Daughters of the American 
Revolution, and is to-day a clerk in one of the departments of the United States 
Government 

EMILY WARREN ROEBLING. 

No American woman is entitled to a higher place in the role of honor than 
Emily Warren as a sister, daughter, wife, mother and gifted woman. At a very 
early age the noble traits of her character were manifested by her efforts to be 
helpful in the home of her childhood, especially in her devotion to her brother, 
Gouverneur Kemble Warren, which continued during his eventful life. 

She was born September 23, 1843, at Cold Spring on the Hudson and was 
one of the eleven children of Sylvanus Warren. Her girlhood was not unlike 
that of many of the girls of that day. She was educated at the then noted Convent 
of the Visitation, Georgetown, D. C, where she graduated. The Civil War 
having broken out in the meantime and her brother, Gouverneur, having risen to 
the distinction of major-general, and he being in command of the Fifth Army 
Corps of the army of the Potomac, then in Virginia, Emily was impatient, after 
her graduation, to visit him in camp. Obtaining permission, she hastened to 
present herself at headquarters and one can readily imagine the sensation which 
the appearance of this beautiful, accomplished, enthusiastic, patriotic young woman 
created. She immediately interested herself in the work offered about her; she 
cheered the despondent, wrote letters for the sick and carried sunshine into the 
hospitals and camps. Colonel Washington A. Roebling, the skilled young engineer, 
was then a member of General Warren's staff, and when she returned home she 
was engaged to be married to this rising young engineer. They were married 
January 18, 1865, and after the close of the war, Colonel Roebling took his bride 
to Mulhausen, Thuringen, Germany, his birthplace. Here he was to study European 
construction and submarine foundations as his father, Colonel John A. Roebling, 
was at that time working out the problems connected with the building of the 
Brooklyn Bridge. While at Mulhausen, the only son of Colonel and Mrs. Roebling, 
John A. Roebling, was born. On their return to this country, Colonel Roebling 
associated himself with his father in this great engineering work, and in 1869 his 
father was killed while making the first survey for this work. Then the respon- 
sibility of carrying out the plan for this gigantic undertaking fell upon Colonel 
Roebling and he, through his constant and untiring devotion, ultimately sank 
under the strain, and became a bed-ridden invalid. At this critical moment, Emily 
Warren Roebling proved her rare ability, dauntless courage, keen sagacity and 
true wifely devotion. It was she who stood between her husband and failure. 
With matchless diplomacy she smoothed out all friction between the municipal 
authorities, rival engineers, and ambitious men, in addition to ministering to her 
husband's comfort and relieving his suffering. She filled his mind with hope and 
kept him hourly informed of the progress of the work, gained by sitting near his 
bedside, telescope in hand, faithfully reporting to him every step in the progress 



298 Part Taken by Women in American History 

of the work. So correct were her observations, from their home on Brooklyn 
Heights, that he was able to write out instructions and plan for the work of the 
assisting engineers and laboring force. Armed with these drawings, the faithful 
wife could be seen daily wending her way to the engineers and workmen, explain- 
ing to them explicitly and intelligently Colonel Roebling's directions. Few women 
have ever had higher tribute paid them than was given to Mrs. Roebling, when 
Honorable Abram S. Hewitt, the orator of the day, on the occasion of the open- 
ing of the bridge, in eloquent terms connected the name of Mrs. Roebling with 
that of Colonel Roebling as deserving equal share in his unparalleled achievement. 
That the name of her revered brother, Gouverneur Kemble Warren, should not 
be forgotten, she caused to be erected a magnificent bronze statue to his memory, 
on Little Round Top, on the Battlefield of Gettysburg. After Colonel and Mrs. 
Roebling's removal to Trenton, New Jersey, where she spent the last years of 
her life, she busied herself in assisting Colonel Roebling in arranging a wonder- 
ful collection of books, curios, gems and mineralogical specimens and in interest- 
ing herself in social, political, philanthropic and patriotic work. She traveled 
extensively and was presented, in 1896, to Queen Victoria in London and sub- 
sequently, at court, in Russia. On her return from this trip, which she made 
in company with Mrs. John A. Logan, she gave a most interesting illustrated 
lecture on, "What an American Woman Saw at the Coronation of Nicholas the 
Second." The proceeds of this she gave to charity. In 1898 she was among 
the most active members of the Relief Society which did such noble work during 
the Spanish War, giving her money, time and strength to the hospital work of 
this association. She was a graduate from the Law School of the New York 
University in 1899, the subject of her graduating essay being "The Wife's Dis- 
abilities." She was chosen as the essayist of her class and had previously won 
the prize for the best essay written by any member of her class. She was active 
in the work of the Daughters of the American Revolution, at one time vice-presi- 
dent-general of that organization, and one of the most important and able members 
of this great woman's organization. She represented the women of New Jersey 
on the Board of Lady Managers at the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893. 
Mrs. Roebling was the first vice-president of the Society of Colonial Dames, 
and a member of the Colonial Daughters of the seventeenth century, Holland Dames 
of America, the Huguenot Society, honorary official of the George Washington 
Memorial Association, a member of the Woman's Branch of the New Jersey 
Historical Society, the New York Historical Society, the Virginia Society for 
the Preservation of Historical objects and places, the Revolutionary Memorial 
Society of New Jersey, the Woman's Law Class of the New York University, 
an officer of the New York State Federation of Clubs and at one time president 
of the Georgetown Visitation Academy Alumnae Association. Her literary attain- 
ments were of the highest order. Her articles which appeared in the Brooklyn 
papers in 1882 and 1883, in defense of Colonel Roebling's methods in the con- 
struction of the Brooklyn Bridge, were so able that they completely routed his 
enemies, men who had conspired to defraud him of the glory she had helped him 
to win in the successful completion of that structure. 

Her biography of Colonel Roebling, contributions to the press on philan- 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 299 

thropy and economic questions, "The Journal of Reverend Silas Constant," her 
able defense of her brother, General Warren; reports and lectures written by 
her, all prove the delicacy of her taste, purity of her mind, earnestness of thought, 
indefatigable energy, inborn patriotism and unwavering loyalty to her husband 
and family. Her judgment of men and measures was singularly unerring for a 
woman ; her ambitions were laudable and did credit to her intelligence and noble 
character. Her death in 1903 was an irreparable loss to her family, the com- 
munity, the poor and society. In her brief life she accomplished more than has 
been done by many men. 

MRS. JAMES TANNER. 

Mero L. White was born at Jefferson, Schoharie County, September 13, 
1844, the daughter of Alfred S. and Julia Snyder White. She was educated at 
the New York Conference Seminary at Charlotteville, New York. At the age 
of thirteen she passed an unusually brilliant examination and for several seasons 
thereafter was a very successful teacher of a district school. On November 17, 
1866, she became the wife of James Tanner, and in 1869 they moved to the city 
of Brooklyn, where she continued to live until 1889, then removing to Washing- 
ton upon the appointment of her husband as United States Commissioner of 
Pensions, resided there until her tragic death through an automobile accident 
on June 29, 1904, at Helena, Montana. She left surviving her husband and four 
children, James Alfred, an attorney-at-law in Philadelphia, Earle White, a cap- 
tain in the Eleventh Infantry, United States Army, and two daughters, Ada and 
Antoinette, who reside with their father who is the Register of Wills for the 
District of Columbia. The mental endowments of Mrs. Tanner were of a very 
superior order. She was a deep, careful and omnivorous reader of the best 
literature of her day. Her nature was very sympathetic and at the same time 
very practical. She possessed to a marked degree executive capacity and force. 
The misfortune and helplessness of others always appealed to her most strongly. 
During her twenty years' life in the city of Brooklyn she was a most earnest 
and efficient worker on the board of directors of the Brooklyn Nursery, one of 
the most efficient and helpful institutions of its kind in the United States. She 
was especially interested in the welfare of the old comrades of her husband who 
survived the Civil War and struck many a blow in their defense and for their 
help. Thousands of personal appeals made to her by or for those in distress 
met with instant and helpful action. During the time of the Spanish-American 
War her ability, resourcefulness, and executive capacity came into full play. She 
had been allied for years with the national body of the Red Cross and during 
that struggle she was a member of the executive committee. Her fellow mem- 
bers, recognizing her peculiar fitness, gave her a very free hand and her work 
was on large lines. Possessing for many years the personal acquaintance and 
friendship of President McKinley and Secretary of War Alger, she was par- 
ticularly well situated to do effective work, and many a negligence and much 
wrong doing was corrected by a quiet word from her to the President or the 
Secretary, and thousands upon thousands of sick and wounded soldiers were the 
unknowing beneficiaries of her words and deeds. It would take no small volume 
to give in full a statement of her work at that time. Besides all this, she took 



300 Part Taken by Women in American History 

a great interest in legislation putting the rights of womankind on a much more 
just basis than had hitherto existed. It is owing to her efforts and those of 
some of her intimates that a law was enacted by Congress which wiped out the 
hideous monstrosity of a father having power through his will to bequeath away 
from the control and care of the mother who bore it, a minor child. On June 
29, 1906, while accompanying her husband, who was then commander-in-chief 
of the Grand Army of the Republic, on a tour over the United States, and 
while being escorted around the city of Helena in an automobile ride, there was 
an accident, resulting in the upsetting of the machine and the fatal injuring of 
Mrs. Tanner, who died on the spot forty minutes later. By the personal direc- 
tion of President Roosevelt and because of the great interest she had always 
taken in behalf of the veterans of the Civil War, a beautiful plot was assigned 
to her in the National Cemetery at Arlington alongside of the main thorough- 
fare, near the auditorium, where, on each recurring Memorial Day, the waves 
of oratory and music will roll above her last resting place. This seems all the 
more appropriate by reason of the fact that prior to her time, interment in the 
National Cemetery of wives or widows of private soldiers had been prohibited. 
Against this prohibition she had made strong protest, and had secured the kindly 
and favorable interest of General Robert Shaw Oliver, assistant Secretary of 
War. After her death General Oliver, while acting Secretary of War, issued the 
order which annulled the long time prohibition. There her remains were laid 
to rest on the 5th of July, 1906, and over them her husband's comrades erected 
a beautiful memorial. With large work, well done on a high plane, her place, 
as one of those women because of whose living the world is better, is secured 
for all time. 

MRS. LUKE E. WRIGHT. 

Wife of the ex-Secretary of War was Miss Kate Semmes, daughter of 
Admiral Semmes, C. S. N. Mrs. Wright is one of the many charming Southern 
women who have served in the official social coterie at Washington. Mrs. Wright 
is an experienced hostess and versatile woman, and wherever her lines have 
been cast she has taken a leading place in society. Mrs. Wright is the mother 
of three sons, who were in service during the Spanish-American War; and two 
daughters, one of whom is Mrs. John H. Watkins, of New York, and the other, 
Mrs. Palmer. 

AMEY WEBB WHEELER. 

Mrs. Amey Webb Wheeler was born in Providence, Rhode Island. Her 
father's name was Henry Aborn Webb; her mother's, Amey Gorham Webb. 
She is descended from Roger Williams and Gregory Dexter. Married June 24, 
1881, Benjamin Ide Wheeler, the distinguished university professor. Mrs. 
Wheeler lived in Germany for four years; one year at Harvard (1885-6); at 
Cornell University, 1886-99, and since 1899, at Berkeley, California. 

MRS. MARTIN. 

The wife of a former instructor in the Harvard Aeronautical Society and 
later instructor in the Grahame-White School of Aviation in France. Though 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington ^oi 



an Englishwoman she is an American by adoption. She has not only made 
many flights with her husband in the machine which he designed, belonging to 
the Harvard Society, but she is now flying in Grahame-White's Baby Biplane, a 
small copy of the Farman machine. 

HARRIET QUIMBY. 

Miss Quimby is the first woman to have her own monoplane and take up 
seriously the science of aviation. She is an enthusiast in this sport and has 
entered the Moisant School of Aviation at Garden City, Long Island. Several 
other women have made short flights alone at Mineola, namely, Mrs. E. Edwards, 
Miss Mary Shea, who was winner of the Bridgeport (Connecticut) post com- 
petition and made a flight, on May 14th, of about five miles from the Bridgeport 
Aerodrome out over Long Island Sound and back. 

LILLIE IRENE JACKSON. 

Miss Lillie Irene Jackson was born in Parkersburg, West Virginia. She 
is descended from one of the leading families of the South. Her father, Honor- 
able John J. Jackson, was Federal District Judge in West Virginia for over a 
quarter of a century, and her grandfather, General Jackson, was connected with 
the distinguished Stonewall Jackson of Confederate fame. She is one of the 
leading women of the South in the progressive work of the present time. She 
was a member of the Board of Lady Managers from the state of West Virginia, 
at the Columbian Exposition in 1893. 

FLORENCE PULLMAN LOWDEN. 

Born Florence Sanger Pullman, August 11, 1868, eldest daughter of George 
M. and Harriet Sanger Pullman. Mrs. Lowden is a woman of rare talents and 
attainments. Her qualities of head and heart are of the highest order. From 
the day of her graduation from Miss Brown's school in New York in 1889, she 
was the constant companion of her father, entering into all of his philanthropic 
plans with enthusiasm. Since his death she has conscientiously carried out 
many of his expressed wishes. April 29, 1896, she was married to Frank O. 
Lowden, a promising young lawyer of Chicago. It would be impossible for 
any young woman to enter more heartily into all the aspirations of her husband 
than does Mrs. Lowden, and notwithstanding her youth and the fact that she 
was the daughter of affluence all her life, she took upon herself the multiplicity of 
interests that are supposed to devolve upon persons embarking upon the sea of 
public favor. She nobly seconded every movement made by her husband upon 
his election to the Congress of the United States, from the day she made her 
debut into Washington official and social circles to that of Mr. Lowden's retire- 
ment, March, 191 1, Mrs. Lowden was a decided leader. Her dignified and yet 
cordial manner, her perfect equipoise under all circumstances, her culture and 
quick intelligence, won for her the admiration of all who knew her. Mrs. Low- 
den is the mother of four beautiful children — one son and three daughters — 



302 Part Taken by Women in American History 

to whom she is a wonderfully devoted mother, not forgetting meanwhile that 
her companionship means much to her widowed mother in her invalidism and 
loneliness. 

ELIZA FRANKLIN ROUTT. 

Was born in 1842, in Springfield, Illinois, of Kentucky ancestry. Her 
grandfather, Colonel William F. Elkin, was one of the famous "long nine" that 
represented Sangamon County in the legislative session of 1836 and 1837. Each 
of these men were six feet tall. Abraham Lincoln was one of these stalwarts, 
whose efforts that year secured the location of the capital of the state for their 
county. Her father, Franklin Pickerell was a noted Kentuckian. She was given 
an excellent education, which was completed by travel and study abroad. When 
Colonel John L. Routt was second assistant postmaster-general in 1864, he married 
Mrs. Routt in her uncle's home in Decatur, Illinois, and she became an addition 
to the social circles of Washington City. In 1875, General Logan secured the 
appointment of Colonel Routt as territorial governor of Colorado from Presi- 
dent Grant. In 1876, Colorado became a state and Colonel Routt was made its 
first governor and was re-elected. Mrs. Routt was a woman of remarkable 
ability, strong character and great culture, adding much to the lustre of her 
husband's administration. She brought up the daughters of Colonel Routt by 
his first wife, with devotion and care and they were among Denver's most 
prominent women. 

MARY A. WOODS. 

Miss Woods, known as "The second Betsy Ross," has charge of the making 
of the American flags for the United States Navy in the equipment department. 
Miss Woods was formerly a well-known dressmaker of New York City when she 
decided to take up this work, and applied for the position at the New York Navy 
Yard, receiving the appointment of "quarterwoman" in the equipment depart- 
ment, where she has been for more than a quarter of a century. She superintends 
the cutting of all of the flags, the stripes and stars and every portion which 
must be most exact. In this bureau is made not only the flags of our own 
country for use on all our ships and navy yards of the United States, but the 
flags of other maritime nations. Miss Woods, herself, has taught her assistants 
all they know of flag-making. In one year 140,000 yards of bunting were used 
and $70,000 expended in this work by the Government. When our fleet started 
for the Pacific all the signals were changed, and all the flags had to be altered 
accordingly — 408 in all, and forty-three foreign ensigns. The most complicated 
flag in existence to-day is that of San Salvador, and the one flag on which the 
front is not the same as the back is that of Paraguay. 

MRS. JOHN S. FORD. 

The splendid work done by the Young Woman's Christian Association is 
well known in every city in the United States. In Youngstown, Ohio, Mrs. 
John S. Ford, president of the local Young Woman's Christian Association, deserves 
especial mention for her efforts in raising, during the year 1910, for their home 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 303 

work, the magnificent sum of $182,000. This magnificent result shows what can 
be done by the energy, perseverance and executive ability of an able woman aided 
by enthusiastic supporters. Mrs. John S. Ford is the wife of one of the leading 
business men of Youngstown, Ohio, and one of its conspicuous social leaders. 

SALLIE LOGAN. 

Mrs. Logan was born Sallie Oliver, April 15, 1853, in Pittsburgh, Penn- 
sylvania. Her father, Thomas Oliver, came to Pittsburgh in 1826. Her mother, 
Sarah Ann Hancock, came from Louisville, Ketucky, and was a graduate of the 
famous Female Seminary at Shelbyville, Kentucky. Miss Oliver became a school 
teacher, having taught a term before she was fifteen years old. She was married 
to Thomas M. Logan August 27, 1873. Mrs. Logan has been one of the most 
active women in church work, charities, educational associations and civic organi- 
zations for more than thirty years in Jackson County, Illinois. She is a member 
of the Commercial Club of Murphysboro, Illinois, her residential city, and is 
also one of the directors of a local bank. 

MRS. GEORGE M. PULLMAN. 

Harriet Sanger Pullman, widow of George M. Pullman, was born in 
Illinois. She was the only daughter of James P. and Mrs. Sanger, who were 
early settlers in Chicago. Mrs. Pullman's mother was a McPherson of stanch 
Scotch descent. 

Miss Sanger was one of the celebrated beauties of the fifties. She married 
George M. Pullman in 1866, and at once became a social leader in Chicago, taking 
always an active part in all movements for philanthropy and hospital work. She 
is probably one of the most consistent and generous contributors to charity of 
the wealthy women of her residential city. She distributes her benefactions 
privately, not allowing her left hand to know what she does with her right. She 
has an aversion to having her good deeds heralded. 

Mrs. Pullman has traveled extensively since the death of her husband, but 
maintains her residence in Chicago, continuing to support many of the bene- 
factions established by her husband. She is a member of the Presbyterian 
Church. One daughter, Mrs. Frank O. Lowden, lives in Illinois; the other, Mrs. 
Frank Carolan resides at Burlingame, California. 

Women Who Have Had Monuments Erected to 
Their Memory in the United Statas. 

The first of these was Margaret Haugherty, the baker- 
philanthropist, who left a' fortune for the orphans of New 
Orleans; the next was erected to the memory of a Chippewa 



304 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Indian woman in Chicago; the third was to the great tem- 
perance leader, Frances E. Willard, which is in the capitol 
at Washington. The next to be thus honored was a heroine 
of the Confederate army during the war — Emma Sanson, of 
Gadsden, Alabama, and the last was placed in the Capital Park, 
at Birmingham, in honor of the memory of Mary A. Calahan, 
a school teacher. 

Emma Sanson was the daughter of a poor white farmer, 
living a few miles from Gadsden, in the northern part of Ala- 
bama. When General Forrest was in pursuit of Gen- 
eral Straight, of the Union Army, in 1864, she piloted him 
through a pass in the mountains so that he was able to over- 
take, surpise and capture Straight. The legislature of Ala- 
bama voted her a pension for life, and the legislature of Texas 
gave her a grant of land, while the people of Gadsden and the 
survivors of Forrest's command erected a monument in her 
honor. It is a marble figure of a country girl pointing into the 
distance, and the inscription tells the story. "I will show you 
the way." 

Mary A. Calahan was the principal of a public school, the 
Powell school, at Birmingham, when a mere village. Many 
of the prominent citizens of Birmingham were taught by this 
woman, and she was the best known and most popular and 
influential woman in that section of the state. She gave her 
life to education, and had more to do with the molding of the 
character of the prominent men of to-day in that part of Ala- 
bama than any other agency ; hence, when she died, a subscrip- 
tion was started and a monument erected to her memory. It 
is a marble figure, seated with a book in her hand, and it has 
been suggested that a memorial library shall also be built 
to the memory of this splendid woman who was so revered by 
her students. 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 305 

Women in the Civil War. 

By Mrs. John A. Logan. 

The preparation of this brief introduction to the part of 
this volume devoted to the women who dedicated their lives to 
the arduous duties devolving upon the women at home, in the 
field, and in the hospitals during the Civil War awakens vivid 
recollections of experiences that time cannot efface. 

Residing between the border states of Kentucky and Mis- 
souri and in a community composed largely of southern born 
people, or those whose ancestors were southerners, and whose 
sympathies were strongly with their kindred south of Mason 
and Dixon's line, the inevitable horrors of war were greatly 
enhanced. 

Recollections of pathetic scenes sweep over me with all 
the vividness of yesterday's events — the parting of sweethearts, 
husbands and wives, parents and their soldier sons; the 
speedy news which followed their departure of the misfortunes 
and calamities of war which had overtaken many of them, and 
all too often of their death from sickness, wounds or on the 
field of battle ; the agony of waiting for the tardy reports after 
a battle; the scanning of the long lists which appeared in the 
papers of the casualties after every sanguinary engagement 
to see if the name of some loved one was among the killed 
or wounded; the being summoned to houses of mourning 
because of death in the families of the absent soldiers or sailors, 
and their efforts to comfort the members of stricken homes 
who had heard of the death of a husband, father or son far 
away in the Southland. The memory of the suffering of those 
left behind and those who had gone to the front comes back 
with all of its overwhelming force. 

The western troops who were in the expeditions up the 

20 



306 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers and subsequently in the siege 
and capture of Vicksburg, and later in the Atlanta campaign, 
were our friends and neighbors; their griefs and misfortunes 
were ours. They rendezvoused at Cairo, and I remember 
vividly the delicate women who worked as did the brave women 
of the South, almost night and day, preparing sanitary stores 
which could not otherwise be obtained, and who later flocked 
to the hospitals all over the North and South to care for the 
sick, wounded, convalescent and emaciated soldiers and sailors 
who, as the war progressed, were being constantly sent North 
to be restored to health and fitness to return to the service. 

It seems only yesterday that I saw dear Mother Bicker- 
dyke carrying in her strong arms poor, sick and, perhaps dying, 
boys in the hospitals at Cairo. It was in the autumn of 1861, 
after the battle of Belmont, the first baptism of blood of the vol- 
unteers of the West. She had left her home in Galesburg, Illi- 
nois, and joined the first troops who were mobilized for the 
war at Cairo. She was a remarkable woman in many senses — 
her frame was that of iron, her nerves as steady as a sharp- 
shooter's, her intellect as quick as an electric spark, her knowl- 
edge of human nature phenomenal, her executive ability won- 
derful, her endurance limitless. In all emergencies, she knew 
what to do, when and how to act. Her heart was full to over- 
flowing with patriotism and loving kindness. She had the 
keenest possible intuitions, could detect fraud, deception, dis- 
loyalty, dishonesty and hyprocrisy quicker than an expert 
detective. She was a law unto herself in supporting the cause in 
which she was enlisted. Neither the general commanding nor 
any subordinate officer in any way interfered with her. A 
surgeon whom she had once detected in some questionable 
conduct appealed to General Sherman. The sturdy old sol- 
dier replied: "My God, man, Mother Bickerdyke outranks 
everybody, even Lincoln. If you have run amuck of her I 
advise you to get out quickly before she has you under arrest." 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 307 

Behind the bluff and unceremonious manner she was all 
love and tenderness in her great mother heart. An unworthy 
employee of the hospital corps appeared before her one day 
fully dressed in the clothing of the Sanitary Commission, of 
which she was in charge. She said nothing, but stepped up 
to him, unbuttoned the collar, lifted the garments one by one 
over his head, until he had nothing but the trousers. She then 
said : "You can, for decency's sake, keep them on until you can 
run to your tent, take them off, put on your own and send these 
to me ; do you hear me ?" A crowd of soldiers stood near her 
to protect her. Their shouts and jeers were punishment 
enough for the unhappy culprit. She rarely had occasion to 
administer rebukes to offenders more than once, as they soon 
discovered there was no way of escaping her vigilance. 

At the head of the women nurses she followed General 
Logan's command through all the campaigns from Cairo to the 
grand review in Washington at the close of the war, and was 
one of the most conspicuous figures in that review. She took 
charge of the female nurses who from time to time joined her 
in her heaven-born work of ministering to the soldiers in camp, 
in the hospitals and on the battlefield. She had her hospital 
tents and supplies and quartermasters' wagons, which she 
pushed to the rear of the lines. She paid no more attention 
to whistling bullets or booming cannon than did the gallant 
commanders and dauntless army. She nursed thousands and 
thousands of officers and men, all of whom have called her 
blessed. 

We have included the biographies of all the patriotic, self- 
sacrificing women of whom we could obtain any data. We 
regret that it was not possible to include the name of every 
woman who laid on the altar of her country her best endeavors 
for the relief of the sufferers from the inevitable calamities 
of war. 



308 Part Taken by Women in American History 

The refugees from the South and the families of the sol- 
diers added to the burdens and hardships of the women at 
home more than to the men, as the majority of the able-bodied 
men North and South were either in the Army or the Navy. 

The author is glad that she has been able to get the biog- 
raphies of a partial list of the splendid women of the South 
who made such heroic sacrifices for the soldiers, sailors and 
unfortunates of the Confederacy. The imaginary line which 
divided the two sections made no difference in the nature, 
womanly tenderness and righteous impulses of the women or 
their devotion to their loved ones engaged in the defense of a 
cause they believed to be right and just. It would be difficult 
to find in history parallels of moral courage, self-denial and 
self-immolation equal to that displayed by the women North 
and South during the long and bloody Civil War in the United 
States. 

The women of the South are entitled to credit for a longer 
period of endurance through the unspeakable trials during the 
years of reconstruction which followed the treaty of peace at 
Appomattox, which event ended in a degree the agonies, anxie- 
ties and labors of the women of the North. 

The experiences of the people of both sections brought out 
at a fearful cost all the nobler instincts of their natures, and 
inspired them to higher purposes in life and more earnest efforts 
for the progress of civilization and Christianity. The few in 
both sections who have tried to stand in the way of human 
betterment and adaptation to the conditions of the world's 
advancement have had to suffer the consequences of their rash- 
ness and be dropped from the rolls of the promoters of the 
nation's welfare. 

Union of interests and union of ambitions for the highest 
attainments in Christianity, humanity, education, philanthropy 
and national pride have borne rich fruit since the abolition of 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 309 

slavery and the close of the fratricidal war, and will, doubtless, 
place the United States in the lead of all Christian nations of 
the earth. 

Snow Hill, Md., June 23, 191 1. 
Mrs. John A. Logan, 
Washington, D. C. 

Dear Mrs. Logan : 

I am sure your book, "The Part Taken by Women in Amer- 
ican History," is just what patriotic societies and patriotic 
homes want. 

Not only the women, but the men will read what our fore- 
mothers did and dared, that the nation might be truly great, 
and a new spirit of patriotism will be aroused and urge them 
to better and higher things for the coming generations and for 
our great and united country. 

I congratulate you upon your work. 
Sincerely yours, 

Mary M. North. 

National Patriotic Instructor, W. R. C. 

Women Nurses of the Civil War. 

Introduction by Mrs. John A. Logan. 

The hospitals established by the Empress Helena in the 
fifth century were an evidence of Christian feeling; and it 
was the same Christianity and humanity which actuated Mar- 
garet Fuller and Florence Nightingale when in Italy and in 
the Crimean War they nursed the wounded soldiers. That 
same Christian spirit sent women, young and old, grave and 
gay, to the hospitals where our "Boys in Blue" needed their 
assistance. Bravely they wrought, and often bravely they fell 



310 Part Taken by Women in American History 

by the side of those whom they nursed — martyrs to the cause of 
liberty as well as the men who fell in the defense of freedom 
and the Union. Rev. Doctor Bellows, referring to them and 
their noble work, said: "A grander collection of women, 
whether considered in their intellectual or moral qualities, their 
heads or their hearts, I have not had the happiness of knowing, 
than the women I saw in the hospitals. They were the flower 
of their sex. Great as were the labors of those who superin- 
tended the operations at home of collecting and preparing sup- 
plies for the hospitals and the fields, I cannot but think that 
the women who lived in the hospitals or among the soldiers 
required a force of character and a glow of devotion and self- 
sacrifice of a rarer kind. They were the heroines. They con- 
quered their feminine sensibility at the sight of blood and 
wounds, lived coarsely and dressed and slept rudely; they 
studied the caprices of men to whom their ties were simply 
humane — men often ignorant, feeble-minded, out of their 
senses, raving with pain and fever; they had a still harder 
service in bearing with the pride, the official arrogance and the 
hardness or the folly, perhaps the impertinence and presump- 
tion, of half-trained medical men, whom the urgencies of the 
case had fastened on the service. Nothing in the power of the 
nation to give or to say can ever compare for a moment with 
the proud satisfaction which every brave soldier who has ever 
risked his life for his country ever after carries in his heart 
of hearts; and no public recognition, no thanks from a saved 
nation can ever add anything of much importance to the 
rewards of those who tasted the actual joy of ministering with 
their own hands and hearts to the wants of our sick and dying 
men." 

It, nevertheless, is to our great regret that only the biog- 
raphies of those nurses whose services were most conspicuous 
can be included in this volume. In place of the longer mention 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 311 

of each, which would bring this work to unreasonable length, 
the following list of these brave women is offered. 

Mrs. Eliza C. Porter, of the noble band of western women 
who devoted kind thought and untiring exertion to the care 
of our country's defenders. 

TSlrs. John Harris, the wife of a Philadelphia physician, 
who was at the front all during the war, and who returned 
home an invalid for the rest of her life from the effects of a 
sunstroke, received while in attendance on a field hospital in 
Virginia. 

Margaret Elizabeth Breckenridge, who said at the opening 
of the conflict, "I shall never be satisfied till I get right into 
a hospital to live until the war is over," and who fulfilled this 
lofty ambition in her work in the hospitals in and around 
St. Louis during all the long and bloody conflict. 

Mrs. Stephen Barker, wife of the chaplain of the First 
Massachusetts Heavy Artillery, who went to the front with 
her husband and, for nearly two years, continued in unremitting 
attendance upon the regimental hospitals. 

Amy M. Bradley who, having gone South to seek her own 
health, remained during the four years of the war, nursing her 
fellow-countrymen of the North. 

Mrs. Arabella G. Barlow, of New Jersey, sealed her devo- 
tion to her country's cause by the sublimest sacrifice of which 
woman is capable, and after nursing her wounded husband until 
his death, remained to care for the other soldiers until she 
died of fever contracted while in attendance in the hospitals of 
the army of the Potomac. 

Mrs. Nellie Maria Taylor who, though living in that part 
of the country which had borne the rank weeds of secession, 
proved her loyalty and patriotism in the care of Union soldiers 
at her own house. 



312 Part Taken by Women in American History 



Mrs. A. H. and Miss S. H. 

Gibbons, 
Mrs. E. J. Russell, 
Mrs. Mary W. Lee, 
Miss Cornelia M. Tompkins, 
Mrs. Anna C. McMeens, 
Mrs. Jerusha R. Small, 
Mrs. S. A. Martha Canfield, 
Mrs. E. Thomas and Miss 

Morris, 
Mrs. Shepard Wells, 
Mrs. E. F. Wetherell, 
Phebe Allan, 
Mrs. Edward Greble, 
Miss Isabella Fobb, 
Mrs. E. E. George, 
Mrs. Charlotte E. McKay, 
Mrs. Fanny L. Ricketts, 
Mrs. John S. Phelps, 
Mrs. Jane R. Munsell, 
Mrs. Adeline Tyler, 
Mrs. Wm. H. Holstein, 
Mrs. Cordelia A. P. Harvey, 
Mrs. Sarah R. Johnston, 
Emily E. Parsons, 
Miss Cornelia Hancock, 
Mrs. Mary Morris Husband, 
(Granddaughter of Robert 
Morris, the great financier 
of the Revolutionary War). 



Katharine Prescott Wormeley, 

The Misses Woolsey, 

Anna Maria Ross, 

Mary J. Safford, 

Mrs. Lydia G. Parish, 

Mrs. Anna Wittenmeyer, 

Miss Melcenia Elliott, 

Mary Dwight Pettes, 

Mrs. Elmira Fales, 

Louisa Maertz, 

Mrs. Harriet R. Colfax, 

Miss Clara Davis, 

(afterwards the wife of Rev. 
Edward Abbott, of Cam- 
bridge), 

Mrs. R. H. Spencer, 

Mrs. Harriet Foote Hawley, 
(the wife of Brevet Major- 
General Hawley, late Gover- 
nor of Connecticut, and aft- 
erwards U. S. Senator from 
Connecticut), 

Ellen E. Mitchell, 

Miss Jessie Holmes, 

Miss Vance and Miss Black- 
mar, 

Hattie Dada, 

Susan A. Hall, 

Mrs. Sarah P. Edson, 

Maria M. C. Hall. 



All these women are mentioned as heroic and efficient 
nurses in "Women's Work in the Civil War," and to that book 
the reader must be commended for further knowledge of them. 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 313 

Besides those whose names have been published in books 
there were many more — school teachers — who spent their vaca- 
tions in the hospitals, and women who were content to be the 
angels of mercy to the suffering soldiers, but whose names 
have not been scattered far and wide, though their labors were 
appreciated. As someone has said: "The recording angel, 
thank Heaven, knows them all," and, "their labor was not in 
vain in the Lord." Surely the women of that portion of the 
last century given over to the war are women of whom the 
nation may well be proud, and whose memories should be 
cherished. 

'When the war was over there was still work for the 
women to do in training the freedmen, and especially their 
children ; and the noble women who had been nurses, and many 
who had not, enlisted in this philanthropic and trying enter- 
prise with the same zeal and self-sacrifice that had been shown 
by the women in the hospitals. They wrought also among the 
families of the soldiers and among the refugees who were 
homeless and destitute while war devastated the land. The 
niece of the poet Whittier was among them, bearing a name 
sacred to all lovers of freedom, because John G. Whittier's 
lyrics had so earnestly pleaded for the freedom of the slaves. 
Anna Gardner was a teacher of colored children on her native 
island of Nantucket when the Abolitionists were ostracized. 
She taught one of the first normal schools ever established for 
colored girls, and doubtless gave invaluable service in training 
the negroes of the South to become teachers for their own race. 

After long years of silence, the American Tract Society 
at last gave the meed of praise to Christian effort without 
regard to race or color, when it published its sketch of Mary S. 
Peake, a free colorecl woman, who was the first teacher of her 
race at Fortress Monroe. 

Mrs. Frances D. Gage, a woman of Ohio birth, but of 



314 Part Taken by Women in American History 

New England parentage, in her writings dealt powerful blows 
for freedom, temperance and other reforms. She had lived 
the life of a philanthropist, and when the war broke out she 
gave voice and pen to the right, speaking, editing and writing. 
When the Proclamation of Emancipation was issued she freed 
herself from other cares, and found her mission among the 
freed slaves. Four of her own boys were in the Union Army, 
and in the autumn of 1862 she went, without appointment or 
salary, to Port Royal, where she labored fourteen months. She 
returned North in 1863 and lectured on her experiences among 
the freedmen, rousing others to labor for the welfare of the 
colored race. Her name will live forever among the noble and 
faithful women who "remembered those in bounds as bound 
with them," and who cared for the soldier and the freedman, to 
whom God had already said: "Well done, good and faithful 
servant ; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." 

Mrs. Lucy Gaylord Powers was another true friend to 
the soldier and the freedman. Her last active benevolent work 
was begun in 1863. This was the foundation of an asylum 
at the capital for the freed orphans and destitute aged colored 
women, whom the war and the Emancipation Proclamation 
had thrown upon the country as a charge. But she was in 
feeble health, and died while on her way to Albany on July 
20, 1863. 

Maria Rullann, of Massachusetts, proved herself worthy 
of her kinship to the first secretary of the Board of Education 
in that commonwealth by her faithful service as a teacher and 
philanthropist in Helena, Arkansas, and afterward as a teacher 
in Washington and Georgetown. 

Mrs. Josephine Griffin, always an advocate for freedom, 
was faithful in her nursing during the war, and afterward 
took charge of the good work in Washington. One of her 
philanthropic methods was the finding of good places for domes- 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 315 

tic servants, from time to time taking numbers of them to 
various northern and western cities, and placing them in homes. 
The cost of these expeditions she provided almost entirely from 
her own means, her daughters helping her as far as possible in 
her noble work. 

There were great numbers of other women equally efficient 
in the freedmen's schools and homes, but their work was mainly 
under the direction of the American Union Commission, and 
it is impossible, therefore, to obtain accounts of their labors as 
individuals. It is all a tale of self-sacrifice and heroism. 
There were heroic women North and South, and if, as someone 
has said, "An heroic woman is almost an object of worship," 
there are many shrines to-day for the devotees of physical and 
moral heroism to visit in following the history of the good 
women of the Civil War. 

The women of Gettysburg won for themselves a high and 
honorable record for their faithfulness to the flag and their 
generosity and devotion to the wounded. Chief among these, 
since she gave her life for the cause, was Mrs. Jennie Wade, 
who continued her generous work of baking bread for the army 
until a shot killed her instantly. A southern officer of high rank 
was killed almost at the same moment near her door, and his 
troops hastily constructing a rude coffin, were about to place 
the body of their commander in it for burial when, in the sway- 
ing to and fro of the armies, a Union column drove them from 
the ground. Finding Mrs. Wade dead, they placed her in the 
coffin intended for the officer. In that coffin she was buried 
the next day, followed to the grave by hundreds of tearful 
mourners, who knew her courage and kindness of heart. The 
loyal women of Richmond were a noble band, and they never 
faltered in their allegiance to the flag nor in their sympathy 
and services to the Union prisoners at Libby, Belle Isle and 
Castle Thunder. With the aid of twenty-one loyal white men 



316 Part Taken by Women in American History, 

in Richmond they raised a fund of thirteen thousand dollars 
in gold to aid Union prisoners, while their gifts of clothing, 
food and luxuries were of much greater value. Moreover, had 
we space, many pages might be filled with the heroic deeds 
of noble southern women who believed in the cause for which 
their husbands stood, and who sacrificed their homes and all 
that was most dear during the Civil War, and who worked 
prodigiously trying to contrive ways and means with which 
to relieve the sufferings which abounded everywhere in the 
southland. Their improvised hospitals were poorly supplied 
with the bare necessities for the relief of the sick and wounded. 
In and out of hospitals, the demands upon the humane were 
heartrending; but to the very last heroism characterized the 
women as well as the bravest of the men who fought and 
died in the cause of the Condederacy. 

CLARA BARTON. 
By Mrs. John A. Logan. 

One of the greatest, if not the greatest woman of the 
nineteenth century, is Clara Barton, who, in a Christmas greet- 
ing to her legion of friends, writes : "I would tell you that all 
is well with me ; that, although the unerring records affirm that 
on Christmas Day of 1821, eighty- four years ago, I com- 
menced this earthy life, still, by the blessing of God, I am 
strong and well, knowing neither illness nor fatigue, disability 
nor despondency." 

Miss Barton is the daughter of Stephen Barton, of North 
Oxford, Mass., a man highly esteemed in the community in 
which he dwelt. In early youth he had served as a soldier 
under General Wayne, the "Mad Anthony" of the early days 
of the Republic. His boyish years had witnessed the evacua- 



Women from the Time ofMary Washington 317 

tion of Detroit by the British in 1796, and his military training 
may have contributed to the sterling uprightness of his charac- 
ter and his inflexible will. His daughter Clara was the young- 
est, by seven years, in a family of two brothers and three sisters. 
She was early taught that the primeval benediction, miscalled 
a curse, which requires mankind to earn their bread, was really 
a blessing. Besides domestic duties and a very thorough pub- 
lic school training, she learned the general rules of business 
by acting as clerk and bookkeeper for her eldest brother. Next, 
she betook herself to the district school, the stepping-stone 
for all aspiring women in New England. She taught for sev- 
eral years in various places in Massachusetts and New Jersey. 
One example will show her character as a teacher. She 
went to Bordentown, New Jersey, in 1853, where there was not 
and never had been a public school. Three or four unsuccess- 
ful attempts had been made to establish one, and the idea had 
been abandoned as unadapted to that locality. The brightest 
boys in the town ran untaught in the streets. She offered 
to teach a free school for three months at her own expense, to 
convince the citizens that it could be done. They laughed at 
her idea as visionary. Six weeks of waiting and debating 
induced the authorities to fit up an unoccupied building at a 
little distance from the town. She commenced with six out- 
cast boys, and in five weeks the house would not hold the num- 
ber that came. The commissioners, at her instance, erected a 
large brick building, and early in the winter of 1853-4 she 
organized the city free school, with a roll of six hundred pupils. 
But the severe labor and the great amount of loud speaking 
required in the newly plastered rooms destroyed her health and 
for a time destroyed her voice — the prime agent of instruction. 
Being unable to teach, she left New Jersey about the first of 
March, 1854, seeking rest, quiet ana" a milder climate, and went 
as far as Washington. 






318 Part Taken by Women in American History 

A brief summary of her career will show that an ever- 
ruling Providence had destined her for a higher and nobler 
work for mankind than the routine duties — noble as they are — 
of a teacher in the public schools. 

While in Washington, a friend and distant relative, then in 
Congress, voluntarily obtained for her an appointment in the 
Patent Office. There she continued until the fall of 1857. She 
was employed at first as a copyist and afterwards in the more 
responsible work of abridging original papers and preparing 
records for publication, and the large circle of friends made 
while so employed was not without its influence in determining 
her military career. 

Thus it happened that at the beginning of the Civil War 
she was in Washington. When news came that the troops, on 
their way to the Capital, under Mr. Lincoln's first call for vol- 
unteers in 1 86 1, had been fired upon, and that wounded men 
were lying in Baltimore, she volunteered, with others, to go and 
care for them. Unconsciously she had entered upon what 
proved to be her life work, for Clara Barton is to the American 
battlefield what Florence Nightingale was to the English in 
Crimea. From April, 1861, to the close of the war, Miss Bar- 
ton was, by authority of President Lincoln and Secretary 
Stanton, to be found in the hospitals or wherever soldiers were 
in need of attention, and soon she was recognized as a woman 
of great ability and discretion, and could pass in and out at will, 
where others met with constant hindrances and "red tape." 
So many of her pupils had volunteered in the first years of the 
war that at the second battle of Bull Run she found seven of 
them, each of whom had lost an arm or a leg. 

She met the wounded from Virginia, she was present at 
the battles of Cedar Mountain, second Bull Run, Falmouth, 
Charleston, Fort Wagner, Spottsylvania, Deep Bottom, Antie- 
tam and Fredericksburg, and was for eight months at the 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 319 

siege of Charleston, at Fort Wagner, in front of Petersburg 
and at the Wilderness. She was also at the hospitals near 
Richmond and on Morris Island. Neither were her labors 
over when the war ended. A friend desiring that the world 
should know her actual connection with the government during 
this period of strife, as well as throughout her administration 
as head of the Red Cross, has induced Miss Barton to tell the 
story in her own inimitable way, and this is what she says : 

"When in the four years of this work the military authori- 
ties unquestioningly provided me transportation, teams, men 
and an open way to every field in the service, it had something 
to do with the government. 

"When, at its close, the President, over his own signa- 
ture, 'A. Lincoln,' informed all the people of the United 
States that I would, voluntarily, search for the records of 
eighty thousand missing men, of whom the government nor 
army had any record, and asked the people to write me, it had 
something to do with the government." 

t The editor cannot resist the temptation to insert Mr. Lin- 
coln's letter: 

"To the friends of missing prisoners : Miss Clara Barton 
has kindly offered to search for the missing prisoners of war. 
Please address her at Annapolis, Md., giving name, regiment 
and company of any missing prisoner. A. LINCOLN." 

This brought the heartbroken correspondence of the 
friends of all missing soldiers to her, and placed on the records 
of the government the names of twenty thousand men who, 
otherwise, had no record of death, and to-day their descendants 
enjoy the proud heritage of an ancestor who died honorably 
in the service of his country, and not the possible suspicion of 
his being a deserter. 

"When, in the search, I learned the true condition of the 



320 Part Taken by Women in American History 



dead at Andersonville, and informed the authorities that, 
through the death records of Dorence Atwater, the graves of 
the thirteen thousand buried there could be identified, and was 
requested by the Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton, to 
take an expedition to Andersonville to mark the graves and 
inclose a cemetery, and did so, it had something to do with 
the government. 

"Without this there could have been no cemetery of Ander- 
sonville, which the government now so worthily owns as a gift 
from our active women of the Woman's Relief Corps auxiliary 
to the Grand Army of the Republic. 

"And when, in this long search for the missing men of the 
army, carried on at my own cost until I had invested the 
greater part of my own moderate means and the brave thirty- 
seventh Congress stepped into the breach and, unsolicited, voted 
remuneration and aid in the sum of fifteen thousand dollars, 
and sent it to me with thanks, it had something to do with the 
government. 

"When a few years later, weary and weak from the war- 
sacked fields of Europe, I brought the germs of the thrice- 
rejected Red Cross of Geneva, and with personal solicitations 
from the 'International Committee' sought its adoption, I had 
very little to do with the government, for it steadily declined to 
have anything to do with me, or with the cause I brought to it. 

"It had been 'officially declined' — books of the State 
Department were produced to show this — 'we wanted no more 
war/ neither 'Entangling Alliances/ 

"Then followed five years of toil, cost and explanations 
with the people as well as the government to show that the 
Red Cross could mean neither war nor entangling alliances; 
and when at length one martyred President promised and a 
successor made his promise good, and Congress again acted 
and the treaty was signed, proclaimed and took its place among 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 321 

the foremost treaties of the country, and we became thence- 
forth and forever a Red Cross nation, it surely had something 
to do with the government. 

"But this treaty covered only the relief of suffering from 
war, and realizing the far greater needs we might have in the 
calamities of civil life, I personally addressed the govern- 
ments through the 'International Committee of Geneva,' asking 
their permission for the American Red Cross to act in our 
national calamities, as in war. This request was gravely 
(considered in the congress of Berne, and was granted by the 
powers as the American Amendment to the International 
Treaty of Geneva. Inasmuch as it became a law, under which 
all nations act to-day, it might be said not only to have had 
something to do with the government but with all governments. 

"Later on, when another martyred President requested 
and opened the way for me to take the Red Cross to the starving 
reconcentrados of Cuba; and a little later, when war desolated 
its fields, to take ship, join the fleet, and seek an entrance for 
humanity, and the highest admiral in the service bade it go 
alone with its cargo of food to the starving of the stricken city, 
and Santiago lay at our feet, it might be said it had something 
to do with the government. 

"During the twenty or more years of such efforts was 
mingled the relief of nearly an equal number of fields of 
disaster, none of which were unserved, and for which relief, 
not one dollar in all the twenty years was drawn from the 
treasury of the United States; the munificence of the people 
through their awakened charities was equal to all needs." 

The fields of disaster were the Michigan forest fires of 
1881 ; Mississippi River floods and cyclone of 1882-3; Ohio and 
Mississippi River floods of 1884, especially disastrous, requiring 
relief for thousands of people; Texas famine, 1885; Charleston 
earthquake catastrophe, 1886; the Mt. Vernon, 111., cyclone, 

21 



322 I 'art Taken by Women in American History 

1888, -which swept away almost the entire town, leaving the 
people destitute and homeless; Florida yellow-fever, 1888; 
Johnstown disaster, where Miss Barton personally distributed 
$250,000.00 and spent months laboring- in the field for and 
with the stricken people in 1889; Russian famine, 1892; 
I'omeroy, Iowa, cyclone, 1893; South Carolina Islands hur- 
ricane and tidal wave of 1893-4; Armenia massacres, 1896; 
< uban reconcentrado relief, 1889-1900, where Miss Barton and 
her staff spent months among- these absolutely destitute and 
suffering people before the declaration of war, saving thousands 
of lives, establishing orphan asylums and hospitals, a work 
which claimed the highest commendation from Senator Proctor, 
of Vermont, on the floor of the Senate, after he had visited 
the island to know positively the conditions; Spanish-American 
War. 

Miss Barton having in 1908 preceded the army and the 
navy by many weeks on the chartered steamer "State of 
Texas" loaded with medical, surgical, sanitary and other 
supplies, was prepared to save many lives before the govern- 
ment bad anything ready, (ialveston storm and tidal wave 
1909, requiring unprecedented strength and courage, patience 
and expenditure of money. 

Miss Barton modestly omits to speak of the innumerable 
appeals made to her for aid in all directions. The United 
States Marshal at Key West, Florida, in his dilemma of how 
to provide for the people on board the captured vessels — many 
of them aliens, Cubans and some American citizens who had 
no means of support or for transportation — petitioned Miss 
Barton for relief until provision could be made for them. Her 
response was immediate. By her direction, for many days, food, 
medicine, and all their needs were supplied by Miss Barton 
until after long official delays the proper authorities finally 
assumed the responsibilities they should have taken in the 
beginning. 



Womkn J'Kom THE TlME 01 MARY Washington 323 

Miss Barton reached Havana, February 9, 1898. Feb 
ruary J4U1 she was the guest of honor <>f Captain Sigsbee on 
board the "Maine," the captain paying her the compliment of 
reviewing the men. With characteristic thoughtfulncss, she 
placed the Red Cross at the service of Captain Sigsbee, should 
any of his brave men be sick or need relief. On the night of the 
15th of February, the unspeakable calamity of the destruction 
of the "Maine" occurred. In the early morning of the 16th, 
Miss Barton and her nurses visited the Spanish I Eospital, San 
Ambrosia, where the brave marines were dying in great 
numbers. Miss Barton had gone to Cuba to carry out her 
mission as President of the Red Cross. She was in no way 
assisted by the government but used her own money. The 
citizens of Davenport, Iowa, wired her twelve hundred dollars 
to be used for the reconcentrados. This sum she diverted from 
its intended purpose and used for the relief of the victims of 
this unprecedented catastrophe. The official reports of officers 
of the navy and Secretary of War gratefully thank Miss Barton 
and the Red Cross workers for their timely service and supplies 
in the absence of any provision of the government for war or 
for such a disaster as that of the "Maine." 

Miss Barton represented the United States at the Inter- 
national Congress, at Geneva, in 1884; at Carlsruhe, Germany, 
1887. At Rome, Italy, in 1890, she was appointed but would 
not leave her work in Russia at the time of the Russian famine, 
but did attend the Congress at Vienna, Austria, in 1900. 

Miss Barton was decorated with the Iron ( toss of Prussia, 
by Emperor William I and Empress Augusta, in 187 1 ; with 
the Gold Cross of Remembrance, by the Grand Duke and Grand 
Duchess of Baden, in 1870; with the medal of International 
Committee of the Red Cross of Geneva, Switzerland, 1882; 
with the Red Cross, by Queen of Servia, 1884; with the silver 
medal by Empress Augusta, of Germany, 1884; with the flag 



324 Part Taken by Women in American History 

voted by Congress of Berne, Switzerland, 1884; with jewels by 
the Grand Duchess of Baden, 1884-87; with the diploma of 
honor from German War Veterans, 1885; with jewels by the 
Queen of Prussia, 1887; w * tn the diploma of honor from Red 
Cross of Austria, 1888; with diploma and decoration by the 
Sultan of Turkey, 1896; with diploma and decoration by the 
Prince of Armenia, 1896; with diploma and decoration by 
Spain, 1899; with vote of thanks by the Cortez of Spain, 1899; 
with vote of thanks by the Portuguese Red Cross, 1900; with 
resolutions of the Central Relief Committee of Galveston, 
Texas, 1900; with vote of thanks from the legislature of the 
state of Texas, 1901 ; and with the decoration of the Order of 
the Red Cross by the Czar of Russia, 1902. 

Press notices, eulogies, enrolled and engrossed resolutions 
innumerable, and every other conceivable tribute has been paid 
her by her own countrymen, who are and were her compatriots 
and who revere her as the most self-sacrificing, loyal, upright, 
honorable, patriotic, courageous woman of her time, and as a 
woman who has known no creed, political or religious, that 
is not founded upon the Golden Rule and universal humanity 
to mankind; whose moral courage has been equal for all 
emergencies, but who is at the same time as guileless and as 
loving and as tender as a child. Her masterful mind has ever 
instantly grasped the most subtle schemes of designing 
persons, but she has turned the other cheek to the cruel thrusts 
of the envious and ambitious. Her only fault has ever been lack 
of resentment and self-assertion when injuries have been 
inflicted. Her motto has been, "Father forgive them; they 
know not what they do." 

Time moves, and at last Clara Barton reached her 
Gethsemane, and she proved her greatness in the hour of her 
bitterest trial. She let her detractors have their way, bowed 
her head and slipped away without a murmur into retirement, 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 325 

unrewarded and uncared for by a great government in whose 
service she has given the best of her life and her all. And who 
shall say she is not the greatest woman of the Nineteenth cen- 
tury ? Is there another with such a record of noble achievements 
for humanity ? No other woman has appeared, bearing the ban- 
ner of the Red Cross, and personally ministering to the suffering 
on the field of disaster, though many calamities have 
occurred since Clara Barton was driven from the work to 
which she was divinely called. 

MRS. MARY ASHTON RICE LIVERMORE. 

Mrs. Livermore was born in Boston, Massachusetts, December 19, 1821. 
Her father, Timothy Rice of Northfield, Massachusetts, who was of Welsh 
descent, served in the United States Navy during the War of 1812-1815. Her 
mother, Zebiah Vose Glover Ashton, was the daughter of Captain Nathaniel 
Ashton, of London, England. Mrs. Livermore was placed in the public schools 
of Boston at an early age and was graduated at fourteen, receiving one of the 
six medals distributed for good scholarship. There were then no high, normal, 
or Latin schools for girls, and their admission to colleges was not even sug- 
gested. She was sent to the Female Seminary in Washington, D. C, where she 
completed the four-years' course in two, and was then elected a member of the 
faculty as teacher of Latin and French. While teaching she continued her studies 
in Latin and Greek, resigning her position at the close of the second year to 
take charge of a family school on a plantation of southern Virginia, where she 
remained nearly three years. As there were between three or four hundred 
slaves on the estate Mrs. Livermore was brought face to face with the institution 
of slavery and witnessed deeds of barbarism as tragic as any described in Uncle 
Tom's Cabin. She returned to the North a radical abolitionist and henceforth 
entered the lists against slavery and every form of oppression. In 1857 the Liver- 
mores removed to Chicago, Illinois, where Mr. Livermore became proprietor 
and editor of a weekly religious paper, the organ of the Universalist denomina- 
tion in the Northwest, and Mrs. Livermore became his assistant editor. At the 
first nomination of Abraham Lincoln for the presidency in the Chicago Wigwam 
in i860, she was the only woman reporter assigned a place among the hundred or 
more men reporters. 

Out of the chaos of benevolent efforts evolved by the opening of the Civil 
War in 1861, the United States Sanitary Commission was born. Mrs. Livermore 
with her friend, Mrs. Jane C. Hoge, was identified with relief work for the 
soldiers from the beginning. She resigned all positions save that on her hus- 
band's paper, secured a governess for her children and subordinated all demands 
upon her time to those of the commission. She organized soldiers' aid societies; 



326 Part Taken by Women in American History 

delivered public addresses in the principal towns and cities of the Northwest; 
wrote the circulars and bulletins and monthly papers of the commission; made 
trips to the front to the sanitary stores, to whose distribution she gave personal 
attention; brought back large numbers of invalid soldiers who were discharged 
that they might die at home ; assisted to plan, organize, and conduct colossal 
sanitary establishments; detailed women nurses for the hospitals by order of 
Secretary Stanton and accompanied them to their posts. In short, the story of 
Mrs. Livermore's work during the war has never been told and can never be 
understood save by those who worked with her. The war over, Mrs. Liver- 
more resumed the even tenor of her life, took up again philanthropic and literary 
work, which she had temporarily relinquished. She afterwards left Chicago and 
returned to pass long years in her home in Melrose, Massachusetts, happy in the 
society of her husband, children and grandchildren, until her death in 1905. She 
was ever ready with advice, pen and influence to lend a helping hand to the 
weak and struggling; to strike a blow for the right against the wrong; to 
prophesy a better future in the distance, and to insist on a woman's right to help 
it along. 

MOTHER BICKERDYKE. 

The following is Mother Bickerdyke's own concise account of her ser- 
vices to the nation : "I served in our great Civil War from January 9, 1861, to 
March 20, 1865. I did the work of one and tried to do it well. I was in nine- 
teen hard-fought battles in the departments of the Ohio, Tennessee and Cumber- 
land armies. Fort Donelson, February 15th and 16th, was the first battle to 
which I was an eye witness ; Pittsburgh Landing, April 6th and 7th, the second ; 
luka, September 20th, the third, and Corinth, October 3rd and 4th, the fourth." 
But certainly the rising generation, to whom the Civil War is already like a half- 
forgotten story, should know more of the work of this woman for the sake of 
the patriotism her whole-souled devotion to country and to suffering humanity 
teaches. After the surrender of Sumter her heart, which had been burdened 
with a mother's solicitude for the boys she had sent marching away, could no 
longer endure the dreadful suspense and still more dreadful confirmation of her 
fears that met her eye as she glanced over the crowded columns of the papers, 
and she decided to offer her services at the front. Perhaps no single incident 
in the life of Mrs. Bickerdyke as well as the following portrays her large-hearted- 
ness and the motherly care she felt for the wounded soldiers : The victory had 
been gained at Fort Donelson, and the glad news carried with it great rejoic- 
ing. Meanwhile, the soldiers who had won that victory were suffering more 
than tongue can tell. Their clothes even froze to their bodies, and there were 
no accommodations for them, so that many hundreds perished wholly without 
care. The night grew darker and darker, settling down over the deserted field 
where the dead still lay awaiting burial. The strange weird silence after such 
a day produced an indescribable feeling of awe. At midnight an officer noticed 
a light moving up and down among the dead and dispatched a messenger to 
see what it meant. The man soon returned and told him that it was Mrs. Bick- 
erdyke who, with her lantern, was examining the bodies to make sure that no 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 327 

living man should be left alone amid such surroundings. She did not seem 
to realize that she was doing anything remarkable, and turning from the mes- 
senger continued her search over that awful field simply through her love for 
humanity. Her work was felt now on the field of battle, now on board a boat 
caring for a lot of soldiers in transit, now in the hospital. Thus many phases 
of a soldier's life came under her observation. One night she was making 
her usual rounds of the wards, the lights were turned down and many of the 
soldiers were sleeping, while here and there a restless sufferer counted the 
lagging seconds and longed for morning. Passing along she administered to 
each as the occasion demanded until one asked, "Aren't you tired, Mother Bick- 
erdyke?" Not for a moment did she think of claiming sympathy, but replied 
in her usual brusque way : "What if I am, that is nothing. I am well and 
strong and all I want is to see you so, too." In September a battle was fought 
at Iuka, and here Mother Bickerdyke again walked over a blood-stained field 
to save many a life fast ebbing away for want of immediate aid. She deftly 
stopped the flow of blood from wounds that must otherwise be fatal. When it 
became necessary to send the wounded, as far as their condition would permit, to 
Corinth, Mrs. Bickerdyke not only went with them to alleviate suffering on the 
painful journey, but did much to prevent waste. Owing to limited time and 
means of transportation, soiled clothing and things that were not especially 
needed were to be left behind. But prudent Mother Bickerdyke had all the 
articles packed closely, and when she saw that they were to be left behind she 
exclaimed, "Do you suppose that we are going to throw away those things that 
the daughters and wives of our soldiers have worked so hard to give us? I 
will just prove that they can be saved and the clothes washed. Just take them 
along." And the order was obeyed. She was always planning for more and 
better food for her sick boys. Fresh eggs and milk were supplied in scant quan- 
tities and were very poor at that. So just as spring was changing to summer she 
started upon her famous "Cow and hen mission." Her object was to obtain one 
hundred cows and one thousand hens to be cared for on an island in the Missis- 
sippi near Memphis. As soon as she made her plans known in Jacksonville, a 
wealthy farmer, aided by a few of his neighbors, gave her the hundred cows and 
as she proceeded chickens were cackling all about her. She procured the desired 
one thousand and her arrival at Memphis was heralded by the lowing of cows and 
the sprightly song of hens. Mother Bickerdyke's cows became a well-known 
feature on many battlefields. One morning some soldiers in fresh uniforms 
waited upon her to tender her a review. She smilingly consented, donned her 
sunbonnet and permitted herself to be stationed on a rudely elevated platform. 
The fine cows that had supplied them with milk filed past her. Each one had 
been smoothly curried, her horns polished and her hoofs blackened. The fav- 
orites were decked with little flags and a lively march was played as the queer 
procession filed past. Many of these cows had marched a long distance with 
the army. They were a treasure to Mrs. Bickerdyke, as she could make custards 
and other delicacies for her sick soldiers. This boyish prank, "The Cows' 
Review," was a pleasant incident which she greatly enjoyed. Another incident 
of her thrift has a touch of humor in it. Though Mrs. Bickerdyke was always 



328 Part Taken by Women in American History 

neat in her dress she was indifferent to its attractiveness and amid flying sparks 
from open fires her calico dress would take fire, and was full of little holes. 
Someone asked her if she were not afraid of being burned. She replied, "My 
boys put me out." With her clothing in this condition she visited Chicago late 
in the summer of 1863. The women immediately replenished her wardrobe, and soon 
after sent her a box of nice clothing for her own use. Some of the articles were 
richly trimmed, among them two nightgowns. She traded off most of the articles 
with the rebel women of the place for eggs, butter and other good things for 
her sick soldiers, but she was soon to go to Cairo, and she thought the night- 
gowns would sell for more there. On her way, however, in one of the towns on 
the Mobile and Ohio Railroad she found two soldiers who had been discharged 
from the hospital before their wounds had healed. The exertion of travel had 
opened them afresh. They were in an old shanty bleeding, hungry and penni- 
less. Mrs. Bickerdyke took them at once in hand, washed their wounds, stopped 
the flow of blood, tore off the bottoms of the gowns and used them for bandages. 
Then, as the men had no shirts she dressed them in the fine nightgowns, ruffles, 
lace and all. They demurred a little but she commanded them as their superior 
officer to obey, and they could only join in the hearty laugh with which she 
suddenly transformed them into two dandies and sent them on their way. 

One of her best known acts is an "interference" that gained for her the 
title of "General." It was at the time when the Confederates attempted to re- 
capture Corinth and attack the defense, October 3, 1862. The whole action was 
rapid and concerted. The Board of Trade Regiment, twelve hundred strong, had 
marched twenty-four miles to enter the conflict, and only four hundred returned. 
Toward evening Mother Bickerdyke saw a brigade hurrying forward and learned 
that they had been marching since noon and were about to join in the struggle. 
The officer in command was requested to let them rest a few minutes, but refused. 
So the worn-out men were passing the hospital when a strong voice cried "Halt." 
Instinctively they obeyed, and attendants began to distribute soup and coffee. 
Meanwhile their canteens were filled and each received a loaf of bread. "For- 
ward march," came the order in a very few minutes, and it was found that the 
time lost was more than compensated for by the renewed courage of the men, 
who had no other chance to rest until midnight. Mrs. Bickerdyke had given 
the order to halt herself, when she found no one else would do it. That her 
interference was deeply appreciated was shown by the many letters and visits 
she received from these same men at the close of the war. When the army was 
ordered to Charleston for the grand review, and the soldiers realized that they 
were soon to meet the loved ones at home, they became as light-hearted as boys, 
and the march from Louisiana was a joyous one. Mrs. Bickerdyke accompanied 
them, riding her glossy horse. She wore a simple calico dress and as always 
a large sunbonnet. She crossed the Long Bridge in advance of the Fifteenth 
Army Corps and was met by Dorothea Dix and others who came to welcome 
her to the Capital. This was a triumph such as few women have ever attained, 
and during the weeks following she was everywhere treated with the greatest 
respect and consideration. The calico dress and sunbonnet were sold for one 
hundred dollars, and preserved as relics of the Rebellion. This money she spent 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 329 

at once, "for the boys need so many things." At last war was over. Peace 
was declared, and the nation awoke to the fact that it had a mighty army on 
its hands. In a short time that army disappeared in a miracle that has been the 
wonder of every nation, and Mother Bickerdyke, the most picturesque of all war 
nurses, retired to the home of her son, Professor J. B. Bickerdyke, in Russell, 
Kansas, and there in that pleasant retreat came the sunset of her most helpful 
life. 

AMANDA FARNHAM FELCH. 

Amanda M. Colburn was born in West Dover, Vermont, November 12, 
1833. Her father was a farmer in moderate circumstances and having only one 
son a share in the outdoor work was often given to the daughter. This early 
training proved of inestimable value to her in later years when a large reserve of 
physical strength was so necessary to enable her to endure with comparative ease 
long marches where hundreds of men were overcome, as during Peninsula, 
Gettysburg and other campaigns. At about twenty-three years of age she was 
first married, and it was as Mrs. Farnham that she was so well known in the 
Army of the Potomac in the summer of 1861. After the war she was married to 
M. P. Felch. Left alone with her little boy and in poor health she returned to 
the old home to find the family in great trouble. Henry, her brother, had enlisted 
in the Third Vermont Regiment, and her parents were in pitiful anxiety for his 
welfare. The daughter's decision was instantaneous. She left her child with 
her parents and followed her brother to the front, and enlisted at St. John's 
July 5, 1S61. She was enrolled as a member of the regiment and appointed 
hospital matron. They were mustered in on July nth, left the state on the 
twenty-third, arrived in Charleston on the twenty-sixth and the next day went 
six miles up the river to Camp Lyon near Chain Bridge. And here began Mrs. 
Farnham's duty as soldiers' nurse. During the following winter sickness and 
death from disease assumed such alarming proportions that a special corps of 
noted physicians was sent for to aid the medical officers then in the field, and 
with them Mrs. Farnham worked almost constantly. In December, 1861, she was 
dropped from the pay roll as matron of the third, but she still continued her work, 
and until the Wilderness campaign in 1864, occupied a different position from any 
other army nurse. She did not do regular war duty but went from one regiment 
to another, wherever she was most needed. Day or night, it made no difference, 
she always responded to the call and would stay until the crisis was passed or 
death had relieved the patient of his suffering. The day after the battle of 
Antietam she arrived on the field where everything was confusion and where no 
supplies were at hand, and immediately went to work among the wounded. 
Nothing illustrated better the resourcefulness and clear-headedness of this remark- 
able woman than the surgical operation which she performed in an emergency 
here. A soldier had been stricken in the right breast by a partly spent ball with 
force enough to follow around the body under the skin, stopping Just below the 
shoulder blade. As quick as thought, taking the only implement she had, a pair 
of sharp buttonhole scissors, and pinching the ball up with the thumb and finger 
she made an incision and pressed the ball out, thus putting on record through 



330 Part Taken by Women in American History 

feminine resourcefulness the quickest case of bullet probing on record. Living, 
directing and always alone on the battlefields she had of course many thrilling 
adventures. Before a battle it became a common thing for soldiers, especially of 
the Vermont troops, to intrust her with money or other valuables for safe keep- 
ing. And it so happened that during the battle of Chancellorsville she had an 
unusual amount of money, which she carried in a belt on her person, with other 
keepsakes of value in a handbag. After getting into quarters on the Unionists' 
side of the river she put up a tent, as it was raining, and for the first time in 
several nights took off the belt and put it with the bag on the ground under 
the mattress. Perhaps this was all seen in her shadow on the tent cloth by 
someone watching for that purpose. She had just fallen asleep when she became 
conscious that someone was trying to get in. The flap-strings had been strongly 
knotted and tied tightly around the pole so that plan was abandoned and the 
robber passed around the tent. Fully aroused, Mrs. Farnham now crept from 
the blankets and finding her revolver awaited results. Her first thought was to 
give an alarm, but she knew that the thief could easily escape in the dark and 
return later. He proceeded with his evil errand, cutting a long slit in the tent 
to reach through. Up to the time when the knife began its work the brave nurse 
had not realized how serious was her situation ; now she hesitated no longer, 
but aiming as well as she could in the darkness fired. An exclamation, and the 
sound of hurried footsteps, were all she heard. The next morning news came 
that one of the new recruits was sick, having been wounded by the "accidental 
discharge of a pistol in the hands of a chum," and Mrs. Farnham did not ask 
to have the case investigated. After the battle of Chancellorsville, when the 
army had to retreat to its old camp, Mrs. Farnham used to keep a horse and 
team to take along supplies on the march. When in camp the boys could easily 
procure for themselves what they needed but on the march they often suffered 
severely. Such articles as shirts, socks, etc., coffee, sugar, condensed milk and 
canned goods Mrs. Farnham carried in her wagon and gave where most needed. 
It is now a simple matter of history that the Sixth Corps marched from Man- 
chester to Gettysburg from daylight until 4 p. m., and it was the greatest feat 
in marching ever accomplished by any troops under like conditions. Mrs. Farn- 
ham went with them most of the way on foot, giving up the spare room on her 
wagon to worn-out soldiers, who could not find room in the crowded ambulances. 
She was in Fredericksburg on the ninth of May, 1864, where the weary Union 
troops were lying, and here for about the first time she was a regular army 
nurse. Appointed by Miss Dorothea Dix she so remained until discharged in 
June, 1865. Mrs. Farnham used to tell with quiet humor of her first interview 
with Miss Dix. From the time she entered the army, Mrs. Farnham had worn 
a dress similar to that so recently designed for the woman aviator — full pants 
buttoning from the top of her boots, skirts falling a little below the knees and a 
jacket with full sleeves. This dress she had on when she called to present her 
papers of request. Miss Dix glanced at the papers then looked Mrs. Farnham 
over from head to foot until the situation was becoming embarrassing. Finally 
she arose, saying: "Mrs. Farnham. the dress you wear is abominable, a most 
abominable dress, and T do not wish one of my nurses to dress in that manner; 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 331 

but you came highly recommended and I have long known of your work. But 
I did not know you wore such a dress. However, you can wear it if you choose." 
Then she wrote the order for Mrs. Farnham to report at Fredericksburg. From 
that time until the war closed she was one of Miss Dix's trusted nurses and 
was charged with duties and commissions at the front that she would trust to 
no one else. Although they met many times when Mrs. Farnham wore the same 
dress it was not mentioned again. 

HELEN L. GILSON. 

Helen L. Gilson, of Chelsea, Mass., had been for several years head 
assistant in the Phillips School in Boston. But ill health obliged her to leave it. 
She then went to teach the children of her uncle, Frank B. Fay, Mayor of Chel- 
sea. Mr. Fay from the commencement of the war took the most active interest 
in the national cause, devoting his time his wealth and his personal efforts to the 
welfare of the soldiers. Influenced by such an example of lofty and self-sacrific- 
ing patriotism, and with her own young heart on fire with love for her country, 
Miss Gilson from the very commencement of the war gave herself to the work 
of caring for the soldiers first at home and afterward in the field. When Mr. 
Fay commenced his personal services with the army of the Potomac Miss Gilson 
wishing to accompany him applied to the Government superintendent of female 
nurses for a diploma, but as she had not reached the required age she was 
rejected. This, however, did not prevent her from fulfilling her ardent desire 
of administering to the sick and wounded. In June, 1862, she took a position on 
one of the hospital boats of the sanitary commission just after the evacuation 
of Yorktown. She continued on hospital boats between White House, Fortress 
Monroe, Harrison Landing and Washington. She reached the field of Antietam 
September 18, 1862, a few hours after the battle and remained there and at 
Pleasant Valley till the wounded had been gathered into general hospitals. In 
November and December, 1862, she worked in the camps and hospitals near 
Fredericksburg at the time of Burnside's campaign. In the spring of 1863, she 
was again at that point at the battle of Chancellorsville and in the Potomac Creek 
Hospital. Early in 1864, she joined the army at Brandy Station, and in May 
went with the auxiliary corps of the Sanitary Commission to Fredericksburg, 
where the battle of the Wilderness was being fought. Amidst the terrible scenes 
of those dreadful days the perfect adaptability of Miss Gilson to her work was 
conspicuous. Whatever she did was done well and so noiselessly that only the 
results were seen. When not more actively employed she would sit by the 
bedside of the suffering men and charm away their pain by the magnetism of 
her low calm voice and soothing touch. She sang for them and leaning over them 
where they lay amidst all the agonizing sights and sounds of the hospital ward, 
and even upon the field of carnage, her voice would ascend in petition for peace, 
for relief, for sustaining grace in the brief journey to the other world trans- 
porting their souls into the realms of an exalted faith. 

As may be supposed Miss Gilson exerted a remarkable personal influence 
over the wounded and sick soldiers as well as upon all those with whom she 



3$2 Part Taken by Women in American History 

was brought in contact. They looked up to her, reverenced and almost wor- 
shiped her. She had their entire confidence and respect. Even the roughest of 
them yielded to her influence and obeyed her wishes. It has been recorded by 
one who knew her well that she once stepped out of her tent, before which a 
group of men were fiercely quarreling, having refused with oaths and vile lan- 
guage to carry a sick comrade to the hospital at the request of one of the male 
agents of the commission, and quietly advancing to their midst renewed the 
request as her own. Immediately every angry tone was still, their voices were 
lowered and modulated respectfully; their oaths ceased and quietly and cheer- 
fully without a word of objection they lifted their helpless burden and tenderly 
carried him away. 

It finally became necessary to evacuate Fredericksburg and the wounded 
were sent away. The steamer with the last of the wounded and the members 
of the auxiliary corps left just in season to escape the Guerrillas who came into 
the town. William Howell Reed of Boston, who had been in charge of the 
auxiliary corps up to this point wrote of this boat passage as follows: "As 
the boat passed down the river the negroes by instinct came to the banks and 
begged us by every gesture of appeal not to pass them by. At Fort Royal they 
flocked in such numbers that a Government barge was appropriated for their 
use. A thousand were stowed upon her decks. They had an evening service 
of prayer and song and the members of the corps attended the weird ceremony. 
When their song had ceased Miss Gilson addressed them. In the simplest lan- 
guage she explained the difference between their former relations with their old 
masters and the new relations they were about to assume with the Northern 
people, explaining that labor in the North was voluntary and that they could 
only expect to secure kind employers by faithfully discharging their duties. This 
was the beginning of Miss Gilson's work for the negroes. Her crowning labor 
was in their hospital at City Point after the battle of Petersburg. The wounded 
from this battle had been brought down rapidly to City Point where a temporary 
hospital had been provided. There was defective management and chaotic con- 
fusion ; the men were neglected, the hospital organization was imperfect, and the 
mortality was in consequence frightfully large. Conditions were deplorable. The 
stories of their suffering reached Miss Gilson at a moment when her previous 
labors of the campaign had nearly exhausted her strength ; but her duty seemed 
plain. Her friends declared that she could not survive a repetition of her 
experiences, but replying that she could not die in a cause more sacred she started 
out alone. That she succeeded in this great work is nothing short of miraculous. 
Official prejudice and professional pride had to be continually met and overcome. 
A new policy had to be introduced. Miss Gilson's doctrine and practice were 
always instant and cheerful obedience to medical and disciplinary orders without 
question or demur, and by these methods she overcame the natural sensitiveness 
of the medical authorities. Moving quietly on with her work of renovation, she 
took the responsibility of all the changes that became necessary, and such har- 
mony prevailed in the camp that her policy was finally completely vindicated. She 
even established a hospital kitchen upon her own method of special diet, and here 
cleanliness, order and system had to be in force in the daily routine. This was 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 333 

accomplished by a tact and energy which sought no praise but modestly veiled 
themselves behind the orders of officials. The management of her kitchen was 
like the ticking of a clock — regular discipline, gentle firmness and sweet temper 
always. Her daily rounds in the wards brought her into personal intercourse 
with every patient and she knew his special need. At one time nine hundred 
men were supplied from her kitchen. 

This colored hospital service was one of those extraordinary tasks out of 
the ordinary course of hospital discipline that none but a woman could execute. 
It required more than a man's power of endurance, for men fainted and fell 
under the burden. It required a woman's discernment, a woman's tenderness, a 
woman's delicacy and tact; it required such nerve and such executive power as 
are rarely united in any woman's character. But Miss Gilson brought all this 
and more, a woman's sympathy, to her task. As she passed through the wards 
the men would follow her with their eyes attracted by the grave sweetness of her 
manner and when she stopped by some bedside and laid her hand upon the 
forehead and smoothed the hair of a soldier speaking some cheering and pleas- 
ant word, tears would gather in his eyes and his lip quiver as he tried to speak or 
touch the fold of her dress. 

These were the tokens of her ministry among the sickest men, and it was 
not here alone that her influence was felt in the hospital. Was there jealousy 
in the kitchen? Her quick penetration detected the cause and in her sweet way 
harmony was restored. Or was there hardship and discontent? The knowledge 
that she too was enduring the hardship was enough to insure patient endurance 
until a remedy could be provided. And so through all the war, until after the 
fierce battles which were fought for the possession of Richmond and Petersburg 
in 1864 and 1865, she labored steadfastly on through scorching heat and pinching 
cold, in the tent or upon the open field, in the ambulance or in the saddle, through 
rain and snow, amid unseen perils of the enemy, under fire upon the field, or 
in the more insidious danger of contagion she worked on quietly doing her 
simple part with all womanly tact and skill. 

From City Point she went to the hospital at Richmond, and remained there 
until June, 1865. During the following years she spent some months at Rich- 
mond working among the colored and white schools. With declining health, 
alas, she returned to Massachusetts and died in April, 1868, and was buried in 
Woodlawn Cemetery, Chelsea. A beautiful monument with an appropriate inscrip- 
tion was erected over her grave by the soldiers, and it is decorated each year 
by Grand Army posts and Women's Relief Corps. 

MARY PRINGLE. 
(Mary Breckel) 

Mary Pringle was born in Columbus, Ohio, June II, 1833. She was one of 
the volunteer nurses to go into the hospital at Quincy, Illinois, at the opening 
of the war, she also did splendid service in the soldiers' hospital organized on 
Broad Street, Columbus. She worked from the time the war broke out until 
sick from overwork, she was obliged to leave the service in July, 1863. 



334 Part Taken by Women in American History 



MARY A. LOOMIS. 

When the Civil War broke out she was Mrs. Van Pelt living at Coldwater, 
Mich., and entered the service with her husband who was one of the first of the 
volunteer soldiers. She was afterwards appointed matron of the war hospital 
in Nashville, Tenn., and remained there from September, 1862, until January, 
1863. She was also at the hospital at Murfreesboro, Tenn., and at Huntsville, 
Alabama. In all she was in the hospitals only about a year. But the remainder 
of the time she was in camp or on the march with her husband. Although he 
had fallen in the battle of Chickamauga in September, 1863, she continued her 
work of nursing Union soldiers. 

EMMA E. SIMONDS. 

Mrs. Simonds was appointed a nurse by Mrs. Hoge and Mrs. Livermore 
under the authority of Miss Dix, on August 26, 1863, and was assigned to work 
at once in Memphis, Tenn. Miss Dix in speaking of her work has said, "She 
was one of the most excellent, most charitable and most truthful in all her 
expressions of any woman I have ever known." At the close of the war she 
returned to her home at Iowa Falls. In 1873 she moved to Fayetteville, Arkansas, 
where she resumed her practice as professional nurse. This work she continued 
until January, 1892. She died in May, 1893. 

MARGARET HAYES. 

On the seventeenth day of February, 1863, Margaret Hayes left her home 
in Mendota, Illinois, for Chicago as a volunteer nurse. Arriving there she went 
to the Sanitary Commission rooms and was received by Mrs. Livermore, who, 
as she afterwards told the experience, gave her her commission, put up a lunch, 
gave her a pillow and a small comfortable, as there were no sleeping cars in 
those days, procured the transportations and started her that same evening for 
Memphis, Tennessee. She arrived safely and was immediately assigned to the 
Adams General Hospital, which had just been opened to receive the sick and 
wounded from Arkansas. A part of the time she had two wards to care for and 
when she was ordered from this hospital to another position she was given a 
gold watch by her "Boys," which she always held as one of her choicest treas- 
ures. She was Mrs. Maggie Meseroll then, but was called "Sister Maggie" by 
all the soldiers who loved her for the care and tenderness she had bestowed upon 
them. 

DR. NANCY M. HILL. 

Nancy M. Hill, daughter of William and Harriet Swan Hill, was born 
in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her forefathers were in the battles of Lexington 
and Bunker Hill. She was educated in the public schools at West Cambridge, 
and at Mt. Holyoke Seminary, South Hadley, Massachusetts. There was a 
great call for educated women to go as nurses in the hospitals at Washington, 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 335 

and Mrs. Hill volunteered her services there in April, 1863, and remained until 
August, 1865, after the close of the war. She gave her service without remunera- 
tion, since the pay of volunteer nurses was to go into a hospital fund to buy 
extras for the soldiers which the Government did not provide. When the 
battles of the Wilderness were going on, all hospital supplies and sanitary stores 
had been sent to the front and there were none in Washington. Mrs. Hill wrote 
to her mother about it and the letter was read next morning in four churches. 
Immediately congregations were dismissed and all went home to return to the 
Town Hall bringing tablecloths, linen and cotton sheets, the best they had. The 
women and men worked all day long making and rolling bandages and picking 
lint. Before nine o'clock that night the nurse's letter from the front had 
resulted in two large drygoods boxes the size of upright pianos packed with 
stores and on their way to Washington. 

After the war hospital closed, Mrs. Hill turned to the study of medicine. 
Afterwards she became a medical student at the New England Hospital for 
Women and Children at Roxbury, Massachusetts. She was graduated at the 
medical department of Michigan University, Ann Arbor, in the year 1874. She 
then went to Dubuque, Iowa, and opened an office and carried on a large and 
active practice for years. 

ELIZABETH B. NICHOLS. 

Mrs. Nichols entered the service of volunteer nurses at the request of her 
husband, who wished her to join him in Chicago where his regiment had been 
sent on exchange after having been taken prisoners at Harper's Ferry. Her 
determination to get to his bedside immediately after reaching Chicago illustrated 
the pluck and courage which showed all through her career as Government nurse. 
She reached that city at two o'clock in the morning, it was three miles to Camp 
Douglas where the soldiers were quartered. Alone and in the darkness she 
found the gate of the camp enclosure, but it was closed and she was challenged 
by sentries. It was only by insistent appeal that the officer in charge allowed 
her to enter and find her husband. She slept while at this hospital in the bag- 
gage room on a couple of blankets and a pillow, and worked all of the next day 
getting the sick of the camp ready to be taken to the city hospital. Subsequently 
she accompanied her husband to Washington, and from there she marched with 
the regiment to Fairfax crossing the Long Bridge. After the main body of 
troops had gone to the stockade camp, she and her husband remained at Fairfax 
nearly two weeks with nine sick men. The only facilities they had for cooking 
were a coffee pot, one mess pan, a spider and the fireplace. But they saved 
the lives of all of their patients. By the time they reached the front the hos- 
pital was full of men sick with typhoid fever and other maladies, and Mrs. 
Nichols passed through scenes which she never forgot. She took what little sleep 
was allowed her, wrapped in a blanket on a pile of straw. One morning as she 
was about to enter the hospital the doctor met her with the dreadful news that 
smallpox had broken out. But so heroic was her effort that out of the eighteen 
cases which developed only one died. She was also at Gettysburg and later at 



336 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Philadelphia, where her husband was very ill. As soon as he recovered suf- 
ficiently he was ordered to Washington, where with his wife he prepared the 
food for the invalid corps camp. They stayed there sixteen months, when her 
husband was honorably discharged from the army, and they went home to live 
in well-earned peace. 

MRS. A. H. HOGE. 

Perhaps among all who labored for the soldiers "during the Civil War no 
name is better known than that of Mrs. A. H. Hoge. She dedicated to the ser- 
vice of her country all that she had to bestow, and became widely known as one 
of the most faithful and tireless workers; wise in counsel, strong in judgment, 
earnest in action. She was born in Philadelphia, and was the daughter of 
George B. Blaikie, Esq., an East India shipping merchant — "a man of spotless 
character and exalted reputation, whose name is held in reverence by many still 
living there." Mrs. Hoge was educated at the celebrated seminary of John 
Brewer, A. M. In her twentieth year she was married to Mr. Hoge a merchant 
in Pittsburgh, where she lived fourteen years. At the end of that period she 
moved to Chicago, where she became identified with Mrs. Livermore in her work 
for the soldiers. Two of her sons entered the army at the very beginning of the 
war, and she at once began her unwearied personal services for the sick and 
the wounded. At first she entered only into that work of supply in which so 
large a portion of the loyal women of the North labored continuously all through 
the war. The first public act of her life as a sanitary agent was to visit at the 
request of the Chicago Branch of the United States Sanitary Commission, the 
hospitals at Cairo, Mound City and St. Louis. The object of these visits was to 
examine such hospitals as were under the immediate supervision of this branch 
and report their conditions. This report was made and acted upon and was the 
means of introducing decided and much-needed reforms into similar institutions. 

The value of Mrs. Hoge's counsel and the fruits of her great experience 
of life were immediately acknowledged. In several councils of women held in 
Washington she took a prominent part and was always listened to with the 
greatest respect and attention. When she attended the Woman's Council there 
in 1862, she was accompanied by her friend and fellow laborer, Mrs. Livermore, 
and after their return to Chicago they immediately began the organization of 
the Northwest for sanitary labor, being appointed agents of the Northwestern 
Sanitary Commission. They devoted their entire time to this work opening a 
correspondence with the leading women in all the cities and prominent towns 
of the Northwest. They prepared and distributed great numbers of circulars 
relating to the necessity of a concentrated effort of the aid societies, and they 
visited in person many towns and large villages, calling together audiences of 
women and telling them of the hardships, sufferings and heroism of the soldiers, 
which they had themselves witnessed, and of the pressing needs of these men, 
which could only be met by the supplies and work contributed by loyal women of 
the North. Thus they stimulated the enthusiasm of the women to the highest 
point, greatly increased the number of aid societies, and taught them how, by 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 337 

systematizing their efforts, they could render the largest amount of assistance to 
the Sanitary Commission. 

By two years "of earnest and constant labor in this field these women suc- 
ceeded in adding to the packages sent to the Sanitary Commission fifty thousand, 
mostly gifts directly from the aid societies but in part purchased with money 
given. In addition to this, over four thousand dollars came into the treasury 
through their efforts. 

Early in 1863, Mrs. Hoge, in company with Mrs. Colt of Milwaukee, at 
the request of the Sanitary Commission, left Chicago for Vicksburg with a large 
quantity of sanitary stores. The defeat of Sherman in his assault upon that city 
had just taken place and there was great want and suffering in the army. The 
boat upon which these women were traveling was, however, seized as a military 
transport at Columbus and pressed into the fleet of General Gorman, which was 
just starting for the forks at the mouth of the White River. 

General Fiske, whose headquarters were upon the same boat, gave Mrs. 
Hoge and Mrs. Colt the best accommodations and every facility for carrying out 
their work, which proved to be greatly needed. Their stores were found to be 
almost the only ones in the fleet composed of thirty steamers filled with fresh 
troops, whose ranks were soon thinned by sickness consequent upon the exposures 
and fatigue of the campaign. Their boat became a refuge for the sick of General 
Fiske's brigade, and these women had the privilege of nursing hundreds of men 
during this expedition, undoubtedly saving many valuable lives. 

Early in the following spring, and only ten days after her return to 
Chicago from this expedition, Mrs. Hoge was again summoned to Vicksburg, 
opposite which at Young's Point the army under General Grant was lying, 
engaged, among other operations against this stronghold, in an attempt to dig 
a canal across the point opposite the fortified city. Scurvy was prevailing to a 
terrible extent among the men, and they were greatly in need of the supplies 
Mrs. Hoge brought. She remained here two weeks, her headquarters being 
upon the sanitary boat, Silver Wave. She received constant support and aid from 
Generals Grant and Sherman and from Admiral Porter who placed a tug boat 
at her disposal, in order that she might visit the camps and hospitals, which were 
totally inaccessible in any other way, owing to the impassable character of the 
roads during the rainy season. Having made a tour of all the hospitals and ascer- 
tained the condition of the sick and of the army generally, she returned to the 
North and reported to the Sanitary Commission the extent of that insidious army 
foe, the scurvy. They determined to act promptly and vigorously, and these 
efforts undoubtedly proved the salvation of a good proportion of the troops. 

Again the following June she returned to Vicksburg on the steamer, "City 
of Alton," which was dispatched by Governor Yates to bring home the sick and 
wounded Illinois soldiers. She remained until shortly after the surrender which 
took place on the fourth of July, and during this time visited the entire circle 
of hospitals as well as the rifle-pits where she witnessed scenes of thrilling 
interest and instances of endurance and heroism beyond the power of pen to 
describe. 

In the two great sanitary fairs that were held in Chicago, the efforts of 

22 



338 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Mrs. Hogc were unwearied from the inception of the idea until the close of its 
successful realization. The admirable conduct of these fairs and the large 
amounts raised by them are matters of history. 

During the continuance of her labors Mrs. Hoge was frequently the 
recipient of costly and elegant gifts as testimonials of the respect and gratitude 
with which her work was viewed. The managers of the Philadelphia fair, believ- 
ing Mrs. Hoge to have had an important connection with that fair, presented to 
her a beautiful gift in token of their appreciation of her services. During the 
second sanitary fair in Chicago a few friends presented her with a beautiful 
silver cup bearing a suitable inscription in Latin, and during the same fair she 
received as a gift a Roman bell of green bronze of rare workmanship and value 
as a work of art. 

Mrs. Hoge made three expeditions to the army of the Southwest and per- 
sonally visited and ministered to more than one hundred thousand men in hos- 
pitals. Few among the many official workers whom the war called from the 
ease and retirement of home can submit to the public a record of labors as 
efficient, varied and long-continued as hers. 

MRS. JOHN A. FOWLE. 

Of all the women who devoted themselves to the soldiers in the Civil War, 
perhaps none had a more varied experience than Elida B. Rumsey, a girl so 
young that Miss Dix would not receive her as a nurse. Undaunted by seeming 
difficulties she persisted in doing the next best thing, and in becoming an inde- 
pendent nurse she fulfilled her great desire to do something for the Union 
soldiers. Yet it was not to these alone that her kindly administrations extended, 
for wherever she saw a soldier in need her ready sympathies were enlisted, 
little caring if the heart beats stirred a coat of blue or gray. 

Miss Rumsey was born in New York City, June 6, 1842, and at the outbreak 
of the war she was living with her parents in Washington, D. C. She had become 
engaged to John A. Fowle of Jamaica Plains, Mass., who was employed in the 
Navy Department at Washington, but devoted all his spare time to philanthropic 
enterprises. His work and Miss Rumsey's were supplementary from the first. In 
November, 1861, she began to visit the hospitals and sing to the soldiers who 
found relief and courage in the tones of her strong sympathetic voice. The 
"Soldiers Rest" was a name very inappropriately given to a place near the B. & O. 
R. R. depot, where prisoners were exchanged, or sometimes stayed over night 
when they had nowhere else to go. Miss Rumsey had a strong desire to see what 
kind of men had been in Libby Prison, and when the first lot had been exchanged 
she went down to see them off as they were going home on a furlough. Someone 
recognized the young lady and called for a song. To gain time and give her a 
moment's preparation, Mr. Fowle stepped to her side and said. "Boys, how would 
you like a song?" "Oh, very well, I guess," came the reply in spiritless tones. She 
sang the "Red, White and Blue." Soon they crowded around her with more 
interest than they had shown since leaving the prison. At the close of the song 
they called for another and piled their knapsacks in front of her on the ground. 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 339 

Standing on this rude rostrum she sang "The Star Spangled Banner." Her 
natural enthusiasm was intensified by the surroundings, and the desire to inspire 
the boys with the courage they had all but lost. When she had finished, those 
prisoners now restored to their former spirits rent the air with cheer after cheer. 
From this time on her voice hitherto used only for the enjoyment of her friends 
was devoted to her country. 

One of the first things definitely accomplished was the establishment of a 
Sunday evening prayer meeting in Columbia College hospital. The room where 
this was held was crowded night after night. The interest steadily increased until 
the boys often did double duty in order to be present. The soldiers planned what 
they wanted her to sing from week to week, and she threw into the songs all her 
great desire to bring the boys back to their former selves and help them feel that 
they were not forgotten nor alone. 

All this time her plans had been assuming outward form. Having received 
a grant of land from the Government a building was erected and the Soldiers' 
Free Library founded. Mrs. Walter Baker gave the first hundred dollars and the 
greater part of the remainder was earned by Miss Rumsey and Mr. Fowle giving 
concerts, at two of which they had the marine band by order of the President. As 
far as known this was the first library ever founded by a woman, and that by a 
mere girl scarcely eighteen years of age. The reading room was modestly fitted 
up with seats which would accommodate two hundred and fifty persons. It had 
a melodeon, on which the soldiers practiced at will, and every Wednesday evening 
regular instruction was given in music and singing by Mr. and Mrs. Fowle. 
Religious services were conducted by the chaplain twice each Sunday. One room 
was devoted to the storage of medicine, delicacies, stationery, socks, shirts, etc., 
and was under the charge of Mrs. Fowle, who filled the knapsack of every con- 
valescent soldier leaving camp from these stores. 

The honor paid to Miss Rumsey at the time of her marriage demonstrated 
the public esteem in which she was held. The ceremony took place in the halls 
of Congress. A good deal of publicity had been given the affair and the floor and 
galleries were packed, about four thousand persons being present. The bride, we 
are told, was dressed in a plain drab poplin, with linen collar and cuffs, and with 
a bonnet of the same color, ornamented with red, white and blue flowers. A bow 
of red, white and blue ribbon was fastened upon her breast. After the ceremony 
had been completed, and the couple were receiving congratulations, a soldier in 
the gallery shouted, "Won't the bride sing the Star Spangled Banner?" And she 
did, then and there, in her bridal dress, with never more of fervor in her beautiful 
voice. President Lincoln had intended to be present, but at the last moment he 
was detained, and sent a magnificent basket of flowers. On their return from their 
bridal trip Mr. and Mrs. Fowle resumed their work at Columbia Hospital, but 
later on they determined to consecrate themselves to the service at the front. 
Knowing that there would be urgent need and fearful suffering, Mrs. Fowle 
decided to go to the second battle of Bull Run; so, taking a load of supplies and 
some four hundred loaves of bread, she and Mr. Fowle started in an ambulance. 
Having no Government pass it was a hazardous undertaking, and she experienced 
difficulty in getting through the lines. The last guard peremptorily refused to let 



340 Part Taken by Women in American History 

her go any farther, when springing from the ambulance, she fell on her knees 
before him and begged her way through. Thus while Miss Dix and her faithful 
nurses were detained three miles away, she was inside the lines and ready for 
action. When almost on the battlefield they came to a little negro cabin and 
resolved to use it for a hospital. It was a tiny affair, but on opening the door they 
found that it was already occupied. A terrified crowd of negroes had sought shelter 
there. Almost wild with fear, they could scarcely obey the order, "Be oft," but were 
soon on their way to Washington. The preparation had not been made any too 
quickly for almost immediately wounded men began to arrive. The little cabin would 
hold about fifty, and after Mr. Fowle had done what he could for one patient he 
was removed and another took his place. When the stores had been distributed 
Mrs. Fowle determined to go in and help care for the wounded. She found the 
floor completely hidden with blood, but she entered firmly and helped to bind up 
fearful wounds until the close of that famous Sunday night when the army 
retreated. Mrs. Fowle carried to her death a scar on her face as a relic of war 
time, and its story defines her whole attitude during the Civil War. A large car- 
buncle, the result of blood poisoning while washing wounds on the battlefield, 
appeared on her cheek. The doctor said it must be lanced. Having a horror of a 
knife and with nerves already quivering from the sights around her she did not 
feel equal to the ordeal. Still knowing it must be done she said, "Let me go over 
to the Judiciary Hospital and see the boys who have had their arms and legs 
amputated and I can bear it." A chair was placed in one end of the ward and 
calmly seating herself she looked for a moment at the long rows of cots then told 
the surgeon to go on. After the close of the war Mr. and Mrs. Fowle resided in 
Baltimore. 

The Woman's Relief Corps, Auxiliary to the Grand 

Army of the Republic. 

Introduction by Mary M. North. 

When the war cloud hangs darkly over a land, then is the 
strength of woman made perfect, and she is ready with the 
kindly ministrations which can only come from the sympathetic 
hand of the home-maker — the mother, wife, sister, daughter, 
sweetheart — the loyal woman. 

When the dove of peace had taken its departure from our 
own fair land, and the boom of cannon was heard upon that 
fateful day in April, '6i, then there arose the need for the 
kindly ministrations of woman, and as ever, she was ready with 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 341 

a response, and everywhere little bands gathered, or a woman 
alone did "what she could," for those who had answered their 
country's call. 

Not only did she put her hand to the plow, and start the 
loom with its many bobbins, harvest the crops which she had 
laboriously planted and tended, but she also sewed, picked lint, 
made bandages, and knitted socks and numberless other things 
for the men and boys at "the front." 

Societies sprang up and worked steadily all through the 
Civil War, and even when peace was declared, many found 
that their work was not done, for there were maimed and 
invalid veterans to care for, there were widows and orphans 
who needed succor, and homes had to be provided for hundreds 
who had no loved ones to look after them. 

With the call of duty ever before them they could not 
disband, and all over the north, the east, and the west, they 
were still working when their ability and help were recognized 
by a veteran who was at the head of the Grand Army of the 
Republic, — Paul Van Der Voort, commander-in-chief. 

An invitation was sent out to all loyal women all over the 
country to assemble at Denver, July 25, 26, 1883, to perfect a 
National Order, which should include within its folds loyal 
women from every state in the Union, who were willing to unite 
in a fraternity which should be of assistance to the Grand Army 
of the Republic, in all their works of beneficence. 

The National Organization was effected at the Denver 
meeting, and recognized as the auxiliary of the Grand Army of 
the Republic in accordance with a resolution by that body passed 
in Indianapolis, in 1881 : "R.esolved, That we approve of 
the project entertained of organizing a 'Woman's National 
Relief Corps.' Resolved, That such 'Woman's Relief Corps' 
may use, under such title, the words, 'Auxiliary to the G.A.R.' 
by special endorsement of the Grand Army of the Republic, 
June 15, 1881." 



342 Part Taken by Women in American History 

They were accepted, and left free to work for the veterans 
in their own way, which as time has fully proven has been a 
wise one. 

Among those present at the Denver meeting were: Mrs. 
Florence Barker, Mrs. Kate Brownlee Sherwood, Mrs. Sarah 
E. Fuller, Mrs. Lizabeth A. Turner, Mrs. E. K. Stimson, Mrs. 
Emily Gardner, Mrs. J. M. Telford, Mrs. I. S. Bangs, Mrs. 
Clark, Mrs. McNeir, Mrs. Hugg, and Mrs. Charles. 

The officers elected were : 

National President, Mrs. E. Florence Barker, Maiden, Massachusetts. 
National Senior Vice President, Mrs. Kate Brownlee Sherwood, Toledo, 

Ohio. 

National Junior Vice President, Mrs. E. K. Stimson, Denver, Colorado. 

National Secretary, Mrs. Sarah E. Fuller, East Boston, Mass. 

National Inspector, Mrs. Emily Gardner, Denver, Colorado. 

National Chaplain, Mrs. Mattie B. Moulton, Laconia, New Hampshire. 

National Conductor, Mrs. P. S. Runyan, Warsaw, Indiana. 

National Guard, Mrs. J. W. Beatson, Rockford, Illinois. 

National Corresponding Secretaries, Mrs. Mary J. Telford, Denver, Colo- 
rado, and Mrs. Ellen Pay, Topeka, Kansas. 

At this first meeting it was voted that all loyal women were 
eligible to membership, and the growth of the organization has 
shown the wisdom of the vote. 

CHARTER MEMBERS, W. R. C. 

E. Florence Barker, Maiden, Mass. Frances S. Runyan, Warsaw, Indiana 

Sarah E. Fuller, East Boston, Mass. Frances Elliott Olney, Warsaw, Ind. 

Lizabeth A. Turner, Boston, Mass. Henrietta Norton, Rockford, 111. 

Helen S. Bangs, Waterville, Me. Jane W. Beatson, Rockford. 111. 

Kate B. Sherwood, Toledo, Ohio. Kate Hobart, Rockford, 111. 

Lenore K. Sherwood, Toledo, Ohio Emily T. Charles, Washington, D. C. 

Mary E. Lanning, Columbus, Ohio Louise V. Bryant, Washington, D. C. 

Annie W. Clark, Columbus, Ohio Lizzie Anderson, Topeka, Kan. 

Lottie M. Meyers, Canton, Ohio Ellen M. Pay, Topeka, Kan. 

Emma K. McCammon. Carthage. Ohio Sarah E. Devendorf, Topeka, Kan. 

Ella McCammon, Carthage, Ohio Jennie Fensky, Topeka, Kan. 

Helen M. Santmeyer, Carthage, Ohio Emma B. Alrich, Cawker City, Kan. 

Mary Timmerman, Leipsic. Ohio America Anderson, Denver, Colo. 

Marion A. Gillis, Cleveland. Ohio Olive Hogle, Denver, Colo. 

Amelia A. Moore, Youngstown, Ohio Mary A. Stimson, Denver, Colo. 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 343 



Mary Jewett Telford, Denver, Colo. 
Augusta B. Henderson, Denver, Colo. 
Angenette Peavy, Denver, Colo. 
Josephine L. Peavy, Denver, Colo. 
Frances A. Collar, Denver, Colo. 
Julia A. Lynd, Denver, Colo. 
Nora Mclntyre, Denver, Colo. 
Maria F. Gray Pitman, Denver, Colo. 
Emily Gardner, Denver, Colo. 
Mary A. Ingersoll, Denver, Colo. 
Mesdames 

S. O. Ver Plank, Denver, Colo. 

F. A. Driscoll, Denver, Colo. 

H. B. Ayers, Denver, Colo. 

W. H. Savage, Denver, Colo. 



Margaret Freeman, Denver, Colo. 
Mary E. Lattin, Denver, Colo. 
Henrietta F. Mills, Denver, Colo. 
Harriet B. Jeffries, Denver, Colo. 
Lizzie M. Tarbell, Denver, Colo. 
Harriet L. Heard, Denver, Colo. 
Mary Berwick, Denver, Colo. 
Louise E. Sherman, Colo. Springs, Colo. 
Mary L. Carr, Longmont, Colo. 

J. F. Lather, Denver, Colo. 
C. E. Hanly, Denver, Colo. 
S. D. Hunt, Denver, Colo. 
H. L. Wadsworth, Denver, Colo. 
W. H. Leaverns, Denver, Colo. 



The Woman's Relief Corps is now the largest beneficent 
and patriotic organization of women in the world, their mem- 
bership at last report being about 166,000. 

They have spent in relief for the veteran or his dependent 
ones since organizing, more than three and a half millions of 
dollars, and upon their twenty-fifth anniversary, presented the 
Grand Army of the Republic with $5,000, and every year a gift 
of $1,000 is made for their permanent fund. 

At the last convention of the Woman's Relief Corps the 
treasurer reported $27,267.18 as the total assets, with no 
liabilities. 

At that convention it was voted, to set aside $3,000 for 
the Grand Army of the Republic, subject to any call of the com- 
mander-in-chief for aid of needy veterans ; $2,000 for the aid 
of army nurses who do not receive pensions, and by reason 
of advanced age cannot provide for themselves the comforts 
they need; $1,000 for a memorial tablet at Andersonville Park 
upon which is to be inscribed the source from which the govern- 
ment received its sacred trust of that hallowed ground. 

The Woman's Relief Corps has owned very much 
valuable real estate, notably Andersonville Park, Andersonville, 



344 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Georgia, and the National W. R. C. Home, in Madison, Ohio, 
but the latter was turned over to the state of Ohio as a gift, 
several years ago. Last year Andersonville Park was also 
turned over to the government as a gift free of encumbrance. 
The way the Woman's Relief Corps acquired this property 
is interesting: The department of Georgia Grand Army of the 
Republic, purchased the old prison site, of the owners, but 
found that as their number was growing less year by year, 
and as it required a great deal of money to keep up the place, 
it would be better for them to offer it to the auxiliary of the 
Grand Army of the Republic. When the Woman's Relief 
Corps was in annual session in St. Paul, Minn., in 1896, 
representatives of the Georgia Grand Army came before them, 
and offering the old prison, asked them to accept the gift and 
keep it from desecration. The women accepted it as a sacred 
trust, and immediately appointed Mrs. Lizabeth A. Turner, of 
Massachusetts, as chairman of ,a board to beautify the grounds 
and make a park of them. A house for a caretaker was needed, 
and as the women did not want to build it within the old stock- 
ade, more land was purchased making the acreage within the 
enclosure about eighty-seven. A ten-room house was erected, 
a caretaker installed, and then the tedious process of making 
a park was begun. Bermuda grass was planted root by root, a 
pear and pecan orchard set out, and a rose garden planted, with 
rose bushes sent from almost every state in the Union, and then 
the desert began literally "to blossom as the rose." Several 
states were given ground upon which to erect monuments to 
their sons. These were Massachusetts, Ohio, Michigan, Rhode 
Island and Wisconsin. Mrs. Turner having died while in 
discharge of her duty, the Woman's Relief Corps also erected a 
monument to her memory in the park. This beautiful spot, 
the mecca for all the country side every Sabbath, and for the 
nation upon Memorial Day, was last year accepted by the 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 345 

government, and this year upon May 30, the memorial tablet 
set up by the donors, was unveiled, in the presence of a vast 
concourse of people, Mrs. Sarah D. Winans, chairman of the 
Andersonville Board, presenting it to the National President 
of the Woman's Relief Corps, Mrs. Belle C. Harris, who in turn 
presented it to the government through Captain Bryant, super- 
intendent of the Andersonville Cemetery. Upon the tablet are 
the names of the incorporators of the Woman's Relief Corps, 
Mrs. Sarah D. Winans, Mrs. Jennie E. Wright, Mrs. Kate B. 
Sherwood, Mrs. Cora Day Yound, Mrs. Mary C. Wentzell, 
Mrs. Mary M. North, Mrs. Sarah E. Phillips, Mrs. Lizabeth A. 
Turner, Miss Clara Barton and Mrs. Allaseba M. Bliss. Also 
the names of the Board of Trustees for 1909-10, Mrs. Sarah D. 
Winans, Mrs. Abbie A. Adams, Mrs. Allaseba M. Bliss, Mrs. 
Sarah E. Fuller, Mrs. Carrie R. Read, and the names of the 
committee on transfer to the government, Mrs. Kate E. Jones, 
Mrs. Kate B. Sherwood, Mrs. Mary M. North and Mrs. Mary 
L. Gilman. 

The aims and objects of the Woman's Relief Corps are : 

"To specially aid and assist the Grand Army of the Repub- 
lic, and to perpetuate the memory of their heroic dead. 

To assist such Union veterans as need our help and 
protection, and to extend needful aid to their widows and 
orphans. To find them homes and employment, and assure 
them of sympathy and friends. To cherish and emulate the 
deeds of our army nurses, and of all loyal women who rendered 
loving service to our country in her hour of peril. 

To maintain true allegiance to the United States of 
America ; to inculcate lessons of patriotism and love of country 
among our children and in the communities in which we live; 
and encourage the spread of universal liberty and equal rights 
to all. 

This organization was the first to introduce the salute to 



346 Part Taken by Women in American History 

the flag in the public schools, and to make the observance of 
Flag Day general, by preparing and carrying out suitable 
programs. 

There are two salutes to the flag taught in the schools, 
the one for the older scholars being, "I pledge allegiance to my 
flag and to the Republic for which it stands; one nation 
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." 

The other is taught the younger pupils, and is, "I give 
my head and my heart to God and my country, one country, one 
language, one flag." 

The Woman's Relief Corps has been instrumental in 
having flag laws passed in many states, and through their 
efforts an appropriation was made by Congress for flags for the 
school houses of the District of Columbia, the writer of this 
having made the first draft of the bill which was put in shape by 
Mrs. Belva A. Lockwood and presented to Congress. Upon 
the roster of this order are the names of women in the highest 
walks of life, and any who are loyal and of good moral 
character are welcome to the ranks of those who are banded 
together for such patriotic work as that of the Woman's Relief 
Corps. 

Those who have served as National President, National 
Secretary and National Treasurer since the organization are 
the following: 



NATIONAL PRESIDENTS. 

E. Florence Barker 
Kate B. Sherwood 
Sarah E. Fuller 
Elizabeth D'Arcy Kinne 
Emma Stark Hampton 
Charity Rusk Craig 
Annie Wittenmyer 
Mary Sears McHenry 
Sue A. Pike Sanders 
Margaret Ray Wickins 



NATIONAL SECRETARIES. 



NATIONAL TREASURERS. 



Sarah E. Fuller 


Lizabeth A. 


Turner 


Emma D. Sibley 


Lizabeth A. 


Turner 


Eleanor B. Wheeler 


Lizabeth A. 


Turner 


Nellie G. Backus 


Lizabeth A. 


Turner 


Armilla A. Cheney 


Lizabeth A. 


Turner 


Hettie M. Nichols 


Lizabeth A. 


Turner 


Abbie Lynch 


Armilla A. 


Cheney 


Hannah R. Plimpton 


Armilla A. 


Cheney 


Ella Cobean 


Armilla A. 


Cheney 


Flora Preston Hogbin 


Armilla A. 


Cheney 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 347 



NATIONAL PRESIDENTS. 

Sarah C. Mink 
Emma R. Wallace 
Lizabeth A. Turner 
Agnes Hitt . 
Sarah J. Martin. 
Flo Jamison Miller 
Harriet J. Bodge 
Mary L. Carr 
Calista Robinson Jones 
Lodusky J. Taylor 
Sarah D. Winans 
Fanny E. Minot 
Abbie Asenath Adams 
Carrie R. Sparklin 
Kate E. Jones 
Mary L. Gilman 
Jennie Iowa Berry 
Belle C. Harris 



NATIONAL SECRETARIES. 

Sarah E. Phillips 
Jennie Bross 
Harriette L. Reed 
Ida S. McBride 
Mary H. Shepherd 
Mattie Jamison Tippett 
Charlotte E. Wright 
Fannie D. W. Hardin 
Mary Ellen Conant 
Ada E. May 
Jennie S. Wright 
Helen McGregor Ayers 
Mary R. Morgan 
Belle C. Kimball 
Eliza Brown Daggett 
Maria W. Going 
Georgia Wade McClellan 
Ida Wilson Moore 



NATIONAL TREASURERS. 


Armilla A 


.. Cheney 


Armilla A 


.. Cheney 


Isabelle T 


. Bagley 


Isabelle T 


. Bagley 


Isabelle T 


. Bagley 


Isabelle T 


. Bagley 


Sarah E. 


Phillips 


Sarah E. 


Phillips 


Sarah E. 


Phillips 


Sarah E. 


Phillips 


Isabelle T 


. Bagley 


Sarah E. 


Phillips 


Charlotte 


E. Wright 


Charlotte 


E. Wright 


Charlotte 


E. Wright 


Charlotte 


E. Wright 


Charlotte 


E. Wright 


Charlotte 


E. Wright 



Women of the Woman's Relief Corps. 

E. FLORENCE BARKER. 

First national president of the Woman's Relief Corps. When the Woman's 
Relief Corps was organized as a national body at Denver in 1883, there was 
present Mrs. E. Florence Barker of Maiden, Massachusetts, who at the time, was 
president of a large patriotic and benevolent organization of the state, called 
the Union Board Woman's Relief Corps. This, she with a number of other 
ladies represented at the Denver meeting. She had long been known for her 
good works, and had been assiduous in working for the soldiers during the Civil 
War, and after that, she married Colonel Thomas E. Barker, of the 12th New 
Hampshire Regiment. After a life spent for the good of others, she passed on 
to her reward, September 11, 1897. 



KATE BROWNLEE SHERWOOD. 

Mrs. Kate Brownlee Sherwood, second national president of the Woman's 
Relief Corps, was one of the organizers, acted as secretary at the first meeting 
and was elected national senior vice-president at that meeting. 

She is an Ohio woman and was one of those who "waited" during the 
Civil War, while she also worked with her might, for not only the soldier hus- 
band, but for all who had gone at their country's call. Her husband is General 
Isaac R. Sherwood, a member of the House of Representatives of the Congress 
of the United States. Mrs. Sherwood is without a peer as an executive officer, 



o 



48 Part Taken by Women in American History 



is gifted with the silver tongue of oratory, and has also been blessed above many 
in that hers is the pen of a ready writer. She has exceptional literary ability, 
and her poems are found in nearly all the state libraries. Every schoolboy and 
girl knows her patriotic poems. She is an indefatigable worker, and will not rest 
until the last roll is called. Her home is in Toledo, Ohio. 

SARAH R. FULLER. 

Mrs. Sarah R. Fuller, third national president of the Woman's Relief 
Corps, was one of those who crossed the continent to help found the organization. 
During the last year of the Civil War her husband lost his life on Southern soil, 
and left his wife to raise their little son. Since that time she has been devoted 
to the work of caring for the veteran and his dependent ones. 

The beginning of her service antedates that, however, for early in the war 
she became a member of the Christian Commission, and early and late, gave 
her services where they were needed. She is a versatile woman, and has done a 
great deal with both pen and voice to build up the order she loves so well. 

At the meeting in Denver she was chosen national scretary, and at the 
third convention was elected national president. Her love for the order has not 
abated, and in her own department she has served in every office. She is life 
member of the Executive Board of the National Woman's Relief Corps, and is 
also a member of the Andersonville Park Board. Her home is in Medford, Massa- 
chusetts, where she is honored and loved by everyone. 

ELIZABETH DARCY KINNE. 

Mrs. Elizabeth D'Arcy Kinne, fourth national president of the Woman's 
Relief Corps, was reared in Massachusetts, and lived in the Bay State until after 
her marriage. When the Civil War broke out, Mr. Kinne was living in Cali- 
fornia, but came east and joined the second Massachusetts cavalry, and while 
adjutant of that regiment he met, wooed and won Miss D'Arcy. Mr. Kinne 
served with Sheridan in the Valley of Virginia until the close of the war, then 
with his wife went to his western home, where they have resided ever since. 

Soon after the organization of the Woman's Relief Corps, Mrs. Kinne saw 
that it was to be a factor for great good, so entered heartily into its work, and 
organized a corps in her own city. She helped to raise $1,000 with which to 
procure bedding and other necessities for the State Soldiers' Home. She also 
helped to found the home for nurses, soldiers' widows, mothers and orphans, 
at Evergreen near San Jose. Every veteran finds in Mrs. Kinne a warm friend, 
and no one asks for help in vain at her door. Her home is in San Francisco, 
California. 

EMMA STARK HAMPTON. 

Mrs. Emma Stark Hampton, the fifth national president of the Woman's 
Relief Corps, is one of the women who revised the beautiful ritual of the order. 
She is a lineal descendant of Israel Stark of Revolutionary fame, and her father 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 349 

was also Israel Stark. He was associated with the Christian Commission during 
the Civil War. A brother of Mrs. Hampton lost his life while at the head of his 
regiment in the battle of the Wilderness. Mrs. Hampton rendered valuable 
assistance during the war, and since that conflict, her zeal has not relaxed in the 
interest of those who wore the blue. She is a literary woman, and has long 
represented the Woman's Relief Corps in the National Council of Women of the 
United States. Her home is in Detroit, Michigan. 

CHARITY RUSK CRAIG. 

Mrs. Charity Rusk Craig,' the sixth national president of the Woman's 
Relief Corps, comes of patriotic stock, and has shown her patriotism by her work 
while a member of this great patriotic organization. She is a woman of fine 
presence and is gifted in speech. 

For a number of years her home was in Viroqua, Wisconsin, but for some 
time past she has been living in Asheville, N. C. 

ANNIE WITTENMEYER. 

Mrs. Annie Wittenmeyer, seventh national president of the Woman's 
Relief Corps, went out as a young woman, in charge of a nurse corps, under 
orders from Governor Curtin of Pennsylvania, and her name is lovingly men- 
tioned, and her presence fondly remembered by thousands of old soldiers who 
came under her kindly ministrations in the dark days of the war. 

She was not only all through the war, but many times was actually "under 
the guns." If one thing more than another established her fame, it is that she 
was the first to think of establishing diet kitchens, and hundreds of soldiers are 
alive to-day, because of the clean, nourishing food which was provided them 
under her direction. 

It was through her influence that hundreds of army nurses have been 
pensioned in their old age. She is also well known as a poet, and "I have entered 
the valley of blessing so sweet," is as well known, as her poem telling of the 
miraculous breaking forth of the spring at Andersonville during the Civil War. 
when "The prisoner's cry rang up to Heaven; God heard and with His thunder 
cleft the earth, and poured His sweetest water gushing there." 

Mrs. Wittenmyer died a few years ago at her home in Sanatoga, Penn- 
sylvania. 

MRS. MARY SEARS McHENRY. 

Mrs. Mary Sears McHenry, eighth national president of the Woman's 
Relief Corps, comes of Revolutionary stock, being a direct descendant of Isaac 
Sears. Her husband was an orderly sergeant during the Civil War, afterwards 
settling at Denison, Iowa, where he became a prosperous banker. Mrs. McHenry 
came to the head of the order fully prepared for the duties, having passed 
through all the chairs in her own department, she therefore made an exceptionally 
good presiding officer. 



350 Part Taken by Women in American History 



SUE A. PIKE SANDERS. 

Mrs. Sue A. Pike Sanders, ninth national president of the Woman's Relief 
Corps, is another who has Revolutionary blood in her veins, but she is not so 
proud of this, as that she is a patriot herself, and had four brothers in the Civil 
War, two of whom languished in Andersonville for many months. During the 
war she was a teacher in Bloomington, Illinois, and made a flag and raised it 
over her schoolhouse. She also belonged to the Soldiers' Aid Society of that 
town, and gave through it valuable aid to the cause. Mrs. Sander's home is in 
Bloomington, Illinois. 

MARGARET RAY WICKINS. 

Mrs. Margaret Ray Wickins, tenth national president of the Woman's 
Relief Corps, came to the office from her home on the free soil of Kansas filled 
with enthusiasm, and after many victories won in the upbuilding of the order in 
her state. While the Civil War was in progress, she gave her time and services 
whenever there was need, and when hostilities closed, she was as ever, ready 
and willing to help those who had stood by the flag. 

Mrs. Wickins lives in Paris, Illinois. 

MRS. SARAH C. MINK. 

Mrs. Sarah C. Mink, eleventh national president of the Woman's Relief 
Corps, was born in the town of Mayfield, New York, April 7, 1837, and again 
we record the fact that this woman was of Revolutionary stock, and her patriot- 
ism was tested in the time that tried men's souls. 

When the Woman's Relief Corps was organized in the state of New York, 
Mrs. Mink zealously went to work to upbuild the order, and she served as execu- 
tive in the local organization, and in her department a number of terms. The 
convention which elected her to the highest office also adopted resolutions advo- 
cating the introduction of patriotic teaching in the public schools, and as this 
was a subject very dear to her heart, she entered into it with all the strength of 
body and mind, and a grand foundation was laid upon which thousands of 
patriotic characters have been built. Mrs. Mink was ' the wife of Major C. E. 
Mink. She passed away at her home in Watertown, New York, December 3, 1896. 

MRS. EMMA R. WALLACE. 

Mrs. Emma R. Wallace, twelfth national president of the Woman's Relief 
Corps, came to the executive's chair fully equipped for the arduous duties of the 
office, for she had had many years of experience in her own department where 
she had filled all the chairs, and had been a wise counselor for years. She was 
saturated with patriotism, for she knew the hardships of the camp, the field, the 
hospital, having faced them all with her soldier husband when she went to the 
front a young wife to share the joys and sorrows of the one who had laid his 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 351 

life upon the altar of his country. She brought succor to the sick, and comfort 
to the dying, and her oldest child was born within sound of the guns, at Natchez. 
She had a fine judicial mind, and was always appealed to if a knotty question 
arose in any of the deliberations, and was sure to see the way out. She suffered 
an apoplectic stroke last year and after lingering, a patient sufferer, passed away 
in June, 1911, at her home in Chicago, 111. 

MRS. LIZABETH A. TURNER. 

Mrs. Lizabeth A. Turner, thirteenth national president of the Woman's 
Relief Corps, casting aside the superstition of ages, accepted the nomination for 
national president upon a Friday, and was accorded an unusual honor, for her 
election was unanimous. 

Great things were expected of this thirteenth president, for she was from 
the pioneer state in the work — the "mother of the order" — Massachusetts, and 
the twelve months which she served, justified the faith which had been put in her. 

Mrs. Turner's home was in Boston. When she was not twenty she was 
left a widow, and the Civil War coming on while her heart was yet sore from 
bereavement, she gave her love and devotion to her country, and entered into the 
work of caring for the soldiers and their loved ones at home, with the same zeal 
which characterized the efforts of her after life. Before she went out of office, 
Andersonville Prison was given to the Woman's Relief Corps, to be cared for and 
made into a park. Mrs. Turner was unanimously chosen chairman of the Anderson- 
ville Board, and served faithfully, making the hard ground to be fruitful, and the 
desert of the stockade to blossom as the rose. She served as chairman of the 
board until her death, which occurred at Andersonville, while there in the dis- 
charge of her duty, April 27, 1907. She was beloved by every member of the 
order not only in Massachusetts, but all over the United States, and by the 
Grand Army as well. A beautiful monument at Andersonville has been erected 
by the Woman's Relief Corps as a testimonial to her worth and work. 

MRS. AGNES HITT. 

Mrs. Agnes Hitt, fourteenth national president of the Woman's Relief 
Corps, was born in Greencastle, Indiana, where her parents had removed from 
Kentucky several years before the war. They were prominent people, and the 
best folk of the state were visitors in the home, one of the oldest friends being 
War Governor Morton. 

Mrs. Hitt's father and her only brother enlisted as soon as the call came 
for volunteers, and the father left an arm on the field before Richmond as a proof 
of his patriotism. Two years after the war the daughter was married to Major 
Wilber F. Hitt, who, when only twenty was assistant adjutant general of a bri- 
gade, and then for meritorious conduct on the field of battle, was brevetted captain 
and major. Mrs. Hitt is well known for her deeds of charity, and her work for 
patriotic teaching in the public schools. She and her soldier husband live in 
Indianapolis, Indiana. 



352 Part Taken by Women in American History 

MRS. SARAH J. MARTIN. 

Mrs. Sarah J. Martin, fifteenth national president of the Woman's Relief 
Corps, was born in Wheeling, West Virginia, March 21, 1840. After her educa- 
tion was finished and just before the breaking out of the war, she met and loved 
George W. Martin, and soon the call to arms came and the boy lover enlisted 
in the 25th Ohio volunteers, and marched to "the front," with his sweetheart's 
promise as the beacon to guide him. At the battle of Gettysburg he lost his 
right arm, but that only bound his sweetheart the closer to him, for she saw 
that she was needed the more. He offered to release her, but she was faithful 
and true, and they were married October 24, 1865. They settled in Brookfield, 
Missouri, and here all her married life was spent. She was always interested in 
the old soldier and in the principles of patriotism. Nothing was too hard for 
her to do for her country or its defenders. She passed to her reward April 3, 
1900. 

MRS. FLO JAMISON MILLER. 

Mrs. Flo Jamison Miller, sixteenth national president of the Woman's 
Relief Corps, came to the responsible office, one of the youngest who had ever 
presided over the National Organization. She was fitted for her duties by sev- 
eral years of service in her department. Zealous to an amazing degree, she saw 
the needs for a home for soldiers and soldiers' widows, and expended every 
effort in realizing the ambition of the women of the order, and rested not until 
their efforts were crowned with success. Mrs. Miller was among the first to 
carry patriotic teaching into the public schools, and failed not to speak and write 
upon the subject, in season and out of season. She is the efficient corresponding 
secretary of the National Council of Women of the United States, and thus is in 
touch with many thousands of patriotic and progressive women of this, the 
woman's century. Mrs. Miller is the daughter of Colonel W. H. Jamison, of 
Grant's old regiment, the 21st Illinois. Her home is in Wilmington, Delaware. 

MRS. HARRIET J. BODGE. 

Mrs. Harriet J. Bodge, seventeenth national president of the Woman's 
Relief Corps, came to the office fully prepared for its duties, and up to the mark 
in every way. From her earliest recollection she had breathed the air of patriot- 
ism, and she had further testified that she was loyal, by marrying one who, 
when his country called, responded at once, "Here !" She is of Puritan and 
Revolutionary stock, and her family have shown their patriotism by giving mem- 
bers to every war. 

Mrs. Bodge's eldest brother served in the Mexican War, and her youngest 
in the Civil War. Mrs. Bodge, when Miss Woodward, assisted during the war 
in work through the Sanitary Commission, and she belonged to a society which 
antedates the Woman's Relief Corps, the Daughters of the Republic. In 1868 she 
married George R. Bodge who had served in the Twelfth Connecticut Regiment. 
Mrs. Bodge was born in Charlton, Massachusetts, but for many years she and Mr. 
Bodge have made their home in Hartford, Connecticut. 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 353 
mrs. mary l. carr. 

Mrs. Mary L. Carr, eighteenth national president of the Woman's Relief 
Corps, was born in Maine, but has lived for so many years among the towering 
rock-ribbed mountains of our Western land, that she seems "to the manner born" 
and partakes of their steadfastness, strength and purity. She was a charter mem- 
ber of the Woman's Relief Corps, and her interest in the order has never waned, 
but time and talents are fully consecrated to its objects. Mrs. Carr comes of loyal 
stock, and marriage to one of the nation's heroes only proves how deep rooted was 
her love of patriotism. Colonel Byron L. Carr enlisted the day Fort Sumter was 
fired upon and fought through the war and towards the last, indeed at the last, lost 
his right arm at Appomattox. Mrs. Carr is the widow of Colonel Carr. She has 
been a regular attendant at conventions ever since the National Woman's Relief 
Corps had its birth in Denver. She stands first when it comes to deciding judicial 
points. As an orator it would be hard to find her equal. Mrs. Carr lives at 
Longmont, Colorado. 

MRS. CALISTA ROBINSON JONES. 

Mrs. Calista Robinson Jones, nineteenth national president of the Woman's 
Relief Corps was teaching in Chicago when the Civil War broke out. To show 
her patriotism, she, with two other teachers, sat up all one night to make a flag 
to throw to the breeze the next day. When the banner was completed they 
raised it over their school, and so far as is known it was the first flag to be raised 
over a schoolhouse in Chicago, and perhaps in the state. All through those dark 
days, she worked with the various societies which had sprung up, and in every 
way possible showed her loyalty to her country and its defenders. From her 
entrance into the order which promoted her to its highest office, she worked for 
all its interests and was faithful in performing all its duties. Mrs. Jones made 
an excellent presiding officer. Her home is in Bradford, Vermont. 

MRS. LODUSKY J. TAYLOR. 

Mrs. Lodusky J. Taylor, twentieth national president of the Woman's 
Relief Corps, was the first to hold that office from the far Northwest. She came 
before the convention with all the members of Minnesota, both Woman's Relief 
Corps and Grand Army of the Republic endorsing her, and when she went out of 
office had lived up to the expectations of all her co-workers, and redeemed every 
pledge made at the beginning of the administration. Mrs. Taylor was born in Le 
Soeur, Minnesota, being the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Patton, who were of New 
England Puritan stock, and were early pioneers of the North Star State. She has 
for many years been engaged in promulgating patriotic principles among the chil- 
dren of the schools of her own town and state. Mrs. Taylor lives in Le Soeur, 
Minnesota. 

MRS. SARAH D. WINANS. 

Mrs. Sarah D. Winans, twenty-first national president of the Woman's 
Relief Corps, came to her office fully prepared for her duties by years of ser- 
23 



354 Part Taken by Women in American History 

vices in her department, and by work before that, for the veteran. From the 
beginning of the Civil War until its close, she had been assiduous in promoting 
the work of the Sanitary Commission, and in looking after the comfort of the 
soldier in the hospital, on the field, and in the camp. When the Woman's Relief 
Corps was organized, she found that her work was only begun, and that the 
field had widened, but her shoulder was to the wheel and she asked for no 
discharge. She made a splendid executive, and when her year was finished found 
that there was other and more sacred work to do. She was made a member of 
the Andersonville Prison Park Board, and when the chairmanship was made 
vacant by the death of Mrs. Turner, what more natural than that she should be 
asked to fill the vacancy, and right nobly has she fulfilled the trust. Last May 
30th, it was her duty and privilege to present a monument and tablet (upon which 
are memorialized the history of the gift of the park to the Woman's Relief Corps, 
and their transfer of it to the United States Government) to Mrs. Belle C. Harris, 
national president of the Woman's Relief Corps, who in turn presented it to a 
representative of the Government, Captain Bryant. It stands within the stockade 
at Andersonville. Mrs. Winans is the daughter of a minister, and the wife of a 
soldier who carries the marks of battle upon his person. Their home is in Toledo, 
Ohio. 

MRS. FANNY E. MINOT. 

Mrs. Fanny E. Minot, twenty-second national president of the Woman's 
Relief Corps, is a native of Barnstead, New Hampshire, but when quite young 
removed with her parents to Concord, where she has since resided. She is 
descended from John Pickering, who went from Massachusetts to Portsmouth, 
N. H., as early as 1633, having originally emigrated from England. In 1874 Miss 
Pickering was married to James Minot, a veteran of the 140th New York 
Volunteers, and cashier in the Mechanics Bank in Concord. Mrs. Minot is 
interested in everything which tends to uplift humanity. She is a member of the 
Concord Woman's Club, a member of Rumford Chapter of the Daughters of the 
American Revolution, is much interested in literary and educational matters, and 
has for many years been officially connected with missionary and charitable 
organizations of the city. Her home is in Concord, New Hampshire. 

MRS. ABBIE A. ADAMS. 

Mrs. Abbie A. Adams, twenty-third national president of the National 
Woman's Relief Corps, came to the office full of honors which had been given 
her in her own department. She was the first national president which the 
state had ever had, and the organization had been hard at work in it for twenty- 
two years. Mrs. Adams made an excellent presiding officer, and there was growth 
along every line while she was in office. Mrs. Adams is the wife of a veteran, 
and from her patriotic ancostrv, some of whom fought in the Revolutionary War, 
she became a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She is iden- 
tified with many philanthropies, and is active in church work. An ideal wife and 
mother, she has such a fine system that everything goes on smoothly and nothing 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 355 

is neglected. Thoroughly imbued with the spirit of patriotism, she has by every 
means in her power, fostered patriotic teaching in the public schools. Mrs. Adams 
is a member of the Andersonville Board. Her home is in Superior, Nebraska. 

MRS. CARRIE R. READ. 

Mrs. Carrie R. Read, twenty-fourth national president of the Woman's 
Relief Corps, was elected to that office from St. Louis, Missouri, where for 
twenty odd years she had been identified with the work of the order, having 
from the first given it the preference over all others. Mrs. Read was born in 
Maryland. Her father was a minister and a loyal man, and when the soldiers 
were passing through Baltimore, did all in his power to help them. Her father's 
brother, Charles H. Richardson, was adjutant in the 9th Maryland Regiment. 

During the St. Louis World's Fair, Mrs. Read was chairman of the Woman's 
Relief Corps Committee. During her administration the Woman's Relief Corps 
celebrated their silver anniversary by presenting $6,000 to the Grand Army of the 
Republic. For several years she had made her home in Washington, D. C. 

MRS. KATE E. JONES. 

Mrs. Kate E. Jones, twenty-fifth national president of the Woman's Relief 
Corps, had held a number of offices in the National Organization before she was 
elected to the highest. While she was national patriotic instructor, she worked 
so energetically, and to such good purpose, that all her assistants were enthused, 
and the patriotic work went forward with leaps and bounds. She was particularly 
interested in the preservation of Andersonville, and while she was national president 
the convention voted to present the beautiful park which the Woman's Relief 
Corps had made, to the United States Government, as a gift, free and unencum- 
bered. Mrs. Jones was made chairman of the committee, and with the other 
members never rested until the transfer was made last year at Atlantic City, Con- 
gress previously having accepted the gift. Mrs. Jones is a poet, and writer of 
prose as well. Her home is in Ilion, New York. 

MRS. MARY C. GILMAN. 

Mrs. Mary C. Gilman, twenty-sixth national president of the Woman's 
Relief Corps, came to the convention which elected her enthusiastically endorsed 
by the Grand Army of her state, the Woman's Relief Corps of her state 
and by hundreds in other states. She had served her own department well and 
faithfully in minor offices, and in the highest within their gift. As a presiding 
officer she was unequaled. In the home-life she was without a peer, and in 
philanthropic work she was ever ready to do her whole duty. As her husband 
said of her, she had been his right arm ever since she had pledged her loyalty 
to him, and she was the moving power of the Woman's Relief Corps when she 
took upon her the responsibilities attached to the office of executive. Mrs. Gilman 
is the wife of Commander-in-Chief John E. Gilman of the Grand Army of the 
Republic, a veteran who left his right arm, when a mere boy, upon the bloody 
field of Gettysburg. Their home is in Boston, Massachusetts. 



356 Part Taken by Women in American History 
mrs. jennie iowa berry. 

Mrs. Jennie Iowa Berry, twenty-seventh national president of the Woman's 
Relief Corps, came to the executive's chair as one of the younger members of 
the order, but one who was born among patriotic surroundings, and whose 
earliest inspirations were those of loyalty to the old flag and our great country, 
for her father was a soldier, and her mother one of the patriots who kept the 
home embers aglow, while the breadwinner was fighting for his flag. As she 
grew, the spirit of her patriotic ancestors possessed her, and when womanhood 
crowned her, she united her fortunes with the organization which was pledged 
to care for the nation's defenders and to teach the children to emulate their 
example. Gifted with fluent speech, she was always ready when called upon to 
speak a word for the flag she loved, and for its defenders. 

She had been honored by her own corps and department, and came to 
the highest office within the gift of the order, fully prepared to carry on the work 
which had been given her to do. "Advance" seemed to be the watchword, and 
truly did the order respond to their chieftain's voice. Mrs. Berry and her hus- 
band lived in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. 

MRS. BELLE C. HARRIS. 

Mrs. Belle C. Harris, twenty-eighth national president of the Woman's 
Relief Corps, had long been a worker in the order in the Sunflower State, and 
was well known in the national, when she was elected to fill the highest office 
within their gift. Nature endowed her with a voice of rare sweetness, and many 
times at convention, has she been heard in song, to the delight of all, and merited 
the sobriquet which her friends have bestowed upon her of "The sweet singer 
of Kansas." But not alone for this is she known. There are other things which 
appeal to the highest and best, and these she has in a rare degree — firmness, jus- 
tice, executive ability, charity for all and loyalty to country, flag and friends. 
Mrs. Harris was born in Pennsylvania, and she married Charles Harris, who was 
a soldier from Iowa, and past commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, of 
Kansas. She is rounding out her silver anniversary as a member of the Woman's 
Relief Corps, and right nobly has she come up to every requirement in that time. 
At the Convention in Rochester, New York, over which she will this year preside, 
she will read a report which will go on record as one of the best which has ever 
been given, for everywhere in the order there are signs of new life and vigor, and 
the auxiliary of the Grand Army of the Republic is being crowned with the greatest 
honor and success, a membership almost 166,000 strong, a full treasury, with no 
liabilities, and having spent in relief since their organization more than three and 
a half millions of dollars, for the Civil War veterans and their dependent ones. 

HANNAH R. COPE PLIMPTON. 

Mrs. Hannah R. Cope Plimpton, Woman's Relief Corps worker, was born 
in Hanover, Ohio, June 30, 1841. She is in a direct line of descent from Oliver 




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Women from the Time of Mary Washington 357 

Cope, a Quaker who came to America with William Penn in 1662. After their 
marriage her parents immigrated to the then "Far West" or eastern Ohio, and 
Miss Cope became one of the teachers in the public schools of Cincinnati. It was 
during the spring of 1862, after the battle of Shiloh, when the wounded soldiers 
were sent up the Ohio River to Cincinnati, and the call was made for volunteers 
to help take care of them that she, with her mother, responded and did whatever 
was possible to minister to the needs of the sick and afflicted soldiers, providing 
such things as were needed in the improvised hospital. Many of the convales- 
cent soldiers were taken into Miss Cope's home, until finally the old orphan 
asylum was secured and fitted up as comfortably as possible and called the Wash- 
ington Park Military Hospital. After her marriage to Mr. Silas W. Plimpton, 
and removal to Iowa, she took an active part in temperance work serving as 
treasurer and secretary in various societies. At the institution of John A. Logan 
Corps, No. 56, in March, 1885, with Mrs. McHenry as its president, Mrs. Plimp- 
ton became her secretary. The following year Mrs. McHenry was elected as 
department president, and Mrs. Plimpton as department secretary. In December, 
1889, Mrs. McHenry was elected conductor of the John A. Logan Corps and Mrs. 
Plimpton was her assistant. They both served in that capacity until the national 
convention held in Boston, in August, 1890, when Mrs. Plimpton was appointed 
national secretary of the Woman's Relief Corps. And for years she has con- 
tinued to work for the interests of this patriotic order. 

National Association of Army Nurses of the 

Civil War. 
Introduction by Mary M. North. 

Out of the throes of battle was born a heroism which fired 
the breasts of those who proudly wear a badge upon which 
are the mystic letters "N. A. A. N." and to which every veteran 
of the Civil War lifts his hat as to something high and sacred. 
The National Association of Army Nurses of the Civil War is 
an organization which is held in great esteem, and the badge is 
worn only by those who left home when "wan waged her wide 
desolation," and braved the dangers of hospital, camp and 
battlefield, to minister to the wants, and relieve the sufferings 
of the boys who left home at their country's call and fell victims 
to the deadly fever, the terrible shot and shell, or some malady 
of the camp. Eternity alone will reveal how many lives were 



358 Part Taken by Women in American History 

saved by these devoted women, who, when the mothers, wives or 
sweethearts were at home, took their places, and with tireless 
energy and sleepless vigilance, did all in their power to relieve 
suffering. If the fell destroyer could not be balked, then with 
the softest touch, the eyes were closed while the watcher 
thought of the ones at home who would mourn the boy who 
would never return. It is no wonder that the veteran lifts his hat 
in deference and reverence to these aged women, and perhaps 
his thoughts wander to the time, fast approaching, when both 
shall answer the last "roll call." Watch his eyes grow misty 
as he thinks of these women who relieved the tedium of the days 
of suffering and the nights of raving, when fever held him in 
a relentless clutch. These whispered words of encouragement 
and hope for the spirit, while also giving attention to the needs 
of the body. Many a time have their words helped weary ones 
to a better life. This little band, now numbering one hundred 
and eighteen, grows fewer as the years glide by, and soon the 
last one will have ended the march of this organization whose 
number cannot be increased, for theirs is an association which 
cannot be recruited. Many of the nurses belong to one or more 
of the patriotic organizations of women, but as theirs was a 
distinct work, so they should have a distinct organization. 
Seeing the need of this, Miss Dix, who had been in charge of 
the nurses during the war, called the survivors together in 
Washington, D. C, June 18, 1881, with the result that an 
organization was effected bearing the title of the Ex-Army 
Nurses' Association. 

Miss Dix was elected president and served until her death, 
when Dr. Susan Edson was elected to the office and served 
until failing health compelled her to resign. She was fol- 
lowed by Miss Harriet Dame. The name first selected was 
changed as being too cumbersome and the name National 
Army Nurses' Association was chosen, which with a slight 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 359 

transformation is the one borne at present. The National 
Association was organized in Washington, in 1892, by Mrs. 
Addie L. Ballou and many others. Mrs. Ballou was elected 
president. Those who have served as president are: Mrs. Delia 
B. Fay, Mrs. Fanny Hazen, Miss Cornelia Hancock, Mrs. Ada 
Johnson, Mrs. Emile Wilson Woodley, Mrs. Clarissa Dye, Mrs. 
Margaret Hamilton, Mrs. Elizabeth Ewing, Mrs. Rebecca S. 
Smith and Mrs. Mary E. Robey Lacey, the present incumbent. 
To become a member of the association, tradition will not do, 
but there must be documentary proof that the applicant served 
as a nurse. She must have served at least three months as a 
regular or volunteer nurse, and her application must be 
approved by the nearest post of the Grand Army of the Repub- 
lic. By Act of Congress, all nurses of the Civil War are 
entitled to burial in National Cemeteries, and several sleep in 
their "low green tents" in beautiful Arlington. The present 
officers are: National President, Mrs. Mary E. Lacey, Utah; 
Senior Vice-President, Mrs. Catherine L. Taylor, N. Y. ; Junior 
Vice-President, Mrs. Hannah J. Starbird, Nev. ; Treasurer, 
Mrs. Salome M. Stewart, Pa.; Chaplain, Miss Hannah U. 
Maxon, Ohio; deceased; Secretary, Miss Kate Scott, Pa., 
deceased; Conductor, Mrs. Mary E. Squire, Wis.; Guard, Mrs. 
Elizabeth Chapman, 111. ; Counselor, Mrs. Rebecca Smith, 
Minn. ; Chief of Staff, Mrs. Lettie E. C. Buckley, 111. ; Surgeon, 
Dr. Nancy M. Hill, Iowa; Color Bearer, Mrs. Nancy Kripps, 
Pa. This is the tribute of Rose Terry Cook, to 

The Army Nurse. 

Give her the soldier's rite ! 
She fought the hardest fight; 
Not in the storm of battle, 
Where the drum's exultant rattle, 
The onset's maddening yell, 
The scream of shot and shell, 
And the trumpet's clangor soaring 



360 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Over the cannon's roaring, 
Thrilled every vein with fire, 
And combat's mad desire; 
She fought her fight alone, 
To the sound of dying groan; 
The sob of failing breath, 
The reveille of death; 
She faced the last of foes, 
The worst of mortal woes, 
The solitude of dying, 
The hearts for kindred crying; 
By the soldier's lonely bed 
In the midnight dark and dread, 
'Mid the wounded and the dead, 
With lifeblood pouring red, 
The cries of woe and fear, 
Rending the watcher's ear, 
The hovering wings of death, 
Fluttered by dying breath, 
There was, her truthful eye, 
Her smile's sweet bravery, 
Her strong word to impart 
Peace to the fainting heart. 

Army Nurses of the Civil War, 1 861-1865. 

Mrs. Mary (Roby) Lacey, president of the National Association of Army 
Nurses, was born in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and was married to John H. Roby, 
when only fifteen. Shortly after his marriage he enlisted in the First New Jersey 
Infantry. He was wounded at the battle of Cold Harbor, and Mrs. Roby took 
care of him at the United States General Hospital in Philadelphia. The most of 
her services were rendered in this hospital. Her husband died of his wounds soon 
after the war, and she later married John E. Lacey. She is now a widow and 
lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. 

Mrs. Catherine L. Taylor, senior vice-president of the National Associa- 
tion of Army Nurses, served as a volunteer nurse from 1862 to 1865. She was for 
about three years at the United States General Hospital, Davids' Island, New 
York Harbor. Her home was at Dobbs' Ferry, and with her own team she 
carried supplies for the sick and wounded, also cared for many families, as well 
as sending supplies to the soldiers at the front. Mrs. Taylor's home is in New 
York City. 

Mrs. Hannah Judkins Starbird, junior vice-president of the National 
Association of Army Nurses, enlisted as a nurse August, 1864. She was then 
Miss Judkins. She was at Carver Hospital, Washington, D. C, and at St. John's 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 361 

College, Annapolis, where she remained until July '65. She nursed paroled 

prisoners from Libby, Andersonville and other Southern prisons, poor starved, 

vermin-infested men with little clothing. Mrs. Starbird lives in Los Angeles, 
California. 

Miss Hannah U. Maxon, late national chaplain National Association of 
Army Nurses, nursed in the hospital in Gallipolis, Ohio, from the first of the war 
until its close. For nearly half a century she was a public school teacher in her 
native town, Gallipolis, and men and women in every walk in life, who came 
under her influence, call her "blessed." She died at her home, Gallipolis, Ohio, 
May 26, 1910. 

Miss Kate M. Scott, late national secretary National Association of Army 
Nurses, in the spring of 1861-1862 was with the 105th Pennsylvania Regiment at 
Camp Jackson, Va., having volunteered in response to a call from Colonel Amos 
McKnight, for nurses for his soldiers, many of whom were dying from fever 
and pneumonia. Twice during the winter she, with her associate Miss Ellen 
Guffy, were quarantined, as the latter had the much dreaded disease. Miss Scott 
has been identified with the regiment since the war, and was their secretary from 
1879-1891. She had been secretary of the army nurses since 1897. She died at her 
home, Brookville, Penn., in 191 1. 

Mrs. Salome M. Stewart, national treasurer of the National Association 
of Army Nurses, was a volunteer nurse, and is known to many who were 
wounded in the battle of Gettysburg as Miss Sallie Myers. During that battle 
her father's house was used as a hospital, and she cared for the men there, and 
at the Roman Catholic Church, the United Presbyterian Church and in Camp 
Letterman. Her services of three months were entirely voluntary. Her hus- 
band was a Presbyterian minister, who died in 1868 of injuries received in the 
service. He was the brother of a wounded man who died in her father's house. 
Mrs. Stewart was a teacher in the public schools before the war, has taught for 
twenty-five years, and is now a substitute teacher in the Gettysburg schools, where 
she has always resided. She was appointed one of the enumerators of the late 
census. 

Mrs. Mary E. Squire, conductor, National Association of Army Nurses, 
as Miss Mary Emily Chamberlain, enlisted in Washington Hospital, Memphis, 
Tennessee, May, 1863, afterwards being transferred to the Officers' Hospital, and 
then going again to Washington Hospital. In 1861 she went to the Webster 
Hospital, where she remained until she left the service, June, 1864. Mrs. Squire 
is 67 years of age and lives in Sheboygan, Michigan. 

Mrs. Elizabeth Chapman, guard of the National Association of Army 
Nurses, served as a volunteer nurse for three months, and then enlisted as a con- 
tract nurse, for the balance of the war. Her husband's regiment being in Mem- 
phis, and many of the men having measles, she was sent there to nurse them. 



362 Part Taken by Women in American History 

She was mustered out in Leighton House Hospital, Keokuk, Iowa, with an honor- 
able discharge. Mrs. Chapman is 80 years of age. Her home is in East St. 
Louis, 111. 

Mrs. Addie L. Ballou, past national president of the Army Nurses, is a 
woman well known on the Pacific coast, as author, artist, lawyer and club woman. 
She is a woman of many talents and indomitable will, for when the earthquake 
and fire in San Francisco swept away her all, she heroically set to work with the 
spirit of a young woman to regain her home. At the beginning of the Civil 
War she offered her services to the Governor of Wisconsin, in which state she 
was living, and then began work as a nurse in camp of the 32nd Wisconsin 
regiment, where there were many sick. Later, Surgeon General Wolcott at 
Milwaukee, commissioned her, and she went with the regiment to Memphis, from 
there being sent with 255 sick soldiers to Keokuk, Iowa. Again in Memphis she 
nursed hundreds through a terrible epidemic. She is beloved by every member 
of the 32nd Wisconsin, and is affectionately referred to as "The Little Mother." 
She has written a book of poems, "Driftwood." Mrs. Ballou now resides in San 
Francisco, California. 

Mrs. Margaret Hamilton, past president of the Army Nurses, was born in 
Rochester, New York, October 19, 1840. Her mother dying when the daughter 
was seventeen, she obtained her father's consent and became a sister of charity, 
and after due preparation was sent to teach in an orphan asylum in Albany. 
When the war broke out she wanted to nurse, but the lot did not fall to her 
until in the spring of 1862 when, with three other sisters, she was sent to Sat- 
terlea United States Hospital in Philadelphia, where she cared for the wounded 
sent up from Chickamauga. She served three years, during which time she fell 
in love with one of the wounded soldiers, a member of the igth Maine Volunteers, 
and left the sisterhood to marry him. Her home life was ideal, and as wife and 
mother she was a model. Mrs. Hamilton is now a widow and resides in Wake- 
field, Massachusetts. 

Mrs. Fanny Titus Hazen, past president of the Army Nurses, the grand- 
daughter of a soldier of the Revolutionary Army, was born in Vershire, Vermont, 
May 2, 1840. As was the case with a number of others, when she applied to Miss 
Dix for an appointment, she was told that she was too young, but because she 
had two brothers, one seventeen and the other eighteen, in the service, she 
begged to be allowed to stay and was finally accepted and sent to Columbia Hos- 
pital, Washington, where she stayed until it closed, June 27, 1865. From the 
battle of Cold Harbor, Virginia, her youngest brother was brought to her 
wounded, and she nursed him until he recovered. Mrs. Hazen lives in Cam- 
bridge, Massachusetts. 

Mrs. Clarissa F. Dye, past president of the Army Nurses, in 1862, was 
teaching, but devoted her vacation to field and hospital work in company with 
Miss Marie McClellan of Germantown, Pa. She was first sent on the steamer 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 363 

Maine, then Miss Dix gave her a pass to Alexandria, Va. She reached the 
battlefield of Fredericksburg, ahead of all others, and did hard work among the 
wounded and dying. In 1863 she nursed in the Second Corps Hospital at Gettys- 
buig, having charge of the Confederate wounded, and from there she went to 
Rappahannock, carrying supplies from friends in Germantown. She was then 
Miss Clarissa Jones. After the war she married Mr. John H. Dye of Philadelphia. 
She is now a widow over 78 years old, and receives no pension. Her home is in 
Germantown, Pa. Mrs. Dye says she is the only woman who received a medal of 
honor during the war. 

Mrs. Rebecca S. Smith, past president of the Army Nurses, was teaching 
when an epidemic of diphtheria broke out among the soldiers in 1862. She at 
once offered her services, began to nurse them, and after that was continuously 
on duty on battlefields until 1864. 

Miss Hannah L. Palmer, past secretary of the Army Nurses, was for nine 
months on duty at Columbia Hospital, Washington, under the direction of Miss 
Dix. She is now 84 years of age and resides at Conestoga, New York. 

Mrs. Lettie E. Buckley, was enlisted by the Sanitary Commission under 
her maiden name, Lettie E. Covell, from October, 1863, to June, 1865, at Memphis. 
She served in hospitals in that Southern city and did excellent work. She is 
now 74 years of age. Her home is in Chicago, Illinois. 

Mrs. Susanna Kripps enlisted in 1863, and served two years and six months. 
While nursing she was attacked by typhoid fever, which destroyed the hearing 
of her right ear. She was attended by Dr. Elliott, surgeon in charge of the 
hospital to which she was attached. She served with the 2nd Pennsylvania Heavy 
Artillery for five months, then in Capitol Hill Hospital, Washington, Jarvis Hos- 
pital, Baltimore, and Hough General Hospital, Alexandria, Virginia. Mrs. Kripps 
is 69 years old, and seldom misses a convention. She resides in Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania. 

Mrs. Mary C. Athow went out in February, 1864 as a volunteer nurse 
under Mrs. Annie Wittenmeyer, and served eighteen months to the close of the war. 
She was in hospitals at Knoxville, Tenn., Louivsille, Ky., and other places. Mrs. 
Athow is the widow of a veteran. She is 76 years of age. Her home is in 
Aurora, 111. 

Mrs. Mary A. Aston was living in Philadelphia when war was declared. 
Her husband being an invalid, and unable to serve his country, gave his con- 
sent for his wife to give as much of her time as possible to alleviating the dis- 
tress of the sick and wounded in the hospitals of the city. She was a volunteer 
nurse from September 5, 1862, to August 11, 1865. and was only absent from duty 
in all that time, two weeks during her husband's last illness and death. Mrs. 
Aston became deaf by the explosion of a cannon while engaged in the performance 
of her duties. She is y7 years of age. Her home is in Philadelphia. 



364 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Mrs. Belle Alter was Miss Belle Thompson, and served as a volunteer 
nurse, beginning her work in the Taylor house, which was used as a hospital, in 
Winchester, Va., September, 1864 and was assigned to duty by the surgeon in 
charge, Dr. S. Sharpe. She assisted in caring for the wounded from Frohus 
Hill and Cedar Creek battlefields, until the middle of January, 1865, when she 
returned home with her brother who was badly wounded. He was Captain 
Thompson, Company A., 40th Pennsylvania Volunteers. He was a helpless cripple, 
and she nursed him the two years he lived. Mrs. Alter is 64 years of age, and 
her home is at Port Royal, Pennsylvania. 

Mrs. Elizabeth Baldridge, as Miss Elizabeth Lee, served as a volunteer 
nurse at Memphis, Tennessee. Mrs. Baldridge is 78 years old, and lives in 
Pomona, California. 

Mrs. Catherine M. Beck, served five months as a volunteer nurse at Fort 
Leavenworth, Kansas, at which place she was living. She is now 78 years of 
age and is living at Los Angeles, California. 

Mrs. Mary E. Bell enlisted as a volunteer nurse, and her first work was 
at Covington, Kentucky, assisting her husband, who was in the medical depart- 
ment, in an epidemic of measles. 

While the regiment was in camp, smallpox and spotted fever broke out. 
She also served in a hospital at Jeffersonville, Indiana. Her service extended 
over three years. She is 70 years old and lives in Albion, Michigan. 

Mrs. Helen M. Burnell was a regular nurse under her maiden name of 
Helen M. Becket. She served two years and six months in the hospital at Mem- 
phis, Tenn. She is now 81 years of age. Her home is in Pasadena, California. 

Mrs. Mary K. Boyington became a nurse through going to the field of 
Gettysburg to care for her wounded husband, who was a member of Company 
L. 105th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. When he was sent to the hospital 
at York, she accompanied him, and was enrolled as a nurse, serving from July, 
1863 to March, 1864, receiving the warm commendation of the surgeons for 
her services. She is 68 years old and lives in Carner, Okla. 

Mrs. Nancy M. Brown, as Miss Nancy M. Nelson, was for eighteen months in 
West Hospital, Baltimore, and for two years at Gratiot Street Hospital Prison, 
St. Louis. With her husband after the war she lived in Ashtabula, Ohio, but 
since his death she has lived with her son in Washington, D. C. Her husband 
was a veteran. Mrs. Brown is 79 years old. 

Mrs. Susan L. Brown was Miss Sue McLaughlin when she answered a 
call for volunteer nurses sent out by Governor Morton of Indiana. For the nine 
months she was on hospital boats on the Mississippi River and in hospitals in 
Memphis. She is very active in all patriotic work, and is the wife of S. C. Brown, 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 365 

past commander of the Grand Army of the Republic of Georgia. Mrs. Brown is 
75 years of age and resides with her husband in Fitzgerald, Georgia. 

Mrs. M. M. Briggs enlisted in 1861 under Miss Dix, and served for a year 
in hospitals in St. Louis, and then went to the newly established Harvey Hospital, 
at Madison, Wisconsin. Mrs. Harvey, wife of the Governor of Wisconsin, her- 
self went to the south and brought from the fields and swamps, one hundred and 
thirty sick and wounded, and put them in this hospital, where they were tenderly 
cared for. Mrs. E. O. Gibson was in charge, and Mrs. Briggs' daughters were 
with her. Mrs. Briggs remained there until the war closed. She is now 91 and 
is spending her sunset days in the Old Peoples' Home, Elgin, Illinois. 

Mrs. Jennie Matthewson Bullard enlisted as a volunteer nurse as Miss 
Jennie Smole. She afterward married a soldier, and changed her name to Mat- 
thewson. From October, 1861, to May, 1865, she served at Savannah, Memphis, 
Chicago, and Farmington, Miss. From October, 1861 to May, 1862, she was a 
volunteer nurse, and from the latter date to May, 1865, she was a regular nurse. 
Mrs. Bullard is 70 years of age. She resides at Desha, Ark. 

Mrs. Bell Vorse Clark served from July, 1864, until the close of the war. 
Her first duty was in the General Hospital, No. 3, in Nashville, Tenn. She stayed 
at her post until the last man was removed in 1865. She is 77. Mrs. Clark 
resides in Lewisburg, Penna. 

Mrs. Nannie M. Cochran was appointed matron and head nurse of the 
Simpson House Hospital, Keokuk, Iowa, by Major M. K. Taylor, and served 
there from November, 1863, until October, 1864. During her stay, there were 
treated from six hundred to eight hundred wounded. She is 68 years old and 
lives in Troy, New York. 

Mrs. Sarah J. Dumas was Miss Sarah J. Steady, and her first work at 
nursing was at Sherburn Barracks Hospital, in Washington, D. C, February 
14, 1865. She served until December of the same year, when her services 
being no longer needed, she returned to her home in Vermont. 

Mrs. Annie Priscilla Erving (Cilia Zerbe) was a volunteer nurse com- 
missioned by Governor Curtin. During 1861 and 1862 she served at Camp Curtin. 
While there she and three other nurses gave a picnic on Independence Island 
to raise money with which to get lint for the wounded. They raised $125. Mrs. 
Erving also nursed at Gettysburg. She is now 71 years of age. Her home 
is in Newberg, N. Y. 

Mrs. Rebecca E. Frick served in hospitals in Washington, D. C. ; Annapolis, 
Maryland; Winchester, City Point and Hampton Roads, Va. She was a regular 
nurse, and served two years and six months. She is 87 years old. Her home 
is in West Conshohocken, Pa. 



366 Part Taken by Women in American History 



Mrs. Mary Fryer Gardner, with Misses Scott, Guffy and Allen, served 
under Colonel McKnight with the 105th Pennsylvania, during the winter and 
spring of 1861-1862, at Camp Jameson, Va. There being too many for one hos- 
pital to accommodate, a division was made, and Miss Fryer and Miss Allen 
served together; thus they escaped being quarantined twice with smallpox as 
Miss Scott and Miss Duffy were. Mrs. Gardner is the widow of a veteran. 
She is 65 years old and resides in Philadelphia, Pa. 

Miss Cornelia Hancock is as well known as any of the army nurses, and 
her service extended from July 6, 1863, to May 23, 1865. She was a volunteer 
nurse attached to the Second Army Corps of the Potomac. She was at Gettys- 
burg, and so faithful that the soldiers called her the "Battlefield Angel." She 
remained in the field hospital until the establishment of Camp Letterman, where 
she worked for a few weeks. Before she left, the soldiers gave her a silver 
medal as an expression of their appreciation of her services. She is over 70, 
but as active as at 40. Her home is in Philadelphia, Pa. 

Mrs. Julia A. Hibbard served from September 1, 1861, to April 29, 1864. 
After the battle of Shiloh she was on a floating hospital, serving afterwards in 
Memphis, Tenn., and in Paducah, Ky. Mrs. Hibbard resides in Peoria, 111., and 
is 78 years of age. 

Mrs. Joanna Melton was in the service from 1861 to 1864 as a volunteer 
nurse. She was at Camp Carrington, Lafayette, Indiana, and at Louisville, Ky, 
She is 76 years of age and resides in Salt Lake City, Utah. 

Mrs. Susan Carrie Mills served under her maiden name, Carrie Robinson, 
for three months. She went to the front under Dr. Crosby, from Concord, 
N. H., in May, 1861. Her examination being all right, she was enrolled by 
Miss Dix, in Washington, D. C, and served for three months at Point of Rocks 
and Harpers Ferry, Va. Mrs. Mills is 71 years of age and resides in Haven- 
hill, Mass. 

Mrs. Fannie O. Jackson, as Miss Oslin, served fifteen months in field 
hospitals, Department of the Cumberland, at Resaca, Big Shanty, Centerville, 
Vinings Station and Lookout Mountain. She was a regular nurse. She is 76 
years of age and lives in Olathe, Kansas. 

Mrs. Lydia S. Johnson served from September, 1862, to July, 1865, and 
was through the epidemic of smallpox from 1863 to 1865. Was in Georgetown, 
D. C. ; Alexandria, Chesapeake and Old Point Comfort, Va. She is 81 years 
old and lives in Lyndonville, N. Y. 

Mrs. Lucy L. Kaiser, as Miss Campbell, served three years in Jefferson 
Barracks, Missouri, and on hospital steamers. She is 85 and lives in Leland, 
Michigan. 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 367 

Mrs. Emeline D. (Tenney) Kingsbury enlisted under Colonel Cushman 
as a volunteer nurse in the 53rd Illinois Infantry, and served with that regiment 
until the close of the war. She was in Washington when President Lincoln was 
assassinated. She served fifteen months. Her home is in Hamilton, Texas. 

Mrs. Sarah A. (Plummer) Lemmon was a volunteer in New York City 
hospitals, giving all of her time before and after school, and on Sundays and 
holidays. She is 75 years of age and resides in Oakland, California. 

Mrs. Jennie (Gauslin) Maish lived in Winchester, Virginia, when the 
war came, and her father's house was turned into a hospital, which was sup- 
ported by her own and her father's means. After General Milroy's defeat, she 
and several loyal ladies were sent to Richmond by Confederate orders, and con- 
fined in Castle Thunder. She married Mr. Lewis Maish, a Union soldier, during 
the war. She is 65 years of age and resides in Stillwater, Minnesota. 

Mrs. Mary L. Mannon responded to the call of Governor Morton, of 
Indiana, in February, 1863, and went to Memphis, where she served until June 4, 
1865. She was born in 1843 and resides in Los Angeles, California. 

Mrs. Mary B. Maxfield left Peoria, Illinois, November n, 1863, with the 
6th Illinois Cavalry, for Springfield. From there to Paducah, Kentucky, then to 
Memphis, where she was transferred to Adams Block Hospital. For twenty- 
two months she served under her maiden name, Miss Kenny. She was com- 
missioned by Mrs. Mary A. Livermore. She is 71 years of age and lives in 
Kansas City, Kansas. 

Miss Adaline Miller served four years. She is 84 years of age and lives 
in Los Angeles, California. 

Mrs. Maria Miller, as Miss Hoppe, served almost two years as a volunteer 
nurse. She is 64 and lives in Milan, Indiana. 

Mrs. Rena L. Miner served as a regular nurse eighteen months. 

Mrs. Matilda E. Morris served under Dr. D. W. Bliss in Washington, and 
also under Dr. Pancoast. She was at Winchester and nursed the wounded after 
Sheridan's great battle. She served three years. She is 76 years old and lives 
in Cleveland, Ohio. 

Mrs. Jane M. Morton served one year in Nashville, Tennessee. She is 
70 and lives in Elgin, Illinois. 

Mrs. Mollie C. Mott, as Miss Carnahan, served two years as a volunteer 
nurse in Tennessee. She is 79 and lives in Elkhart, Indiana. 



368 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Mrs. Electa Willard was a volunteer nurse from 1861 until the close of 
the war. She served in Nashville, Chattanooga and Lookout Mountain, Ten- 
nessee. Much of her time was spent in distributing supplies at the front, and also 
in the various barracks. She is 83 and lives in Detroit, Michigan. 

Mrs. Belle Counts served from 1864 to 1865 as a volunteer nurse. She 
is 71 years of age and lives in Troy, Ohio. 

Mrs. Emily J. Cartwright, as Miss Avery, served two years in Cincinnati, 
Ohio. She is 80 years of age and lives in Brookline, Massachusetts. 

Mrs. Clarissa Crossan was Miss Watters. She served two years in Keokuk, 
Iowa. She is 73 years of age. Her home is in Chicago, Illinois. 

Mrs. Sarah B. Cross was born in England, but when her husband entered 
the service of the United States, she, too, volunteered and served as a nurse, 
side by side with him, one year and eight months in Lincoln General Hospital, 
Washington, D. C. She is 71 years of age and lives in Kent, Ohio. 

Mrs. Frances D. Daniels was a volunteer nurse and served in hospitals 
in Vicksburg, Mississippi. She is 68 years of age. 

Mrs. Frances A. Dieffenbacker volunteered at a call from Governor Morton, 
of Indiana, and went to Nashville, Tennessee, then to Murfreesboro, after- 
wards being detailed as regimental nurse for the 85th Indiana Regiment. She 
is 76 years of age and resides in Havana, Illinois. 

Mrs. Maria O. Eldred, as Miss Olmstead, served over nine months at 
Falls Church, Virginia. She is 69 years old and resides in Canton, New York. 

Mrs. Emily Elmer, then Miss Rowell, was the agent of Miss Dix for 
over a year, and served in hospitals in Tennessee and in Iowa. She is 70 years 
of age and resides in Hersey, Michigan. 

Mrs. Elizabeth Grass was a regular nurse and served in Missouri and 
Indiana. She is 69 and lives in S. Fargo, North Dakota. 

Mrs. Anna Hahn was a volunteer nurse and served three months. She 
is now 76 years old and resides in Omaha, Nebraska. 

Mrs. Cornelia Harrington served as a volunteer nurse in Tennessee and 
Kentucky for five months. She is 79 and lives in Dexter, Michigan. 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 369 

Mrs. Mary F. Hayden, as Miss Strahan, served in Washington, D. C, three 
months. She is 70 years of age and lives in Roxbury, Massachusetts. 

Mrs. Margaret Hayes, who was Miss Maggie Meserolle, served two years 
and six months in hospitals in Memphis, Tennessee, as a regular nurse. She 
is jj years of age and lives in Los Angeles, California. 

Mrs. Lauretta H. Hoisington, as Miss Cutler, served thirteen months in 
hospitals in Chattanooga, Tennessee. She is 85 years of age and resides in 
Palo Alto, California. 

Miss Elizabeth P. Hunt, as Miss Pickard, served three months in Keokuk, 
Iowa, then contracted smallpox and had to give up. She is 77 years old and 
resides in Tacoma, Washington. 

Mrs. Emily E. (Wilson) Woodley was active in nursing during the cholera 
epidemic in Philadelphia, and when the war came on was ready for nursing 
the sick and wounded. She went to the front and enlisted May 29, 1861, and 
remained until May 26, 1865. She served on the field with the Army of the 
Potomac, and also in the West. She was lovingly called "Mother Wilson" by 
the soldiers. She passed away at her home in Philadelphia, May 15, 1908. 

Mrs. Elizabeth Wendell Ewing, served from October, 1862, to September, 
1863. 

Miss Ada Johnson, served from August, 1861, to November, 1865, the 
longest of any. She was a teacher before the war, and afterwards she taught 
for thirty years in St. Louis. 

Mrs. Delia A. B. Fay, served from the first of the war to the close, march- 
ing with her regiment into every battle, and caring for their wounded in the 
face of shot and shell. She afterwards nursed her blind veteran husband until 
he died. 

Mrs. Anna H. Baker served in a Philadelphia hospital from September 5, 
1862, to August 9, 1864. 

Mrs. Henrietta S. T. Bunnell served throughout the war, having been com- 
missioned by Governor Curtin, of Pennsylvania. She died in 1910, leaving six 
children. She had been the mother of twenty-one. 

Mrs. Ruth Danforth served from July, 1864, to May, 1865. 

Mrs. Mary Jane Fox served six months as a volunteer nurse. 

Mrs. Elizabeth L. Fritcher served from July 9. 1862, to June 4, 1863. 
24 



370 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Mrs. Ann Eliza Gridley, who died in 1909, was the mother of Civil War 
veterans and of Captain Charles V. Gridley, who was with Dewey at Manila 
Bay, and was one of the heroes of that battle. Her grandson was also in the 
navy and was killed by an explosion on his ship in Hampton Roads. Mrs. Gridley 
was a volunteer nurse with the Army of the Potomac, and served to the close 
of the war. 

Miss Susan Ellen Marsh served nineteen months as a volunteer nurse in 
Armory Square Hospital, Washington, D. C. 

Mrs. Elizabeth Augusta Russell was a volunteer nurse over four years in 
New York City hospitals. 

Mrs. Emaline Phillips served one hundred and sixteen days in the Warren 
Regimental Hospital, Washington, D. C. She is 70 years of age. 

Mrs. Rebecca L. Price, as Miss Pennypacker, served as a volunteer nurse. 
She did emergency work, going where there was work, and leaving when the 
need was over. She often carried supplies and books from her home in Phoenix- 
ville, Pa. She was also at Wind Mill Point Hospital, Va., Fort Monroe, Gettys- 
burg and Chambersburg. She had a pass from Governor Curtin to go where 
she was needed. She is 73 years of age. Her home is in Lancaster, Pa. 

Mrs. Mary A. Richardson served under her maiden name of Miss Mary A. 
Ransom, and went to the hospital at Albany, N. Y., to help Dr. Armsby and 
Mary Carey, and was enlisted as a nurse by the former, June 2, 1862, serving 
there six months, when she went to Frederick, Maryland, also serving there six 
months. She was a regular nurse, serving until discharged, February 21, 1865. 
She is j6 years of age and resides with her husband at the Soldiers' Home, 
Vineland, N. J. 

Mrs. Alice Carey Risley lived in the South and suffered untold hardships. 
Through many difficulties, she, then Miss Farmer, with her mother, Mrs. Phoebe 
Farmer, made her way to New Orleans and commenced the work of caring for 
the soldiers in Marine University, St. James and St. Louis Hospitals. Mr. 
Farmer having refused to vote for secession, was obliged to flee from home, and 
sought safety in New Orleans where his fate was unknown to his family, as 
they could receive no mail. Mrs. Farmer had been charged with being a spy, 
and Dick Taylor and his men threatened to hang her. One dark night she and 
her daughter left their beautiful home, and made their way to the dock, where 
they were taken aboard a steamer and locked in their cabin by the friendly captain, 
who landed them in Braspear City. Mrs. Risley served as a nurse from August, 
1862, to September, 1865, and like many other devoted women, receives no pension. 
She is 66 years of age. 

Mrs. Ann Maria B. Schram served as a volunteer nurse. Her husband had 
enlisted, and she, too, wished to serve her country, so the citizens of Amsterdam, 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 371 

N. Y., assisted her to get to the front. She reported at Fredericksburg, and was 
assigned by Drs. McKenzie and Haynes to duty in camp outside the city to care 
for the sick and wounded brought there from South Mountain and Antietam. 
She served ten months, until her health was impaired by the exposure and hard 
work, and she was obliged to leave. She received no pay for her services, she 
says, and not even her board was provided. She receives a pension by special 
act of Congress. She is 77 years of age and resides in Albany, N. Y. 

Mrs. Amanda B. Smythe served seven months. Her husband was in the 
army, and hearing that he was in the hospital at New Albany, Indiana, she took 
her year-old child and went to him. She found over three hundred sick and 
wounded in the hospital, and gave her time to caring for as many as she could. 
After the recovery of her husband, she went home, but he was afterwards wounded 
at the battle of Chickamauga, and is still suffering from the wound. They reside 
at Carrollton, Ohio. Mrs. Smythe is 71 years of age. 

Mrs. Mary O. Stevens, as Miss Townsend, was five months at Seminary 
Hospital, Georgetown, Armory Square and Columbia, Washington, D. C. Mrs. 
Stevens is now 69 and lives in Peabody, Massachusetts. 

Mrs. Annie Bell Stubbs, on account of her youth, was refused by Miss 
Dix, so she served for one year as a volunteer nurse, and after serving for a 
short time, because of her faithfulness and ability, Miss Dix sent her testimonials 
of the highest commendation. After the year was up, she enlisted as a regular 
nurse, and served over three years, in Harper's Ferry, Acquia Creek, 12th Corps 
Hospital and after Gettysburg, Chancellorsville and Nashville battles. She is 72 
and lives in Merion, Pennsylvania. 

Mrs. Helen Brainard Cole was a volunteer nurse in hospitals in Louisville, 
Washington, Memphis, Nashville and City Point. Mrs. Cole is 70 and resides in 
Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin. 

Mrs. Maria M. C. Richards was Miss Hall when she served from September, 
1861, to May, 1865, as a nurse. She was in the Patent Office, Washington, on 
the James River transports and camps, in Smoketown Field Hospital after Antie- 
tam, and General Hospital, Annapolis, Maryland. She is 74 and resides in Weath- 
ersfield, Connecticut. 

Mrs. Laura A. (Mount) Newman was, for three years, with her husband's 
regiment, the 6th Maryland, which was constantly marching or fighting. She 
was a volunteer nurse, is now 67 years of age and lives in Lafayette, Indiana. 

Mrs. Elizabeth Nichols, in 1861, went to nurse her husband, who belonged 
to the 111th New York Infantry, and stayed with the regiment, and nursed small- 
pox, diphtheria, fevers and wounds until discharged with her husband. She is 
76 and lives in Clyde, N. Y. 



2fi2 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Mrs. Rebecca (Lemmon) Oleson was a volunteer nurse from November, 
1862, to March, 1865, serving in Tennessee. She is 87 and lives in Sierraville, 
California. 

Mrs. Rebecca Otis went to Missouri with her little son to visit her husband, 
and seeing how much they needed nurses, stayed on and helped, at the earnest 
solicitation of Dr. Allen. Her little boy was killed by a log rolling over him 
while at play, but she tried to drown her sorrow by more assiduous care for the 
sick and suffering. She continued nursing until the close of the war. She is 
86 and resides at Manchester, Iowa. 

Mrs. Sarepta C. (McNall) Patterson served for four years in all, as a 
volunteer. She is 76 and resides at Grand Junction, Colorado. 

Mrs. Carrie (Wilkins) Pollard was engaged nearly two years in Tennessee, 
Kentucky, Indiana and on ships, having been sent out under Mrs. Wittenmyer. 
She is 68 and resides in Maxwell, California. 

Mrs. Mary B. Pollock served as a volunteer nurse two years, mostly in 
South Carolina. She is 75 years old and resides in San Louis Obispo, California. 

\ 
Mrs. Malinda A. (Miller) Pratt was seven months at Albany, Indiana, as 
a volunteer nurse. She is 76 and resides in Lincoln, Nebraska. 

Mrs. Maria L. (Moore) Rathnell served over one year as a contract nurse 
in Camp Dennison, Ohio. She is 76 and lives in Bellefontaine, Ohio. 

Mrs. Sarah M. Reading was a volunteer nurse over a year in the General 
Hospital, Davenport, Iowa. She is 70 and lives in Lowry City, Missouri. 

Mrs. Emma A. (French) Sackett was a regular nurse in the hospital at 
Jeffersonville, Indiana, seven months and twenty-three days. She is 69 and lives 
in Winterset, Iowa. 

Mrs. Mary E. (Webber) Smith served from 1862 to 1865 in Baltimore, 
Maryland. She is 68 and lives in Lowell, Massachusetts. 

Mrs. Sarah J. (Milliken) Sprague served under Miss Dix from 1862 to 
1864 in Washington, D. C She is 82 and resides in Lynn, Massachusetts. 

Mrs. Emily P. Spencer went to the front with her husband, who was 
surgeon of the 147th New York Infantry. She was in all the battles of the 
Army of the Potomac and was one of the first nurses to reach Gettysburg after 
the battle, where she remained for several weeks. She cared for General Sickles 
after he lost his limb. New York selected her as one of the heroines whose 
effigy in marble should be placed on the grand staircase in the Capitol at Albany. 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington $j$ 

She was wounded by a spent ball at City Point. The sciatic nerve was injured, 
and she was crippled for life. She is 92 and resides in Oswego, New York. 

Mrs. Susannah Sprague served two years in Kansas as a volunteer nurse. 
She lives in Denver, Colorado. 

Mrs. Cornelia M. (Tompkins) Stanley was commissioned by Miss Dix 
and served two years and one month in Tennessee and Missouri. She is 73 and 
fives in Gardena, California. 

Mrs. Mary E. Stewart, then Mrs. Pearce, was the wife of the surgeon of 
the hospital in Madison, Indiana. At her own expense she went there and dis- 
tributed supplies sent by the people of her home town in Ohio, and then nursed 
the sick, staying seven months in all, under direction of Colonel Grant, who was 
in charge of the hospital. She resides in Athens, Ohio. 

Mrs. Sophia Stephenson served from 1861 to 1865 under Dr. Colham and 
Dr. B. F. Stephenson, in Ohio, Tennessee and Illinois. She is 75 years of age 
and lives in Winterset, Iowa. 

Dr. Vesta M. Svvartz, whose husband was assistant surgeon of the 100th 
Indiana Volunteers, was a regular nurse and served under Mrs. Wittenmyer for 
more than a year. She is now 70 years old and resides in Auburn, Indiana. 

Mrs. Charlotte Marson Thompson was a volunteer nurse for a short time, 
then became a regular nurse with pay in Washington, D. C, serving one year. 
She is J2 and lives in Brodhead, Wisconsin. 

Mrs. Pauline Thompson served in Kentucky and in Missouri. She lives 
in Berwyn, Illinois. 

Miss Eliza L. Townsend was a volunteer nurse, serving in Baton Rouge, 
Louisiana, for eleven months. She is 79 and lives in Portland, Oregon. 

Mrs. Laura R. (Cotton) Tyson answered a call for nurses sent out by 
the Citizens' Hospital, in Philadelphia, in 1862, and remained on duty until the 
close of the war. Mrs. Tyson is 76 and resides in Chelsea, Massachusetts. 

Mrs. Susan (Mercer) Warnock was six months a volunteer nurse in Ten- 
nessee. She is 71 and lives in Lockington, Ohio. 

Mrs. Lydia L. Whiteman served from the time sick men were left in 
Philadelphia at the beginning of the war, until the war closed. She relates that 
after the battle of the Wilderness, she saw a man who had been left for dead 
at the foot of a tree, and in spite of protests, took him up in the ambulance, 
and to the hospital and saved his life. He was Colonel Baxter. Mrs. White- 
man was under Miss Dix most of the time. She is 85 and lives in Philadelphia- 



374 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Mrs. Cynthia (Elbin) White served in Iowa hospitals for eight and a 
half months. She is 67 and lives in Lowry City, Missouri. 

Mrs. Mary Eleanor Willson was three months a volunteer nurse under 
Miss Livermore, then was two years with the Army of the Cumberland in the 
field, in hospitals and on hospital boats on the Mississippi River. She resides 
in Westgate, California. 

Mrs. Leonore (Smith) Wright was commissioned by Governor Morton, 
of Indiana. She served in Indiana and Tennessee. She is 80 and lives in Terre 
Haute, Indiana. 

Mrs. Lucy A. (Newton) Young served in camps of Vermont soldiers as 
a volunteer nurse seven months. She is 69 and lives in Johnsbury, Vt. 

Mrs. Emily Alder had two brothers in the army and her husba*nd, whom 
she followed to the front as a nurse. She served six months and then on the 
Fort Donelson Battlefield was taken so seriously ill that, as the regiment was 
under marching orders, the surgeon gave her husband four days' leave to stay 
and see her die. She was spared to care for a disabled husband. She returned 
home after her illness. She is 71 and lives in Clarion, Iowa. 

Mrs. Catherine H. (Griffith) Bengless served about nine months in Phila- 
delphia. At the close of her service, she married Rev. J. D. Bengless, of Paw- 
tucket, Rhode Island. Mrs. Bengless is 75 and resides in Ansonia, Connecticut. 

Mrs. Sarah (Chamberlain) Eccleston served one year as volunteer nurse 
in Tennessee. After the war she became a kindergartner, and in 1868, was 
called to the Argentine Republic to found its first kindergarten and training 
school in the Government College, at Parana. Later she was transferred to 
Buenos Ayres, where she taught until retired on a pension from Argentina in 
1904. She is 71 and still lives in the Argentine Republic. 

Dr. Nancy M. Hill served in Armory Square Hospital, Washington, until 
1865, then went to Dubuque, Iowa, where she settled. She is a native of Massa- 
chusetts, but now, at the age of 76, lives in Chicago, Illinois. 

Susan E. (Hall) Barry, M.D., began her four years' work of service at 
Bull Run Battle, and then went wherever needed, finishing her work in Nash- 
ville, Tennessee. She had graduated in medicine before going in the army as 
a nurse. She served under Miss Dix. At the close of the war she married 
Robert L. Barry and went to Honolulu. She is 85 and lives in California. 

Mrs. Rebecca E. Gray was, for two years, in hospitals, on battlefields and 
on transports. She is 70 and is blind and helpless. Her home is in Brooklyn, 
New York. 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 375 

Mrs. Mary Adelaide (Daugherty) Jobes served a year in Tennessee hos- 
pitals. She is 71 and lives in Indianapolis, Indiana. 

Miss Susan R. Lowell served nearly two years in Tennessee hospitals. 
She is 79 and lives in Topeka, Kansas. 

Miss Adelia Leavitt was a volunteer nurse, serving six months in hospitals 
in Wisconsin. She is 69 and lives in Oconomawoc, Wisconsin. 

Miss Mary A. E. Woodworth served as Miss Mary Keen, from July, 1861, 
to July, 1865. She was under Miss Dix and was in Georgetown, D. C., and 
Fort Monroe, Virginia. She is now living in Washington, D. C. 

LELIA P. ROBY. 

Mrs. Lelia P. Roby, philanthropist and founder of the 
Ladies of the Grand Army of the Republic, was born in Boston, 
Mass., December 25, 1848. She was descended from Priscilla 
Mullens and John Alden of the Mayflower Colony and many 
of her ancestors were among the revolutionary heroes. She, 
herself, acted as a regent of the Daughters of the American 
Revolution, and she has always felt a deep interest in the 
soldiers who fought in the Civil War. On the twelfth of June, 
1886, in Chicago, 111., she founded the order of the Ladies of 
the Grand Army of the Republic, which started with twenty- 
five members but which ten years later numbered fifteen 
thousand mothers, wives, sisters and daughters of soldiers and 
sailors who had served in the war of 1861-1865. The members 
were pledged to assist the Grand Army of the Republic in 
works of charity, to extend noble aid to brothers in sickness 
and distress, to aid sick soldiers and sailors and marines, to 
look after soldiers' orphans' homes and to see that the children 
received proper situations when they left the homes; to watch 
the schools and see that the children received proper education 
in the history of the country and in patriotism. Mrs. Roby's 
personal activities have covered a wide range and she has 
secured many pensions for soldiers — herself working long, 



2,y6 Part Taken by Women in American History 

l ~ i 

countless hours for the good of the survivors of the war. She 

was one of four women selected by the Board of Education of 
Chicago to represent them before the legislature of the state 
to help pass the Compulsory Education Bill, and it was passed 
through the fact that a large majority of the legislators were 
old soldiers and their affection for Mrs. Roby made voting 
for the measure she advocated a pleasant duty. She is the 
only woman ever made a member of the Lincoln Guard of 
Honor, of Springfield, 111., an honor conferred on her through 
General Sherman, "For her many acts of devotion to the 
Martyred President's Memory." She became a member of the 
Chicago Academy of Science, was vice-president of the 
Women's National Press Association for Illinois, a member 
of the Nineteenth Illinois Veteran Volunteer Infantry and also 
joined the Society for the Advancement of Women, and the 
American Society of Authors. She had the care and over- 
sight of supplying the Soldiers' Homes with books and 
magazines and periodicals, and she has constantly visited the 
homes in various parts of the country, looking after the comfort 
of the old soldiers, and when special legislation has been needed 
to right their wrongs or give them additional comforts, she has 
gone to the state legislatures and to Washington to secure such 
enactment. Through her efforts a memorial day was set 
apart in the schools for the reading of histories and stories of 
the war in preparation for Decoration Day itself. She has 
done a good deal of literary work under the pen name of "Miles 
Standish," and she has published one large volume entitled 
"Heartbeats of the Republic." America has hardly produced 
a woman of better courage and patriotism. 

MARY COLE WALLING. 

Born in Pike County, Pennsylvania, June 19, 1838. She was descended 
from the families of Stephen Cole, of Scotland, and Hannah Chase, of England. 
During the Civil War she was known as the "Banished Heroine of the South." 



Women from the Time of Mary. Washington 377 

Her parents made their home in Cass County, Illinois, where, in 1850, she mar- 
ried Captain F. C. Brookman, of St. Louis, Missouri, who died soon afterwards 
of yellow fever. Later she married C. A. Walling, of Texas. It is said that 
in 1863 she was warned by the Vigilance Committee to leave the country within 
a few hours. Seven of her brothers were in the Union Army, and all lost their 
lives. She delivered speeches through the North, and on May 10, 1866, the 
United States Senate passed a resolution permitting her to speak before that 
body, and there she delivered her argument on "Reconstruction." 

HESTER A. DILLON. 

Mrs. Hester A. Dillon, wife of Captain Elisha Dillon, is among the most 
active and patriotic women of the country. Her ancestry runs back many cen- 
turies, having been traced to Walgrinus Ridel, Earl of Angouleme and Perigord, 
a relative of Charles the Bald, King of France. 

Her grandfather Ridlon (from Ridel) was in the War of 1812, and was 
an orderly to General Jackson, at New Orleans. He married a Virginia Davis. 
Her mother married J. R. Duncan. 

Mrs. Dillon was born at Cincinnati, Ohio, October 6, 1845, and named 
Hester A. Duncan. She was married March 26, 1862, to Captain William J. 
Dillon, who fell at Shiloh, April 6, 1862. His regiment, the 18th, adopted Mrs. 
Dillon as its daughter. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
Woman's Christian Temperance Union and of the Self-culture Class of Benton, 
Illinois, her place of residence. 

Women of the New South. 

In her delightful "Reminiscences of a Long Life" Mrs. 
Sarah Pryor quotes a letter written by her husband, ex-judge 
Roger A. Pryor, in which occurred the following words: 
"When I renewed my oath of allegiance to the Union I did so in 
good faith and without reservation. But as I understand that 
oath it not only restrains me from acts of positive hostility to 
the government but pledges me to do my utmost for its welfare 
and stability. And, while I am more immediately concerned to 
see the South restored to its former prosperity I am anxious 
that the whole country may be reunited on the best of common 
interest and fraternal regard. And this object, it appears to 
me, can only be obtained by conceding to all classes the 
unrestricted rights guaranteed them by the laws and by 



378 Part Taken by Women in American History 

obliterating as speedily and as entirely as possible the dis- 
tinctions which have separated the North and South into hostile 
sections." 

This letter was written from New York in 1867, and, of 
course, the rule of conduct outlined in the words here quoted 
was more difficult to follow when he declared them than it has 
been in later years. In general, however, it has been followed 
by all who served the Confederacy in high military and civic 
station. 

And with the women no less than with the men the neces- 
sity of accepting the situation and of adjusting themselves to 
the new conditions made a powerful appeal. This was true 
of the women and the men who remained in the South, as 
well as those who immediately after the war sought the larger 
opportunity for a betterment of fortune which the wealthy and 
growing North and West offered. 

The latter found means of helping the South of which at 
the outset they did not dream. In the book just named Mrs. 
Pryor mentions many instances of this sort in her own experi- 
ence. From her wealthy New York neighbors she brought aid 
to many poor people, formerly of high position in the South, 
whom she met in that city. She served on committees which 
gave entertainments in New York for the endowment of schol- 
arships in Washington and Lee University in Virginia; for 
the relief of yellow fever sufferers in Florida and Alabama; 
and for succor to the surviviors of the tidal wave which 
destroyed Galveston in 1900. But she did not find time to tell 
about any of this work in books until within the past few years. 

The Southern states have produced and are producing 
many prominent women in all the great fields of activity. They 
have won a wide reputation for hard, conscientious, intelligent 
work. In the social scheme of the New South there are no 
Amelia Sedleys or Dora Spenlows. A great many of them 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 379 

have made their mark national and, some of them, international 
in literature. Their names — Mrs. Collier Willcox, Mrs. Dolly 
Williams Kirk, Mrs. Kate Slaughter McKinney, Miss Ger- 
trude Smith, Mrs. Abby Meguire Roach, Mrs. Emma Bell 
Miles, Miss Maia Pettus, Mrs. Lawrence Turnbull, Mrs. Mary 
Ware, Miss Lafayette McLaws, Mrs. Ellen Chapeau, Mrs. 
Carolina Smith Mahoney and Miss Ella Howard Bryan and 
many others — confront us in the table of contents of the best 
magazines. 

A large number of the writers of the most popular novels 
of recent times are Southern women. Among these are Miss 
Ellen Glasgow, Mrs. Amelia Rives Troubetzkoy, author of 
"The Quick and the Dead" and many other books which have 
a wide circulation ; Mrs. Alice Hegan Rice, well known as the 
writer of "Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch," "Lovey Mary" 
and many other tales ; Mrs. Grace McGowan Cooke, Miss Mar- 
garet Prescott Montague, Mrs. Mary Finley Leonard, Mrs. 
Annie Booth McKinney, Miss Abbie Carter Goodloe, Mrs. 
George Madden Martin, and Mrs. Danske Dandridge. Mary 
Murfree who, under the pen-name of "Charles Egbert Crad- 
dock," has made every square mile of the mountains in her 
native Tennessee classic ground to writers of fiction of the 
higher order ; Frances Courtney Baylor has done a similar serv- 
ice for the Blue Ridge and for many of the streams which 
have their sources in that range. Mrs. Howard Weedon, mem- 
ber of a family of slaveholders for several generations, in addi- 
tion to her tales and poems on Southern subjects, is a painter 
of negroes, whose work has attracted wide attention. Mrs. 
Lucy Meachem Thurston has given us vivid glimpses of Vir- 
ginia and other parts of the South Atlantic Seaboard. As an 
illustrator of her own and other novels, poems and sketches, 
Mrs. Louise Clarkson Whitelock is well known to a large circle 
of readers. The great-granddaughters of General Isaac 



380 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Shelby, the first Governor of Kentucky; Miss Eleanor Talbot 
Kinkead and Miss Elizabeth Shelby Kinkead are novelists and 
scholars of reputation, the latter also a lecturer on English liter- 
ature. 

In other branches of literature Southern women are also 
actively at work. A very good illustrator of that section's 
readiness and skill with the pen is given by Miss Mildred Lewis 
Rutherford in "The South in History and Literature," recently 
published. Miss Rutherford herself is an educator and a 
writer of educational works. Miss Grace Elizabeth King in her 
novels has written entertainingly of De Soto, Jean Baptiste Le 
Moine, founder of New Orleans, and other prominent charac- 
ters in Southern history. Interesting lives of George Mason 
and Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, have been written by Miss 
Kate Mason Rowland. Miss Emily Virginia Mason (recently 
deceased) sister of John Thomas Mason, first Governor of 
Michigan, was the author of "Robert E. Lee," and wrote remi- 
niscences of men and things in her native South. Miss Annie 
Maria Barnes is a well-known writer of histories and biogra- 
phies, besides being a journalist and active religious worker. 

In the intervals between her novels and plays Miss Sarah 
Barnwell Elliott has found time to write an occasional biog- 
raphy. 

To the role of active women journalists the South has 
made many very creditable contributions. Among them are Miss 
Martha W. Austin, of New Orleans; Mrs. Sarah Beaumont 
Kennedy, of Memphis, widow of the late editor of the "Com- 
mercial Appeal" of that city; Miss Cally Ryland, of Richmond; 
Mrs. Annie Kendrick Walker, of Birmingham, Alabama; Mrs. 
Evelyn Scott Snead Barnett, of Louisville, and Mrs. Helen 
Pitkin Schertz, of New Orleans. All of these are also work- 
ers in other fields, and are prominent in the social life of their 
respective communities. Mrs. Mary Edwards Bryan, of 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 381 

Atlanta, who has been 011 the editorial staff of several journals 
and magazines of the North and South, is a prolific writer for 
the leading magazines and the author of many novels, and is 
a member of several clubs in New York and in the South. 

In Marion Harland's "Autobiography/' published in 1910, 
occurred these words, "The idea of reviewing my life upon 
paper first came to me with the consciousness — which was 
almost a shock — that of all the authors still on active profes- 
sional duty in our country I am the only one whose memory 
runs back to the stage of our national history which preceded 
the Civil War by a quarter century. I alone am left to tell 
of my own knowledge and experience when the old South was 
in debt and in trouble." 

But Mrs. Terhune, who was born in Virginia in 1831, 
must have had a slight lapse of memory when she was penning 
these words, for Mrs. Pryor, who was born in Virginia in 1830, 
as already cited in this article, is a living writer, and Mrs. Ruth 
McEnery Stuart, novelist and clubwoman, who was born in 
Louisiana long before the Civil War, and who, as the widow 
of a cotton planter, remembers the old South, and though she 
has resided in New York in recent years, has been a factor of 
some influence in the building of the new South. Mrs. Virginia 
Carolina Clay Clopton, born in North Carolina in 1825, widow 
of Clement Claiborne Clay, of Alabama, and author of "Mem- 
ories of Mrs. Clay, of Alabama/' or "A Belle of the Fifties," 
is also still living. Mrs. Myrta Lockett Avary, who resided in 
Atlanta and who has been actively identified with settlement 
and charity work for many years, and has been contributor to 
many magazines and newspapers, and who knows a little of the 
old South from recollections, is the author of "A Virginia Girl 
in the Civil War" and "Dixie After the War," and has edited 
"A Diary from Dixie" and "Letters and Recollections of Alex- 
ander H. Stevens." The daughter. of Louis T. Wigfall, of 



382 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Texas, a senator of the United States and of the Confederacy, 
wrote a book a few years ago entitled "A Southern Girl in '61," 
which was widely read. This is Mrs. Louise Sophie Wigfall 
Wright, and she resides in Baltimore. Mrs. Mary Anna Jack- 
son, widow of ''Stonewall" Jackson, the distinguished Confed- 
erate general author of the "Memoirs" of her husband, was liv- 
ing in Charlotte, North Carolina, until recently. She, too, 
like all the other ladies mentioned here, has been prominent in 
the progressive movements along all lines in the New South. 
In active educational work, in an executive capacity and as 
teachers many Southern women are conspicuous. Miss Julia 
S. Tutwiler, the president of the Alabama Normal College, at 
Livingston, was also an active worker in prison reform. Mainly 
through her efforts the University of Alabama has been opened 
to the girls of that state. She is author also of many songs 
used in Alabama's public schools. Mrs. Elizabeth Buford, of 
Nashville, Tenn., is the founder and regent of the Buford Col- 
lege, of that city, and has been connected with other educa- 
tional institutions of the South. Mrs. Kate Waller Barrett, 
of Alexandria, Va., is a well-known sociologist, and is president 
of the Florence Crittenden Mission, in Washington, D. C. Miss 
Mary Kendrick is at the head of the faculty of Sweet Briar 
College, in the Virginia town of that name. At Herndon, in 
that same state, Miss Virginia Castleman is in charge of the 
music department of the Herndon Seminary, and is the author 
of many excellent works for young people. The librarian of 
the Carnegie Library in Nashville, Tennessee, is Miss Mary 
Hannah Johnson, who has also organized other libraries in the 
South. Among others in the long list of educators in many 
fields are Miss Margaret Warner Morley, of Tryon, North 
Carolina; Miss Florence Rena Sabin and Miss Lida Le Tall, 
of Baltimore; Miss Myra Geraldine Gross, of Emmitsburg, 
Maryland; Miss Frances Ninno Green and Miss Eliza Frances 
Ambrose, of Montgomery, Alabama. 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 383 

In the agricultural field women rarely distinguish them- 
selves. Mrs. Virginia Anne King, however, of Greenville, 
Texas, has one of the largest stock farms in the world, extend- 
ing into two or three of the counties of large area of that state, 
and comprises many ranges and farms, some of them under a 
high state of cultivation. She has to have many men in her 
employ. Her name seldom appears in the newspapers, but she 
is recognized as an important factor in the development of her 
state and of the Southwest. 

Through the "Daughters of the Confederacy" and other 
orders of this class the women of the South have been doing 
much for the upbuilding of their localities. In the many 
national organizations like the "Daughters of the American 
Revolution" and its twin, the "Colonial Dames," "Daughters 
of Signers of the Declaration" and many religious and 
temperance societies of the Southern members have asso- 
ciated themselves with those of the whole country, and have 
contributed toward making the South better appreciated in the 
North, and thus minimized sectional passions and tragedies. A 
strong venture in the same direction is the "Mount Vernon 
Association," which was founded in 1856, and which, necessar- 
ily, includes Southern and Northern women. 

Among the Southern women who have been conspicuous 
in these orders are : Miss Amelia Cunningham, of South Caro- 
lina ; Mrs. Lizzie Henderson, of Greenwood, Miss. ; Mrs. Annie 
Booth McKinney, of Knoxville, Tenn. ; Mrs. Roger Pryor, 
already mentioned, Mrs. Lawson Peel, of Atlanta ; Mrs. Rebecca 
Calhoun Pickens Bacon, of Charleston; Mrs. Cornelia Branch 
Stone, of Galveston; Mrs. Andrew W. Dowdell, of Opelika, 
Alabama; Mrs. George H. Wilson, of Louisville, and Mrs. 
R. C. Cooley, of Jacksonville, Fla. In the work of reunion Mrs. 
Virginia Frazer Boyle, of Memphis, novelist, poet and club- 
woman, has written "Odes of Jefferson Davis and Abraham 
Lincoln." 



384 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Says Mrs. Myrta Lockett Avary, "True to her past, the 
South is not living in it. A wonderful future is before her. 
She is richer than the whole United States at the beginning of 
the War of Secession. She is the land of balm and bloom and 
bird songs, of the hand and the open door." In the aggrega- 
tion of this spirit of hopefulness, courage and progressiveness 
of the New South the women have indeed been a powerful 
influence. 

SARAH C. ACHESON. 

Mrs. Sarah C. Acheson, public-spirited woman of Texas, should be remem- 
bered as gratefully by that state as are her ancestors by the nation at large. She 
was descended on the paternal side from English and Dutch families, who settled 
in Virginia, 1600, and on the maternal side from Colonel George Morgan, who had 
charge of Indian affairs under Washington with headquarters at Fort Pitt, and 
of whom Jefferson in a letter still in possession of the family says, "He first gave 
me notice of the mad project of that day" — meaning the Aaron Burr treason. 
Among Mrs. Acheson's ancestors should be mentioned Colonel William Duane, 
of Philadelphia, editor of the Philadelphia "Aurora" during the Revolution. Mrs. 
Acheson's girlhood was spent in Washington, Pennsylvania, where she was born 
February 20, 1844. And there, in 1863, she was married to Captain Acheson, then 
on General Myer's staff, the marriage taking place when the captain was on fur- 
lough with a gunshot wound in the face. He left for the front ten days after, 
encouraged by his young wife. Doctor and Mrs. Acheson moved to Texas in 
1872, and during their residence there Mrs. Acheson has been a moral force, her 
influence beinj strongly felt, not only in the city where she resides, but throughout 
the state. Texas with all the blows which have come to its welfare is a place to 
bring out heroic deed. Mrs. Acheson has displayed spirit of a kind that the world 
seldom sees. When a cyclone struck the village of Savoy many of its inhabitants 
were badly wounded, some were killed, others made homeless. But Mrs. Acheson 
reached them as speedily as train could take her and she acted as nurse and as 
special provider for the suffering. She gave three years of active service to the 
Woman's Christian Temperance Union, and she was state president at a time when 
a strong leader was greatly needed to guide their bark into a haven of financial 
safety. The world's progress in social, scientific and religious reform is not only 
an open but a well-read book to her, and in the evening of her long active life 
she has become an ardent worker for woman's suffrage. 

MARY B. POPPENHEIM. 

Miss Mary B. Poppenheim was born in Charleston, S. C, of South Carolina 
ancestry for six generations on both sides, her forebears having migrated to 
South Carolina from Bavaria and Ireland prior to the American Revolution. 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 385 

She was graduated from Vassar College with the Bachelor of Arts degree 
in 1888, holding the position of vice-president of the entire student body and 
president of the Art Club at the time of her graduation. Miss Poppenheim made 
a special study of American History at Vassar College under the direction of 
Professor Lucy Salmon. Miss Poppenheim organized the Historical Department 
of the South Carolina Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and 
was historian from 1899-1905, resigning to become state president of the South 
Carolina Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, which office she 
held from 1905-1907 (limit of term). When historian of the South Carolina 
Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy she was one of the com- 
pilers and editors of "South Carolina Women in the Confederacy," 2 vols., pub- 
lished by the South Carolina Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy 
in 1903 and 1907. Miss Poppenheim was historian of the Charleston Chapter of 
the United Division of the Confederacy for three years, and was also a member 
of the Historical Committee of the United Daughters of the Confederacy for 
three years. She is a charter member of the Vassar Alumnae Historical Society 
and was one of the first five women to become members of the South Carolina 
Historical Society, of which she has been a member since 1899. Miss Poppenheim 
is chairman of the General United Daughters of the Confederacy Education Com- 
mittee (organization representing 50,000 women) serving a third term, and also 
chairman of the South Carolina Division of the United Daughters of the Con- 
federacy Committee, and member of the Board of Directors of the Charleston 
Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. 

Miss Poppenheim is the literary editor of "The Keystone," the official organ 
of the club women, and the Daughters of the Confederacy of Virginia, North 
Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi and Florida, which position she has held 
since the establishment of "The Keystone," June, 1899. 

Miss Poppenheim organized the Intercollegiate Club of South Carolina, 1899, 
and has been its president ever since. She is a member of the Ladies' Benevolent 
Society (organized 1813) and has been its recording secretary since 1896. 

A member of the Rebecca Motte Chapter, Daughters of the American 
Revolution. 

A charter member of the South Eastern Branch, Vassar Alumnae Associa- 
tion. 

A charter member of the Vassar Alumnae Historical Society. 

A charter member of the Century Club. 

A charter member of the Civic Club. 

A charter member of the South Carolina Audubon Society. 

A charter member of the Young Women's Christian Association. 

On the Board of the Ladies' Memorial Society and Woman's Exchange. 

She holds membership in all of these now. Miss Poppenheim was chairman 
of the Literature Committee of the General Federation of Women's Clubs 1906-1908, 
and was in charge of the Literature Session of the Boston Biennial. 

Miss Poppenheim has written for various magazines along historical lines 
and has traveled extensively in Europe. 



25 



386 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Introduction to Club Section. 

By Mrs. C. M. Severance, 'The Mother of Clubs." 

Beloved Club-Women of the Country: 

I rejoice heartily at being in touch with each and all of 
you, through this friendly introduction — you, who not having 
seen en masse, I love with sincere regard and affection. 

I rejoice unceasingly in the ever-growing acceptance of 
your new opportunities and duties and in the superb outlook for 
your future. One of my favorite prophecies is that nothing is 
impossible to organized womanhood united in aim and effort. 

My faith in woman became so great that my zeal took 
flame, and led me into the early effort toward making my 
enchanted dream come true on reaching my "Mecca" at Bos- 
ton in 1855. I felt there best could such a dream come true — 
as Bronson Alcott assented on his visits to Cleveland, before our 
family removed to Boston — with the warning, however, that it 
would not be easy to gather the literary and progressive women 
from their various circled suburbs and churches. But the 
hope was still hidden in a warm corner of my heart, and after 
the Civil War had made many of these women friends and 
co-workers, who had served their country and homes as val- 
iantly and at as great cost, in sending their husbands and sons 
to the chances of the battlefield, as their brothers! 

The time then seemed ripe for the new venture of com- 
radeship and service through organization. This comradeship 
and service had hitherto been exercised in efforts outside the 
home — only in the various sewing circles, Dorcas Societies, 
study classes and the like — covering some one single, definite 
purpose ; but the idea of discussion and action upon the broader 
lines of civic interests vitally affecting the home, developed in 
the organization of the New England Woman's Club — the first 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 387 

in this country — at Boston, in 1868. The Sorosis, at New 
York, on somewhat the same lines, being founded almost simul- 
taneously, as a result of the refusal of the Men's Press Club 
to recognize the Women's Press Club of that city on the visit 
of Dickens to this country. Our well-known and zealous 
friend, Kate Field, of New York, author and journalist, had 
visited Boston, and reported our organization as already 
founded there. 

The title of "Mother of Clubs" given to the little book 
compiled by a sympathetic friend, who had sifted the data and 
felt warranted in using the title, has been somewhat challenged ; 
but the facts and the records given by Mrs. Croly, in her 
"History of the Club Movement in America," are its justifica- 
tion; and the innumerable heartfelt acknowledgments by pen 
and voice of the uplift of club life are a precious benediction to 
me, and recall the poet's lines: 

"What I long to be and was not, comforts me." 
Faithfully yours, 
(Signed) Madame C. M. Severance. 



To the Well-Beloved and Honored Clara Barton. 

My Civic Creed. 
(In Outline.) 

"New occasions teach new duties, 
Time makes ancient good uncouth ; 
We must ever up and onward, 

Who would keep abreast of Truth !" 

"Governments derive their just powers from 
the consent of the governed." 



388 Part Taken by Women in American History 

"Taxation without representation is tyranny." 

"For the long workday, — 
For the taxes we pay, — 
For the laws we obey, — 
We want something to say, — 
By the ballot way, 
And without delay!" 



"Nothing is impossible to Organized 
Womanhood, — united in aim and effort !" 

"Why prayest thou on altar stairs 
For God to do His will? 
Thou art His instrument; go forth, 
And thine own wish fulfill. 

Till 

"The war drums beat no longer, 
And the battle flags are furled 
In the Parliament of man — the 
Federation of the world !" 

"Two beside the hearth, 
Two in the tangled business of the world — 
Self reverencing and reverencing each." 

"Love (including justice and peace) is the fulfilling of the 
Law." 

The Golden Rule is the Biblical and the common sense 
panacea for our social ills. 

(Signed) Madame C. M. Severance. 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 389 

Endorsement 

From Mrs. C. M. Severance. 

I honor most heartily the loyalty to womanhood which has 
prompted our friend, Mrs. John A. Logan, to undertake this 
chronicle, at the cost of so much strength and energy. 

The women who have come into prominence as rulers 
have had their due records in history — the women of unusual 
charm, beauty or wit — and woman, as a class, has been sung 
by the poets from time immemorial. But the achievements of 
these other women have not been sympathetically recorded — 
the woman who has given to the world sons whom she nurtured 
for useful citizenship — given even with heartbreak to the risks 
of the battlefield which she abhorred; and yielded the 
daughters of her tenderest love and companionship to the risks 
of another's ownership and protection, thus serving the state in 
these invaluable and indispensable ways. 

These women are at last seeking the ballot, as the badge of 
citizenship, and the needed protection of the home and the 
beloved children when leaving her care for the outside world — 
so often made cruel under the present competitive system. 
These women have had mention, but have been suspected and 
shunned for taking these practical steps towards the broader 
helpfulness. But let us be of good cheer! Woman is rapidly 
coming into her fuller heritage, thanks to the braver chronicler, 
such as Mrs. Logan. 

(Signed) Madame C. M. Severance. 

Federation of Women's Clubs. 

This organization represents 850,000 members. No other 
organization of women in the world represents such a powerful 
and active militant movement for social betterment. The 



390 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Sorosis of New York and the Woman's Club of Boston have 
long been rivals in their claim of being the oldest organization 
in the United States. Each was founded in 1868, but it has 
been decided that the Ladies' Library Society, of Kalamazoo, 
Michigan, deserves this honor. It was founded in 1852, and 
the Minerva Club, of New Harmony, Indiana, was organized 
in 1859. The Sorosis, however, was the leader of the federa- 
tion movement and is responsible for broadening the scope of 
women's club work. The first biennial convention of the 
General Federation of Women's Clubs was held in Philadelphia, 
in 1894. Every state in the Union has its state federation, and 
there are to-day organizations in the Canal Zone and our insular 
possessions. Almost every one of the five thousand clubs has 
taken up some measure of active interest. The subject of home 
economics has been one of the principal issues for club work 
throughout the United States. Perhaps no other organization 
in the country represents a greater force for good than the 
General Federation of Women's Clubs. 

Women's Clubs in Cincinnati. 

After the Centennial in Philadelphia, in 1876, a few Cin- 
cinnati women, enthused by that exhibition of artistic beauty,' 
created a sentiment which resulted in the foundation of the Art 
Museum Association of Cincinnati, whose object was to bring 
together collections of art and to form classes in art and handi- 
craft. Ten years later the Art Museum arose in Eden Park, 
the fruition of continuous and enthusiastic endeavor of a few 
women who were capable of being inspired, and who possessed 
the ability and devotion necessary to inspire others. 

After the World's Fair in Chicago, Cincinnati women who 
took an active part in furnishing and the administration of the 
Woman's Building, came home and were influential in the 



Women from the Time of Mary Waspiington 391 

organization, almost simultaneously, of the Cincinnati Women's 
Club and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestral Association. 
To-day, the club with several hundred members, is the proud 
possessor of the first Women's Club House in Ohio, whose 
every line of architecture and decoration expresses the refined 
taste and broad culture of its members. The Symphony 
Orchestra is the pride of Ohio as well as Cincinnati. 

Arts and Crafts. 

About 1893, Mr. Ralph Radcliffe- Whitehead, a wealthy 
Englishman, who had been a friend of Ruskin, and intimately 
associated with English arts and crafts leaders, conceived the 
idea of founding in America an arts and crafts village, in hope 
of doing something toward making American life less restless, 
less self-conscious, and less ugly. With this end in view, he 
bought about 1,200 acres of land on the southern slope of the 
Catskills, in the town of Woodstock, New York, and christened 
this tract "Byrdcliffe," and invited all those who desired to 
carry on artistic pursuits, and at the same time live simply, to 
come and live in the simple houses which he had built on this 
tract. Here was established a library, an assembly, a metal 
shop, and nearly a score of other buildings to be used as studios, 
shops, boarding houses, and residences. "Byrdcliffe" has 
produced a distinct type of hand-made decorative furniture. 
They have done some good metal work and rug weaving. This 
colony was repeated in the one established in July, 1901, called 
the Rose Valley Association, chartered as a stock company, 
with a capital of $25,000, for the purpose of encouraging the 
manufacture of such articles involving artistic handicraft, as 
are used in the finishing, decorating, and furnishing of houses. 
A property was purchased called Rose Valley, located along 
Ridley Creek, near the city of Moylan, about a dozen miles 



392 Part Taken by Women in American History 

southwest of Philadelphia, consisting of about eighty acres, 
which when purchased, was occupied by ruined stone mills and 
quaint, deserted houses. The mill was transformed into a shop 
for the making of furniture, and this shop was opened in the 
spring of 1902. The Rose Valley Association does not manu- 
facture, but extends an invitation and offers an opportunity to 
accredited craftsmen to work in its shops, under the patronage 
of its emblem, the emblem to be systematically stamped upon 
its products, and would be the association's guarantee that 
the workman has conformed in every item to competent, 
mechanical, and artistic standards. The Rose Valley furniture 
is always honest, and often beautiful. Carving is freely 
indulged in. The aim of this association is to prove that useful 
things need not be clumsy, and that beautiful things need not be 
fragile. Hand-weaving, metal-working, book-binding and 
pottery-making have been practiced at Rose Valley. At old 
Marblehead, Massachusetts, there is another community 
established by Dr. Herbert J. Hall, a nerve specialist of this old 
New England town, who holds the theory that the surest 
remedy for nerves and invalidism is the practice of a manual 
occupation which is both useful and aesthetic. These con- 
victions led him to the equipping along the water front of a 
group of handicraft buildings in which his patients may work. 
Here artists in clay and ceramics come and some excellent work 
in silver, precious, and semi-precious stones and enamel has 
also been done. Artists in oil have gathered about here. Other 
associations of a similar character have been established in East 
Ravenswood, Illinois; Syracuse, New York, and East Aurora, 
New York, and the number of arts and crafts summer schools is 
rapidly becoming legion. Among the women who have taken 
an active part in this work may be mentioned, Mrs. Albee, of 
Pequaket, New Hampshire, and Crawfordville, Indiana; Mr. 
and Mrs. Douglass Volk, at Center Lovell, Maine; Susan 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 393 

Chester Lyman, at the log cabin settlement, near Asheville, 
North Carolina; Mrs. Van Briggle, Miss Laughlin (the two 
latter being porcelain workers), and Ellen Gates Starr, the 
noted bookbinder. 

The Home Culture Clubs. 

Fifteen years ago the university extension movement 
aroused institutions everywhere to send their teachers out 
among the people to direct their reading and help them in every 
way toward mental advancement. Three years before the 
unversity extension movement, there was organized in Phila- 
delphia an experiment which had its beginning in western 
Massachusetts. This is what is known as The Home Culture 
Club. Northampton offered an unusual setting for this enter- 
prise, being a long established New England town, dignified, 
and always ready for anything in the line of education. Its 
location especially offered this, being within a radius of a few 
miles of the best educational institutions of the country — 
Smith College, said to be the largest woman's college in the 
world; Mount Holyoke with a long and honorable history; 
Amherst, one of the best of the smaller colleges; Williston 
Seminary; the Byrnham School; the Clark Institute for Deaf 
Mutes, and the New Agricultural College of Northampton. 
Here Mr. George W. Cable found a most favorable environ- 
ment when he came from the South to make his home in the 
North in 1885. With his well-known reputation in literature 
and intense interest in social and industrial problems, he began 
to look about for what was most needed in his new neighbor- 
hood. He concluded that what had been most detrimental to 
the rapid progress of democracy was class distinction. In any 
private effort to elevate the masses of this country, at least, 
class treatment is out of the question. In breaking down these 



394 Part Taken by Women in American History 

class distinctions, Mr. Cable proposed to call the home into 
immediate requisition, and he repeatedly said, "The private 
home is the public hope/' and it was his idea to make the home 
the beginning and the end of his philosophy of popular 
education. In the autumn of 1887 he brought a few of his 
friends together and submitted for discussion a scheme for the 
organization of a Home Culture Club in every home that would 
consent, the club to consist of the members of the family and 
of such neighbors as would come to a weekly meeting in one 
home or another to read and talk together. From discussion, 
he went to action, and during the first year there were twenty 
of these clubs in successful operation in Northampton. A 
public reading room was opened at a central point to give men 
and boys habitually on the street a glimpse, at least, of a rudi- 
mentary home. Casual^ reading began to turn into serious 
study, and classes were formed under direction of the Smith 
College students, who have always been Mr. Cable's constant 
helpers. These clubs multiplied throughout the state, and in 
1898 they numbered throughout the land ninety-one, and the 
membership was six hundred and fifty, with a total attendance 
of nearly fifteen thousand. Since then they have been rapidly 
increased. Some of them are self-supporting, and some have 
been the recipients of generous donations from philanthropic 
people. 

Both in the business and educational conduct of the 
Northampton clubs, Mr. Cable has had almost from the first 
the valuable help of Mrs. Adelaide Moffatt, the general secre- 
tary. At least once a year she visits all the club members in 
their homes, takes a personal interest in their attendance and 
keeping up their interest in the work. She has been assisted 
by a great number of women from Smith College and a council 
of one hundred and twenty-five women residents of Northamp- 
ton. Mr. Carnegie generously donated fifty thousand dollars 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 395 

toward the erection of the club house for this work. But while 
these substantial gifts have come from men, the actual carrying 
on of this splendid work has been entirely done by women, 
largely college women, throughout the country, and is only 
another of the many different avenues of work along 
educational lines being conducted in this country by our 
women. 

The Washington Travel Club. 

The Washington Travel Club was organized in the Strath- 
more Arms — the home of Mary S. Lockwood, in January, 1880. 
Judge Lysander Hill, Frank Eastman, Mrs. Sara Dean, Miss 
Emily Brigham and Mary S. Lockwood, arranged for the 
first meeting. The officers were to be a "guide," to preside at 
the meetings ; a "courier," whose duty it was to secure speakers 
and readers; a "journalist," to keep a record of their travels, 
and an "executive committee" to form the itinerary and choose 
the subjects for papers, and a music committee. One notable 
feature of the club in its organization was the determination 
to have no exercises of a miscellaneous character — no 
recitations, reading, declarations, or literary fireworks of any 
kind. 

Every Monday night during the winter months, for sixteen 
years, this club was sustained with unflagging interest. 
Different countries were selected from year to year, papers read 
and the addresses given upon all subjects connected with the 
chosen country. 

The home of this club was historic inasmuch as it had 
been the home of many distinguished people: General and 
Mrs. John A. Logan, Senator Edmunds, Judge Harlan, 
Senator Ingalls, Senator Farwell, Governor Boutwell, Thomas 
B. Reed, Governor Carpenter, of Iowa, Judge Ezra B. Taylor, 



396 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Senator Fry, of Maine, and hosts of others, including members 
and senators. 

Among the noted people who entertained the club with 
instructive papers through these years were: General Logan, 
George Kennan, Olive Logan, Senor Romero, Dr. Chickering, 
Hon. A. R. Spofford, Hon. and Mrs. John W. Foster, Mrs. J. 
C. Burrows, Dr. Charles Knight, Dr. Gregory, Dr. Presbery, 
Judge Hayden, Professor Burgess, Mr. Fox, Minister to 
Russia and scores of the literary lights belonging to the club 
and Washington. 

The club's first journeys were through Egypt, where they 
traveled from near and from far without carriage or car. They 
went up the Nile, through the plains of Palestine, over the 
hills of Judea, among the Pyramids of Egypt and into the 
buried cites of Persia. They were given a fair understanding 
of the geography, biography, government, military, art, 
religion, literature, ornamental and practical art, common 
people and history of the country through which they traveled. 

One of the first papers presented while the club was in 
Egypt was by the late General John A. Logan, upon military 
art in that country. It was wonderful in research, beautiful 
in expression and abounded in interesting data. When asked 
where he got all his information he replied. "I have had no book 
in my hand but the Bible." 

Such experiences only whetted the appetites of the 
travelers, and the executive committee, guide, and courier then 
planned the trip for "around the world," which was carried out. 

The Woman's National Press Association. 

The Woman's National Press Association is the oldest 
organization of its kind in the world and one of the earliest 
of women's clubs. The Association is national having members 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 397 

in nearly every state in the Union; also in England and the 
Philippine Islands. 

The first president was Mrs. Emily Briggs, "Olivia." At 
the close of her term Mrs. M. D. Lincoln was made president, 
followed by Mary S. Lockwood, Mrs. Hannah B. Sperry, Mrs. 
E. S. Cromwell, Mrs. Belva A. Lockwood and Mrs. Peeler. 
The club has a membership of over one hundred. It has had 
such names among its members as Mrs. Lippincott, "Grace 
Greenwood"; Miss Mary F. Foster; Mrs. E. M. S. Marble; 
Mrs. Clara B. Colby; Mrs. E. D. N. Southworth; Mrs. Olive 
Logan; Miss Clara Barton. Prominent speakers have 
addressed the association including such names as Hon. 
Theodore Roosevelt; Dr. William T. Powell, Geologist; Charles 
M. Pepper ; Dr. Sheldon Jackson ; C. K. Berryman, Cartoonist ; 
Lillian Whiting; the late Professor Wm. Harkness; Profes- 
sor Robert T. Hill; Dr. B. L. Whitman; Hon. Frank Mondell; 
Frank G. Carpenter ; Ainsworth R. Spofford ; Mrs. May Wright 
Sewail ; Mrs. Ellen M. Henrotin ; members of the United States 
Congress and many prominent journalists. In December, 1894, 
the Woman's National Press Association issued the call for the 
formation of a federated organization of Women's Clubs in 
the District of Columbia. 

The Woman's National Rivers and Harbors 
Congress. 

By Mary M. North. 

The Woman's National Rivers and Harbors Congress is 
as truly a patriotic organization as any that exists, for it is 
built upon the never-dying principle of love of country. The 
organization came into existence through the efforts of a few 
women in Shreveport, Louisiana, June 29, 1908. Three 



398 Part Taken by Women in American History 

women of that city were made officers, Mrs. Hoyle Tomkies, 
president; Mrs. Frances Shuttleworth, recording secretary, 
and Mrs. A. B. Avery, corresponding secretary. The object of 
the organization, which works hand in hand with that of The 
National Rivers and Harbors Congress, fostered by the leading 
men of the nation, is to secure for our posterity the con- 
servation of all our natural resources, and in particular to 
preserve and develop two of the greatest, waterways and 
forests, for it has been said by an eminent scientist, "no forests, 
no rivers." 

The number of members at the time of organization was 
seven, and in about a year there was enrolled through 
individual and club membership, more than twenty-two 
thousand, and this because the object of the association is 
so vital. At the first convention held in Washington, D. C, 
which had a fine representation, The National Rivers and Har- 
bors Congress' Bill was endorsed, which called for an annual 
appropriation from Congress of fifty million dollars for ten 
years for waterway improvement, instead of a wasteful policy 
of appropriating small sums biennially for this purpose. The 
Woman's National Rivers and Harbors Congress is having 
conservation taught in the public schools. 

At the meeting held last December, in Washington, D. C, 
the following officers were elected to serve two years : President, 
Mrs. A. Barton Miller, Charleston, S. C. ; First Vice-President, 
Mrs. Herbert Knox Smith, Washington, D. C. ; Second Vice- 
President, Mrs. F. H. Newell, Washington, D. C. ; Correspond- 
ing Secretary, Mrs. Elmer G. Laurence, Cincinnati, Ohio; 
Recording Secretary, Mrs. Mary M. North, Snow Hill, Mary- 
land; Treasurer, Mrs. William Brison, Muscogee, Oklahoma; 
Auditor, Mrs. H. R. Whiteside, Louisville, Ky. ; Vice-Presi- 
dents-at-large, Mrs. Hoyle Tomkies, Shreveport, La.; Mrs. 
E. A. Housman, Brookfield Center, Conn.; Mrs. de B. Ran- 
dolph Keim, Reading, Pennsylvania. 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 399 



Alabama : 

Mrs. J. W. Hunter, 
619 Lauderdale St., Selma. 
Arkansas : 
Mrs. Marshall H. Patterson, 
Augusta. 
California : 

Mrs. Lovell White, 
2245 Sacramento St., San Francisco. 
Colorado : 

Mrs. D. W. Collins, Pueblo. 
Delaware : 

Mrs. Geo. W. Marshall, Milford. 
Hawaii : 
Mrs. B. J. Dillingham, 
Honolulu. 
Idaho : 

Mrs. E. C. Atwood, Hailey. 
Illinois : 
Mrs. Fred Bowes, 

1542 Adams St., West, Chicago. 
Indiana: 
Mrs. Virginia Sharpe-Patterson, 
505 E. Mulberry St., Kokomo. 
Kentucky : 

Miss Mary Lafon, 
1337 Fourth St., Louisville. 
Maine : 

Mrs. Joseph M. Strout, 
83 Pleasant Ave., Portland. 
Maryland : 
Mrs. Emma D. Crockett, 
Pocomoke City. 
Massachusetts : 

Mrs. Theodore C. Bates, 
29 Harvard, Worcester. 
Missouri : 
Mrs. John H. Curran, 
816 Wright Building, St. Louis. 
New Jersey : 
Mrs. J. E. Sudderley, 

11 Columbia Ave., Arlington. 
New Hampshire : 

Mrs. J. H. Dearborn, 
Suncock. 



New York: 
Mrs. William dimming Story, 
119 E. 19th St., New York City. 
North Dakota: 
Mrs. J. J. Robson, 
Langdon. 
North Carolina: 
Mrs. E. J. Hale, 
Fayetteville. 
Oklahoma : 
Mrs. Lilah D. Lindsay, 
Tulsa. 
Oregon : 
Mrs. Robert Lutke, 
301 N. 24th St., Portland. 
Ohio: 
Mrs. J. F. Ellison, 
2327 Ashland Ave., Cincinnati. 
Pennsylvania : 
Mrs. Thomas M. Rees, 
225 Negley Ave., Pittsburgh. 
Rhode Island: 
Mrs. Richard Jackson Barker, 
The Outlook, Tiverton. 
South Carolina : 
Mrs. Reid Whitford, 
164 Rutledge St., Charleston. 
South Dakota: 
Miss Marjorie M. Breeden, 
910 Euclid St., Pierre. 
Tennessee : 
Mrs. Eugene Crutcher, 
817 Lischey Ave., Nashville. 
Texas : 
Mrs. J. W. Dosemus, 
Bryan. 
Virginia : 
Miss Katharine Stuart, 

719 King St., Alexandria. 
Washington : 

Mrs. Charles B. Dunning, 
1238 South Wall Street, Spokane. 
West Virginia: 

Mrs. Guy R. C. Allen, 
Wheeling. 



400 Part Taken by Women in American History 

"The organization has for its object the development of the meritorious 
waterways and harbors, the preservation of the forests, and the conservation of 
all the natural resources of the nation. It stands for the establishment by the 
Federal Government of a definite waterway policy for the improvement of all 
approved rivers and harbors of the entire country, also for the adoption of such 
a policy as will secure not only forest reserves, but general forest development." 

The slogan is "Together for Permanent National Welfare." 

Bunker Hill Monument Association. 

To women the credit is due for the preservation of his- 
torical homes, marking of historical spots, and the completion 
of many of the works started to commemorate deeds of heroism. 
Among these should be mentioned the completion of the Bunker 
Hill Monument. In 1823 the Bunker Hill Monument Associa- 
tion was incorporated and this ended the efforts for this work 
for two years; then the cornerstone was laid while General 
Lafayette was on a visit to this country. The material was 
brought from a granite quarry in Quincy and a railroad had 
to be built for this purpose — the first in the United States. In 
1828 the funds for the work were exhausted and the work 
stopped, not to be resumed until 1834, and again suspended for 
lack of funds. In 1839 two gentlemen — Amos Lawrence, of 
Boston, and Judah Truro, of New Orleans — offered $10,000 
if a similar amount would be raised by others. This 
enlisted the interest and pride of the women of Boston, who 
proposed to get up a fair for this purpose. The fair was decided 
upon and was to be held in Quincy Hall, September 5, 1840, 
and every woman in America was invited to aid, or contribute 
her work or money. These patriotic women of Boston managed 
the entire scheme and were rewarded by realizing $30,035.50, 
and from other sources money came to the association through 
these women until $55,153.27 was in the treasury of the 
association and the completion of the monument assured, and 
to these women we owe Bunker Hill Monument. 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 401 

t 

JENNIE CUNNINGHAM CROLY. 

Mrs. Croly was born in Leicestershire, England, December 19, 1831. Her 
father, the Reverend Joseph Howes Cunningham, brought his family to the United 
States when Jennie was about nine years old. The latter was a precocious child 
and early showed her literary trend in little plays written in childhood. Her first 
production that was published appeared in the New York Tribune. Her taste 
for journalism grew rapidly and she filled many important positions on various 
of the New York newspapers for many years. Her pen name was "Jenny June." 
Her activity was remarkable and she extended her work to a number of the 
magazines. She edited and controlled many publications for a great number of 
years. Early in life she became the wife of David B. Croly, then city editor of 
the New York Herald, later managing editor of the New York World, and sub- 
sequently editor of the Daily Graphic. In all of these publications Mrs. Croly 
collaborated with her husband. In March, 1868, Mrs. Croly, "Fanny Fern,'' Alice 
and Phoebe Cary, Mrs. Charlotte B. Wilbour, Miss Kate Field, Mrs. Henry M. 
Field, Mrs. Botta and other women met in Mrs. Croly's home in New York and 
started the famous Sorosis with twelve charter members. This was one of the 
pioneer women's clubs of America and to Mrs. Croly should be given the credit 
of its inception. She served for fourteen years as its president. She was among 
those calling the Woman's Congress in New York in 1866, and again in 1869. 
She was a member of the New York Academy of Sciences, of the Goethe Club, 
and vice-president of the Association for the Advancement of the Medical Educa- 
tion of Women. Her home was for many years a center of attraction for authors, 
artists, actors and cultured persons. Her writings, which continued until her death 
in 1901, would fill many volumes. 

MRS. PHILIP N. MOORE. 

The president-general of the Federation of Women's Clubs was born in 
Rockford, Illinois, and educated at Vassar College, at which institution she pur- 
sued a full mathematical and scientific course. The years from 1876 to 1879 she 
spent in travel and study abroad. Since her marriage she has resided in Kentucky 
and Missouri. She has been connected and actively interested in the St. Louis 
Training School for Nurses ; is a member of the board of directors of the Provi- 
dence Association and chairman of their district nurse work from its inception. 
She is vice-president of the St. Louis School of Philanthropy; is a charter mem- 
ber of the Wednesday Club, and was president of the Missouri Federation from 
1001 to 1905 ; was first vice-president of the General Federation of Women's Clubs 
from 1904 to 1908. She is intensely interested in the musical growth of St. Louis 
and assisted in the formation of the Musical Club which brings to St. Louis the 
best artists in every line and is also devoted to the interests of a larger musical 
organization, the St. Louis Symphony Society, in which she is an active worker. 
She has been president of the National Federation of Musical Clubs. Mrs. Moore 
holds all educational influences to be of the greatest importance; from 1903 to 
1907 she was president of the Association of Collegiate Alumnae and one of thr 

26 



402 Part Taken by Women in American History 

, - — _ — » 

three alumnae trustees of Vassar College. She was appointed by the board of 
lady managers of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, a member of the Superior 
Jury in which International Jury of Awards the right of membership was 
given for the first time to a representative of women. A woman of liberal culture 
and extensive information, she has wielded a large influence in various spheres 
of women's work. With quiet force and dignity she combines great executive 
ability and is an effective worker in every movement with which she is identified. 
She was elected president of the General Federation of Women's Clubs at their 
meeting, June 1908, in Boston. She traveled extensively in the interests of the 
federation going even to Panama to visit the clubs of the Canal Zone Federation. 

MRS LAWRENCE MAXWELL. 

Was born and educated at Ann Arbor, Michigan, meeting her husband, Mr. 
Maxwell, at the university. Mrs. Maxwell is an ex-president of the Cincinnati 
clubs and largely identified with the musical interests of Cincinnati. For seven 
years she has been president of the board of managers of the Widows' and Old 
Men's Home. Mrs. Maxwell was president of the local biennial board of Cin- 
cinnati when the meeting of the General Federation was held in that city in 191 1. 
The success of this board is due largely to the uniform tact and courtesy of Mrs. 
Maxwell, whose wide club and social experience has been felt not only in Cin- 
cinnati but throughout the state. Mrs. Maxwell has a broad view of life and its 
duties, believing that a woman must prepare herself to reign in her home while 
dispensing the courtesies and sharing the enjoyments of social life, yet, she still 
must give a large share of time, strength and interest to the betterment of 
humanity. 

MRS. EDWARD L. BUCHWALTER. 

Mrs. Edward L. Buchwalter is one of the best-known club women in the 
country. She has been identified with the General Federation since the beginning 
and has attended every biennial. She was born in Ohio but her interests per- 
taining to women's clubs know no state lines. In 1S9S Mrs. Buchwalter was 
elected a director of the General Federation, serving two terms She was chair- 
man of the Milwaukee biennial program committee, which for advanced thought 
has not been surpassed by any biennial program ; here civil service reform and the 
responsibility of women as consumers were first discussed. Mrs. Buchwalter was 
chairman of the Los Angeles Convention; was a vice-president of the board of 
lady managers of the Louisiana Purchase Expedition. In 1904 she was elected 
president of the Ohio Federation, which she had been instrumental in organizing. 
She has been president of the Springfield Woman's Club. Gifted with a remark- 
able memory, quick to recognize merit, more critical of herself than others, tire- 
less in her effort to advance the club movement, Mrs Buchwalter plans and exe- 
cutes with the same enthusiasm which has not waned in her twenty years' service. 

MRS. ADDISON F. BROOMHALL. 

Was elected president of the Ohio Federation in 1909. She has been a 
worker in the Federation since its organization; has served her state as treasurer, 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 403 

Federation secretary and chairman of the Convention Advisory Committee. She 
has been active in library work and for two years was chairman of the Library 
Extension Committee of the General Federation. Mrs. Broomhall's husband is 
one of the most brilliant lawyers in Ohio. 

MRS. CHARLES H. KUMLER. 

Mrs. Charles H. Kumler is a member of the Industrial and Child Labor 
Committee of the Federation of Women's Clubs; has been active in this line of 
work for many years, taking a special interest in the organization and development 
of Noonday Clubs in factories where young women are employed. She did much 
to create sentiment favoring the regulation of child labor in Ohio. Aside from 
her club interests she is a well-known collector of antiques and possesses one of 
the most valuable and varied collections. 

MRS. PHILIP CARPENTER. 

Mrs. Philip Carpenter, of New York, was born at Rainbow, Connecticut, 
educated in Mills College, California, and New York University Law School. She 
is an ex-president of the New York State Federation, president of Sorosis, presi- 
dent of Women Lawyers' Club of New York City, and ex-president of the 
National Society of New England Women. She was the second woman lawyer 
to appear in the New York Court of Appeals, and the first to win anything there. 

HANNAH KENT SCHOFF. 

Mrs. Frederic Schoff, president of the National Congress of Mothers, is the 
daughter of Thomas Kent of England and Fanny Leonard Schoff of Bridgewater, 
Massachusetts. Mrs. Schoff is the mother of seven children, and until they were 
past babyhood she was in no way interested in outside work. She has been presi- 
dent of the National Congress of Mothers almost since its organization, being 
elected to succeed Mrs. Theodore W. Birney who, together with Mrs. Phoebe A. 
Hearst, was the founder of the organization. She is also a member of the Society 
of Mayflower Descendants, Daughters of the American Revolution, New Century 
Club, Philadelphia, National Education Association, Religious Education Associa- 
tion and the Pennsylvania Juvenile Court and Probation Association. 

Mrs. Schoff's interest was aroused in behalf of children from reading of 
a young child eight years of age being sentenced at the criminal court for burning 
up the house in which she lived, because she wanted to see the flames, and the 
engines run. It seemed so dreadful to Mrs. Schoff that she determined to see if 
there was not something that could be done for these baby criminals, or what 
was better, do something for the mothers of these babies to aid them in learning 
their responsibilities as mothers. The first juvenile court in Pennsylvania was 
held in Philadelphia, June 14, 1901. Mrs. Schoff attended this court. Having 
previously been appointed probation officer she had investigated the condition of 
juvenile criminals in Pennsylvania. She found that the state had two reforma- 
tories, one in the western and one in the eastern part of the state. There was 
also a reformatory for boys over sixteen years of age, at Huntington, Pennsylvania. 



404 Part Taken by Women in American History 

She found, in the two reformatories, sixteen hundred children comprising waifs, 
homeless little ones and children accused of the most serious crimes. Men and 
women contracting second marriages made use of this opportunity to get rid of 
their existing families and the children, innocent and helpless, were sent to asso- 
ciate with boys and girls of sixteen and eighteen years. Little children were tried 
in the criminal courts, kept waiting in the cages for criminals, which also housed 
men and women steeped in crime. There are five hundred children ranging in age 
from six to sixteen years of age in the Philadelphia County prison, and the same 
thing existed in every county in the state. There were from two to three hundred 
children passing through the station houses every month and these were at the 
mercy of the presiding judge. 

Mrs. Schoff appealed to the New Century Club of Philadelphia, presenting 
the facts she had gathered, which naturally shocked every member of the club. 
They made haste to organize committees and to urge further investigation as to 
the conditions affecting children in Philadelphia. Patterning after other states, 
they succeeded in securing a juvenile court with its merciful provisions and its 
just judge. While absorbed in this work, Mrs. Schoff became enthusiastic in her 
work for the betterment of all minors, whether they belonged to the criminal or 
other classes who were likely to be subjected to demoralizing influences. It would 
make a volume to describe the work of Mrs. Schoff and her associates. They 
applied to the National Congress for material and information and made such a 
thorough investigation of existing laws and the policy of the government and the 
practice of the courts that the president of the United States heartily approved of 
the work that had been done. Following this action Mrs. Schoff applied to the 
National Congress of Mothers to take up this as a special work, believing that the 
active interest of every auxiliary of the National Congress of Mothers in every 
community would accomplish more by educating the parents and looking after the 
children than could be done in any other way. 

The present officers of the National Organization are: 

Mrs. Frederic Schoff, president. 
Mrs. Arthur A. Birney, secretary. 
Mrs. W. B. Ferguson, treasurer. 

Vice-presidents : 

Mrs. David O. Mears. 
Mrs. Orville T. Bright. 
Mrs. Fred T. Dubois. 
Mrs. Edwin R. Weeks. 
Mrs. Ray Rushton. 

Historian: 

Mrs. E. A. Tuttle. 
Recording secretary: 

Mrs. James S. Bolton. 

These ladies, together with the following list of active members of the 
organization, have done prodigious work in every state in the Union. Mrs. 



^ <J Women from the Time of Mary Washington 405 

William T. Carter, of Philadelphia; Mrs. Joseph P. Mumford, of Philadelphia; 
Mrs. William J. Thacher, of New Jersey; Mrs. Frank De Garmo, of St. Louis; 
Mrs. B. H. Stapleton, of Mississippi and Miss Sophie B. Wright, of New Orleans. 
There are many more noble women all over the country, who deserve mention as 
earnest, effective workers in this holy cause, whom the editor must omit for want 
of space in this volume. 

Mrs. Schoff has been the inspiration of the vital reforms which have been 
achieved through her leadership and marvelous executive ability. 

MRS. S. J. WRIGHT. 
President Texas Federation of Women's Clubs 1909-1911. 

Mrs. Samuel Johnston Wright (lone Hervey Wright) is descended, through 
her maternal grandmother, from a long line of Anglican clergymen — Lord Bishop 
Hervey of the Court of Henry VIII being the first, descendants of whom coming 
to America and Virginia in the early days of our country, became Presbyterian 
ministers. 

Mrs. Wright — a woman of high ideals and one who works zealously for the 
cause not for self aggrandizement — came to Paris, Texas, in 1883 from Leaven- 
worth, Kansas, as the young bride of Captain S. J. Wright, a member of one of 
the most prominent and influential families of Lamar and Red River Counties, 
and by her gracious manner and charming personality won friends readily, while 
her great administrative ability was early recognized. She was elected president 
of the first Chautauqua Circle organized in Paris, and continued in office for four 
years till graduating from this Circle in 1894. When the Ladies Auxiliary of the 
Young Women's Christian Association was founded Mrs. Wright was unanimously 
made president. She was a charter member of the Lotus Club and has been 
elected to the highest offices within the gift of this club. In 1903, she was the 
Lotus president and when the City Federation was formed was chosen president, 
and by her unfailingly good spirit and agreeable manner of impressing her views, 
soon made this organization effective for the good of her town. She is now an 
honorary member of the Twentieth Century Club and an active member of the 
Quill Club, where only original manuscripts are read and accepted. Not only has 
Mrs. Wright's home town recognized and appreciated her literary and executive 
ability, but she has been appointed by several of the state presidents on various 
important committees, as well as elected to different offices of the State Federation. 
While a member of the Art Committee during Mrs. Pennybacker's presidency, she 
gave public art lectures at the different ward schools and aroused great interest 
in the pictures of the Traveling Art Gallery. As chairman of the Art Committee 
under Mrs. E. P. Turner she visited by invitation, the adjoining towns, giving 
lectures on art and creating a widespread interest in the pictures sent out by the 
Federation. Mrs. Wright gave great impetus to the work of the third district as 
its president during Mrs. Cone Johnson's administration, and originated in her 
district the Educational Loan Fund which has so materially aided ambitious young 
girls. She did effective work as first vice-president with Mrs. Dibrell as president. 



406 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Mrs. Wright's varied club experience makes her a strong and most accept- 
able state president, who keeps in close touch with all the work and advances all 
good movements. Her address, always dignified and imposing, is courteous ; though 
reserved she is approachable; she is found always in sympathy with every phase 
of the work which tends to the education, elevation and greater happiness of all 
mankind. 

The impetus given all branches of Federation endeavor during her adminis- 
tration has been evidenced by the large attendance at the district meetings, the 
excellent reports rendered and the number of new clubs applying for admittance. 
Mrs. Wright was the first state president to give special attention to the moral 
and physical welfare of children. In her open letter to club women announcing 
her candidacy she said : 

"This is the century of the child, and thinking, active women are making 
ihis more true each succeeding year. What we club women have accomplished 
along educational lines needs no reviewing here; our work is fostering manual 
and industrial training in the public schools, and for the founding of free kinder- 
gartens throughout the state ; our aid in the passage of the Juvenile Court Bill, 
and in the establishment of an Industrial Training School for Incorrigibles — all 
of these demonstrate our lines of action favoring the mental, manual and spiritual 
training of the child. Our fine record made in the cause of parks and school 
grounds proves our desire for the physical welfare of the child. But we do more. 
Therefore, club women of Texas, while my plan for the direction of our efforts 
during the next administration, would, of course, include the accomplishment of 
any work outlined by preceding administrations and as yet uncompleted, it would 
also include special endeavor as is the visible outgrowth of what has already been 
undertaken and which is essential to the highest ideals of our organization — to 
my mind this directs us to the spread of the gospel of moral and physical training 
for the child." 

At the district meetings all her addresses were on the subject "Present 
Purposes of the Texas Federation," varying it as the needs of each seemed to 
require, but always bringing out the thought that her administration stands not 
only for the perfect and symmetrical education of the child, which means develop- 
ment of brain, hand and heart, but also for social development through the social 
centre movement, which constitutes the one decidedly new Federation issue for 
1909-1911. This movement proposes that the schoolhouse, especially in rural dis- 
tricts, be used as a social centre, becoming the club house, the library, the forum of 
the community, thus assembling together many of those otherwise isolated, or with 
no recreative horizon. 

Mrs. Wright's administration will be remembered as the one which, through 
its influence was successful in the passing of an adequate "Child Labor Law" for 
Texas. Mrs. Wright declares, however, that child idleness is as great a menace 
to civilization as is Child Labor, and the Federation is now working toward an 
optional compulsory educational law, the same embodying the industrial feature, 
as under present conditions in Texas is the only solution of the question. 

Her administration has endorsed the Willacy Bill introduced into the senate 
at the recent legislature, which requires that convicts' dependent families be pro- 
vided for out of the proceeds of their labor. 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 407 

AMELIA STONE QUINTON. 

Was born near Syracuse, New York, of English ancestry and directly des- 
cended from both Pilgrims and Puritan New England stock. Her father was 
Jacob Thompson Stone, and her mother Mary Bennett Stone. In the early days 
her family was intermarried with the Adams family and the son of one was the 
father of Samuel Adams ; another member was aunt to John Adams, the second 
president of the United States and a great-aunt to John Quincy Adams, sixth 
president. Mrs. Quinton's early education was acquired in one of the female 
seminaries of that time. She spent a year as a teacher in a Georgia Seminary, 
after which she became the wife of the Rev. James F. Swanson, a Christian Min- 
ister of that state, whose death occurred within a few years. After this Mrs. 
Swanson returned north and taught at a female seminary in Philadelphia. During 
this time she turned to religious and philanthropic work, to which she gave some 
valuable years. Her first service in this work was among the poor and degraded 
of New York City. One day of the week she spent in the prison, one in the 
almshouse, and another in some infirmary or reformatory for women. One serv- 
ice was a weekly Bible class for sailors on shore. Very soon she was invited to 
go out and represent the Woman's Christian Temperance Union to organize unions 
and later was elected by the State Woman's Christian Temperance Union as a 
state organizer. While on a tour in Europe for her health and a rest from her 
labors, she met Professor Richard Quinton, a native of London and lecturer on 
historical and astronomical subjects in the institutions of that city. They were 
married and continued to reside in London for some time. In 1878 they came to 
America, where Professor Quinton resumed his work, lecturing in Philadelphia, 
which now became their home. In April, 1879, her friend, Miss Mary L. Bonney, 
became deeply stirred on the subject of national wrongs to the Indians and enlisted 
the interest of Mrs. Quinton in this work. Mrs. Quinton had had such large 
experience in Christian work that she knew how to bring a cause before the 
people. Miss Bonney agreed to supply the means if Mrs. Quinton would plan 
and work as the way was opened. She studied up the subject in the libraries, pre- 
pared literature and petitions, which she circulated, securing many sympathizers 
and helpers throughout the United States. The first petition, an enormous roll 
three hundred feet long, was presented to the Congress of the United States in 
February, 1880. A society was formed, Miss Bonney was elected president, and 
the constitution was written by Mrs. Quinton. An executive board was elected, 
nominated at her request, by pastors of churches, and it became the Indian Treaty- 
Keeping and Protective Association. Before the end of the year, Mrs. Quinton 
had secured thirteen associate organizations in five different states. To-day, the 
Association, now the Woman's National Indian Association, has branches, officers 
or helpers, in forty states of the Union and more than twenty missions in Indian 
tribes have been established, and during 1891, missionary work was done in fifteen 
tribes. In 1884, when Miss Bonney retired from the presidency of the association, 
Mrs. Mary Lowe Dickinson was elected to that office, which she held for three 
years, when Mrs. Quinton was unanimously elected president of this association. 
On one of her tours through the United States, she bore a government commis- 
sion and did service in behalf of Indian education. 



408 Part Taken by Women in American History 



GRACE WILBUR TROUT. 

Mrs. Trout was born and educated in Maquoketa, Iowa. Discerning early 
that certain qualities of voice made her especially fitted for platform speaking, she 
specialized in that form of study. Her father drilled her, and often said to her, 
"When you talk, say something." Instead of entering the profession for which 
she had been prepared, she married George W. Trout, and a few years later they 
moved to Chicago. Not long afterwards, Mrs. Trout became interested in the 
Mormon question, writing a story entitled "The Mormon Wife," which received 
great commendation. Mrs. Trout was at one time president of the Ladies' Auxiliary 
of the National Club; member of the West End Women's Club; president of the 
Women's Auxiliary of the Oak Park Club; member of the Nineteenth Century 
Club of Oak Park; member of the Chicago Women's Club for ten years, and mem- 
ber of the Chicago Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Is 
president of the largest Equal Suffrage League in Illinois. She is one of the 
well-known speakers on the subject of equal suffrage in the Middle West, being 
thoroughly informed on her subject. Filled with the enthusiasm of it, she pre- 
sents her theme in a masterly shape. 

MRS. NETTIE RANSFORD. 

Mrs. Nettie Ransford was born November 6, 1838, in Little Falls, New 
York. In 1808 she was General Grand Matron of the Masonic Order of the 
Eastern Star. This order is an organization of the wives and daughters of Masons 
and affiliates in their charitable work. Her parents were from Scotland. After 
graduating in 1857 she settled in Nebraska and taught school in Omaha and Fort 
Calhoun, here, in 1858, she married William T. Ransford, and in 1862 they moved 
to Laporte, Indiana. She was one of the first women who joined the Order of 
the Eastern Star, soon after that order was organized in 1872. She was elected 
Worthy Matron in 1874 and re-elected several times. In 1879 she was elected 
Grand Matron, being re-elected to this office several times. She was elected Most 
Worthy General Grand Matron in the sessions of the General Grand Chapter 
held in Indianapolis in 1879, and was the first General Grand Matron to serve 
under the changed constitution. Her duties are such that she has traveled through- 
out the entire General Grand Jurisdiction and has distinguished herself in ways 
which can only be appreciated and understood by members of this order. 

ELIZA HARRIS LAWTON BARKER. 

Eliza Harris Lawton Barker, daughter of Moses Turner Lawton and Eliza- 
beth Tillinghast Lawton, was married on October 9, 1873, to Hon. Richard Jack- 
son Barker, a distinguished ex-union officer. Mrs. Barker is a direct descendant 
of Admiral George Lawton of the Royal Navy, belonging to one of the oldest 
families of Rhode Island, which was established by George and Thomas Lawton 
at Portsmouth. 

Mrs. Barker completed her education at Vassar College, and probably is the 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 409 

best known woman in Rhode Island in educational and literary circles. She has 
always been deeply interested in the public school system and was elected twenty- 
five years ago a member of the school committee of the town of Tiverton. For 
sixteen years she has been chairman of the school board. She has been historian 
of the Colonial Dames of Rhode Island, she is an active member of the Daughters 
of the American Revolution and has been vice-president general of the National 
Society, to which exalted office she was elected by a large majority at the National 
Congress of the Daughters of the American Revolution, which was held at Wash- 
ington, D. C, in April, 1906. 

Fourteen years previous she had been an active officer of Gaspee Chapter of 
Providence, resigning the office of regent to accept the one to which she had been 
elected. The Gaspee Chapter presented her with a beautiful silver-mounted gavel 
made from wood taken from the old Gaspee room. She is honorary state regent 
of Rhode Island and has been made an honorary member of several Rhode Island 
and Massachusetts Chapters. 

In the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, she 
has filled many prominent places, at one time being chairman of the Magazine 
Committee, chairman of the Purchasing Committee, a member of the Auditing 
Committee, member of the Continental Hall Committee, member of the Jamestown 
Committee, chairman for New England of the Daughters of the American Revolu- 
tion Exhibit at the Jamestown Exposition. Mrs. Barker was honored by her state 
by being made hostess at the Rhode Island State Building by the Commissioners 
of Rhode Island at the Jamestown, Virginia, Exposition. 

For four years she was state historian of the Daughters of the American 
Revolution and was thirteen years chairman of the Gaspee Prize Committee. She 
is state regent of the Pocahontas Memorial Association and vice-president of the 
Rhode Island Institute of Instruction. She was one of the chairmen of the Rhode 
Island Sanitary Relief Association during the Spanish War; was one of the 
women commissioners of Rhode Island at the Atlanta Exposition. 

Among the other various important positions held by Mrs. Barker, she has 
been a member of the Board of the Woman's College, Brown University, ever 
since it was founded, vice-president of the Woman's Board of the Union Hospital, 
secretary of the 13th Congressional District George Washington Memorial Com- 
mittee. She has been for years actively interested in hospital and other benevo- 
lences of Fall River and Tiverton, Rhode Island. She has been especially interested 
in patriotic education in the public schools and has taken a very active part in 
every progressive movement in the line of education. She is an exceptional 
speaker and presiding officer, wields a gifted pen and exercises an incomparable 
influence for human welfare and progress. 

Mrs. Barker is President for Rhode Island of Women's Rivers and Harbors 
Congress of the United States. 

MRS. CHARLOTTE P. ACER BARNUM. 

Mrs. Charlotte P. Acer Barnum was born in Shelley Center, Orleans County, 
New York, in 1865, January 8. Her father was Volney Acer, who was born 



410 Part Taken by Women in American History 

in Pittsford, Monroe County, New York, and her mother Charlotte Clark Peck, 
who was born in Tallmadge, Summit County, Ohio. Her mother's ancestors all 
came from New England, where they had lived for generations. Her father's 
family settled in Pittsford (7 miles from Rochester) in 1790, and the original farm 
on which her great-grandfather settled is still in the possession of the family. The 
Acers were originally from Holland but her great-grandmother was Dorothy 
Adams, a kin to John, John Quincy and Samuel, as well as to Judge Otis and 
other early New England settlers. 

Mrs. Barnum was graduated from Vassar College in 1886. Since that time 
she has studied abroad in France and Germany and has done research work in 
Boston and New York. In 1893 she came to live in Pittsford, her father's old 
home, where she was married in June, 1907, to Nathaniel C. Barnum, whose ances- 
tors settled in Rochester in 1794. 

Mrs. Barnum was for four years secretary of the National Vassar Students' 
Aid Society and was for ten years the president of the Rochester Branch of the 
Vassar Students' Aid Society. At present she is treasurer of the Century Club of 
Rochester, chairman of the committee of the state of New York of the Society 
of School Patrons of the National Education Association, and on the executive 
committee of the Society of School Patrons of the National Education Associa- 
tion, representing on the executive committee the Association of Collegiate 
Alumnae. 

MRS. ELIZABETH LANGWORTHY. 

Mrs. Elizabeth Langworthy was born in October, 1837, in Orleans County, 
New York. Her father was one of the heirs of the Trinity Church property in 
New York. Her mother was descended from a prominent French family. In 1858 
she became the wife of Stephen Langworthy of Dubuque, Iowa, whose parents 
were among the early pioneers of that state. In 1861 Mr. and Mrs. Langworthy 
made their home in Monticello, Iowa, and here she was instrumental in founding 
the public library of that city. Later, in the city of Seward, Nebraska, where their 
home was established, she served as president of many societies for local improve- 
ment and also of the Seward History and Art Club, and it was through her sug- 
gestion and instrumentality as a member of the Board of Lady Managers of the 
World's Columbian Exposition, that the hammer was presented to Mrs. Potter 
Palmer, then president, with which she drove the last nail in the Woman's Build- 
ing. Mrs. Langworthy raised the fund for this purpose. 

ELIZABETH F. PIERCE. 

Miss Pierce is the daughter of the late Charles W. Pierce, a business man 
of Boston, and a niece of Mrs. J. Ellen Horton Foster, and was born in Boston, 
Massachusetts. She is noted in her native city for her earnest religious and philan- 
thropic work, especially in the Foreign and Home Missionary Societies of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. After the death of her father, she and her mother, 
Mrs. Foster's sister, removed to Washington. Miss Pierce immediately identified 
herself with her church, and its wonderful work along many lines. She has been 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 41 1 

most active as a member of missionary societies, the Daughters of the American 
Revolution and other patriotic associations. She was elected recording secretary- 
general of the Daughters of the American Revolution, serving as such until 191 1, 
when she was elected chaplain general of that great order. 

CATHERINE NOBLES. 

Born in New Orleans, Louisiana. Her father, Charles H. Nobles, was a 
native of Providence, R. I., who moved to New Orleans in early life. Her father 
was one of the founders of the Howard Association of New Orleans. Was an 
officer of that body until his death. Mr. Nobles had rendered valuable assistance 
in the various epidemics that fell upon New Orleans from 1837-1867. Miss Nobles 
has been prominent in club life in New Orleans and became widely known as a 
club woman ; she served as secretary of the Woman's Club of New Orleans and 
the Woman's League of Louisiana. In 1892 at a meeting of the General Federa- 
tion of Woman's Clubs of the United States, held in Chicago, Miss Nobles was 
elected one of the board of directors. 

MRS. HERMAN J. HALL. 

Was born in Oneida County, New York, educated in Buffao, New York. 
Spent much time in travel and study of the history of art. Has made a specialty 
of Pagan and Christian Symbolism in art and lectures upon these subjects. Founded 
the League for Civic Improvement and the Art Study Club in 1888, and which 
now numbers nearly six hundred, the largest of its kind in America. Ex-president 
of the Woman's Auxiliary and ex-second vice-president, American Outdoor Art 
League. Ex-chairman Art Committee General Federation Woman's Clubs for 
first four years of Art Department. Ex-chairman Art Committee Illinois Federa- 
tion, Woman's Club. Ex-chairman local Exhibition Committee Municipal Art 
League at Art Institute, Chicago. Honorary member Chicago Outdoor Art League ; 
also Outdoor Art League of San Francisco and founder of the Outdoor Art 
League of Los Angeles. Member Audubon Park Board, New Orleans, La. Author 
of "Two Women Abroad" and contributor to various magazines. Most of the 
work done by Mrs. Hall in the organizing of these various clubs and associations 
was pioneer work. Her lectures are upon the travels and studies which she has 
made in the various countries which are subjects of her lectures. She has made 
a most exhaustive study of the architecture, sculpture, metal work, paintings and 
prints, porcelains and pottery, textiles, landscape art and flower cult of Japan and 
China; also the history, agriculture, life and arts of Russia, Spain and other 
European countries. 

MINONA STEARNS FITTS JONES. 

Mrs. Jones was born in Abington, Mass., July 5, 1855, of New England 
ancestry. Her ancestors settled Walpole, Wrentham and Mansfield, Mass. She 
is the daughter of Dr. I. H. Stearns and Catherine M. Guild Stearns. Attended 



412 Part Taken by Women in American History 



the New England public schools ; New Vineyard, Maine, and Oak Grove Seminary, 
Vassalboro, Maine, finishing her education at Milwaukee Female College. She 
studied medicine and assisted her father, Dr. Stearns, in the Milwaukee National 
Soldiers' Home where he was surgeon. Married Robert C. Fitts, of Leverett, 
Mass., at Milwaukee, on December 6, 1879. She engaged in business in Milwau- 
kee for six years. She became interested in politics through the street-car strike 
in Milwaukee in 1896, and was the only woman writer and speaker for the strikers 
and became converted to woman suffrage at that time and spoke for the populists 
in their campaign in Wisconsin. 

Upon the discovery of rich deposits of mica in Park and Fremont Counties, 
Colorado, by her son, Roy Fields Fitts, Mrs. Fitts visited Colorado and bought 
the mines and milling property and began the mining of mica, assisted by her 
son, who was a boy of eighteen years. Mrs. Fitts returned to Chicago and organ- 
ized the United States Mica Mining and Milling Company, and was elected 
secretary and treasurer of same, which position she held for six years. Mrs. 
Fitts married for the second time, Senator Frank W. Jones, of Massachusetts. 
May 29, 1905. Mrs. Fitts Jones founded the "No Vote No Tax" League of 
Illinois. This league was established for the purpose of bringing together all 
who would refuse to pay taxes until they could vote — since "Taxation without 
representation is tyranny." Mrs. Fitts Jones is one of the incorporators of the 
"Public Policy League" of Illinois, and also incorporated the National Race Better- 
ment League, and was elected the first president of this world-wide movement for 
race betterment. 

LUCY GASTON PAGE. 

Miss Page, the founder of the Anti-Cigarette League of America, was well 
known in Chicago club life and philanthropy, where she founded, several years 
ago, this work which she carried to New York City, where some of the leading 
citizens of that metropolis are co-operating with her. We know of no greater 
field of usefulness or benefit to the human race of the future than the work done 
by this organization. Investigations on this subject have been started by the 
interest developed by this organization in many states. The Sage Foundation 
experts have taken it up in the New York public schools ; the Big Brother Move- 
ment has also become interested in the importance of this work. It is rapidly 
commanding the attention of sociologists and philanthropic and home economic 
workers throughout the country. 

LUCINDA H. STONE. 

Mrs. Lucinda H. Stone was born in Hinesburg, Vermont, in 1814. Her 
maiden name was Lucinda Hinesburg. She has always been active in educa- 
tional work, has founded many women's libraries and has been often called the 
"Mother of Women's Clubs of the State of Michigan" ; taught in several of the 
well-known educational institutions in that state. In 1840 she became the wife 
of Dr. J. A. B. Stone, also a teacher. In 1843 they took up their residence in 
Kalamazoo, Michigan, where Dr. Stone was president of the Kalamazoo College 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 413 

for twenty years. The female department of this institution was under Mrs. 
Stone's charge for many years. Before the war, Mrs. Stone's home was the 
resort of the abolitionist and equal suffrage leaders. In 1864 Mrs. Stone gave 
up her educational work and devoted her time to the organizing of women's clubs 
and societies for the education of women. Mrs. Stone was the first woman to 
use her influence toward the admitting of women to the University of Michigan, 
and for the work which she did in this direction, the University of Michigan, in 
1891, conferred upon her the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. 



CAROLINE M. SEYMOUR SEVERANCE. 
By Mrs. John A. Logan. 

Mrs. Severance was born in Canandaigua, New York, in 
January, 1820. She is the daughter of Orson Seymour, a 
banker of that place. Her mother was Caroline M. Clarke 
Seymour, who must have been a devoted and wise mother to 
have reared a daughter of such rare genius as Mrs. Severance. 
January 12, 1840, Miss Seymour became the wife of Theodoric 
C. Severance, a banker of Cleveland, Ohio, to which place Mr. 
Severance took his bride and established their first home. Their 
five children were born there, their mother devoting her entire 
time to her husband and children; it was an ideal American 
home. Mrs. Severance, meanwhile, kept abreast with the 
progress of the times. Her native talent, active mind and 
accomplishments made her an authority on the ethics of 
society. In 1853 she was chosen to give a lecture before the 
"Mercantile Library Association," the first woman to deliver 
a lecture before such an association. Her topic was 
"Humanity; a Definition and a Plea." She made such a bril- 
liant accomplishment that she was obliged to deliver it in many 
places in the state. "The Woman's Rights Association," of 
Ohio, prevailed upon Mrs. Severance to arrange the lecture in 
the form of a tract to be distributed throughout the country. 
Later Mrs. Severance was appointed to present to the legislature 



414 Part Taken by Women in American History 

a memorial "asking suffrage and such amendments to the state 
laws of Ohio, as should place woman on a civil equality with 
man." 

In 1855 Mr. and Mrs. Severance removed to Newton, 
Mass. The women suffragists of New England were delighted 
to welcome so brilliant an advocate for the cause of suffrage as 
Mrs. Severance. She demurred at taking an active part in 
the work the "Woman's Rights Association" was planning to 
inaugurate. She preferred to render such service as she could 
as a member of the committee of the "Theodore Parker 
Fraternity Association," and to aid in securing a woman 
lecturer for the course. She earnestly joined her associates 
in requesting Mrs. Cady Stanton to deliver the course. Mrs. 
Stanton was, however, unable to accept the invitation of the 
committee. Mrs. Severance wrote to Mrs. Stanton long after- 
wards : "I was not able to resist the entreaties of the committee 
and the obligation that I felt myself under to make good your 
place, so far as in me lay." Hence she took upon herself the 
grave responsibility of giving the course of lectures the com- 
mittee considered of vital importance to the cause of woman's 
rights. The initial lecture was the first ever delivered by a 
woman before a Lyceum Association in Boston. Mrs. 
Severance subsequently in writing to Mrs. Stanton tells of 
her emotions while delivering the lecture: "I will not tell you 
how prosy and dull I fear it was ; but I know it was earnest and 
well considered, and that the beaming eyes of dear Mrs. Follen 
and Miss Elizabeth Peabody, glowing with interest before me 
from below the platform of Tremont Temple, kept me in heart 
all through." 

Mrs. Severance is a tall, dignified woman, with a handsome 
face, ever lighted up by her effervescing spirits. Her coun- 
tenance reflects the brilliancy of her rare intelligence, quickness 
of thought, and purity of mind and heart. She possesses 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 415 

remarkable conversational powers, and is a most effective and 
eloquent speaker from the platform. In years gone by she has 
given "soul-service" in many directions, standing as cor- 
responding secretary for the Boston Anti-slavery Society, as 
one of the Board of Managers of the Boston Woman's Hospital, 
and delivering a course of lectures on practical ethics before 
Dio Lewis' school for girls, at Lexington, Mass. These lectures 
cover the relation of the young woman to the school, the state, 
the home and to her own development. 

After long and prayerful thought as to how to best utilize 
"the truth, the goodness, the intelligence of the literary and 
philanthropic women of New England, and the vast benefits 
which she foresaw would flow from such a union," in 1868, 
Mrs. Severance called the sympathetic women together in 
parlor meetings to talk over her ideas. Their meetings resulted 
in "the introduction to the world of a new form of social and 
mental architecture." Mrs. Severance, as founder, "was 
elected president of the first woman's club in our country — the 
New England Woman's Club of Boston," and thereby became 
the "Mother of Clubs" and was the primal force in a movement 
that has become a stupendous factor in our civilization. 

May 30, 1868, in Chickering Hall, the New England 
Woman's Club was introduced to the world. The noble women 
who had perfected this beneficent organization were ably 
assisted and encouraged on that occasion by the addresses of 
Ralph Waldo Emerson, James Freeman Clarke, Jacob Man- 
ning, John Weiss, O. B. Frothingham, Thomas Wentworth 
Higginson, and Bronson Alcott. The speakers for the club were : 
Julia Ward Howe and Mrs. E. D. Cheney, who set forth the 
purposes of the New England Woman's Club so eloquently and 
comprehensively as to win the endorsement and confidence of 
the whole assemblage: First, "to organize the social forces of 
the women of New England" ; to establish "a larger home for 



4i 6 Part Taken by Women in American History 

those who love and labor for the greater human family"; to 
combine "recreation with the pursuit of wisdom"; to provide 
"the comforts of the club to the lonely, in city and suburb," and 
proposed useful work in a registry of women seeking the so- 
called higher occupations, providing rooms for women who 
came to Boston for concerts, operas, and lectures. 

Among the achievements of the New England Woman's 
Club has been the establishment of a Horticultural School for 
women, in which the pupils erected their own greenhouses, 
painted the buildings, etc. It was subsequently merged into 
the "bussey," a department of Harvard. Caused the passage 
of the first school-suffrage law, which permitted women to be 
elected members of the Boston and other school boards. Aided 
by helpers, the club established the New England Hospital for 
women and children, which was officered and managed by 
women, with eminent doctors of the other sex as consulting 
physicians and surgeons. In co-operation with Hon. Josiah 
Quincy, Dr. Bowditch and others, the club joined in the incor- 
poration of a successful Co-operation Building Association, 
which proved a great assistance to the poor, and furnished an 
object lesson to the philanthropists of the whole country. 
Aided by one of its members, "St. Elizabeth" Peabody, the 
club provided scholarships for studious young women and used 
its potent influence to promote higher education for women, 
resulting in the founding of the Girl's Latin School, of Boston. 

The club began the agitation and eventually caused the 
appointment of women police matrons and placed women on 
the boards of all public institutions. Homes of detention for 
women they also secured. 

This club also aided the fund of the Egyptian Exploration 
Society, joined the Archaeological Institute of Greece, and 
abetted the New York Society for the suppression of obscene 
literature and took an active part in the dress-reform movement. 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 417 

The club organized classes in English literature, languages, and 
other higher studies. In 1876, it had classes in political 
economy, and in 1891 formed a ''current topics" class, and 
secured able lecturers on Political Development, Railroad Laws, 
Prohibition Laws, George's "Progress and Poverty," Summer's 
"Obligations of the Social Class," Bryce's "American Com- 
monwealth," Socialism of To-day, Municipal Reform, Rent, 
The Lobby System, The Silver Question, Food Waste, Prison 
Reform, The Responsibility of the Employer and Employed, as 
well as many topics bearing upon the standing of woman and 
her influence in all departments of human activity. Socially, 
the club gave many receptions to distinguished visitors and 
American celebrities, among them : Monsieur Coquerel, Harriet 
Beecher Stowe, Emily Faithful, Mary Carpenter, Lord and 
Lady Amberly, Harriet Hosmer, Anne Whitney, Professor 
Maria Mitchell, Dr. Parsons, the Dante scholar, Professors 
Pierce, Gould, and Fiske and Rev. Dr. Edward Everett Hale. 
Thus it will be seen that "the diversity of activities and of 
sympathy illustrates well the broad purpose and intent of the 
originators of club-life for American women." 

In 1875, Mrs. Severance removed to California with no 
abatement in her devotion to the cause of woman's rights and 
the extension of woman's clubs. She was soon actively engaged 
in the work of organizing woman's rights associations and 
clubs, and has the satisfaction of seeing many flourishing 
societies and clubs. She traveled extensively in her early life. 
Wherever she went, she immediately hunted up persons of note 
who were interested in the dearest object of her life — woman's 
rights. Among her many friends in England were: Mrs. 
Lucas, sister of Jacob and John Bright; Elizabeth Barrett 
Browning, Florence Nightingale, Mrs. Somerville,, Mrs. 
Jameson, Harriet Martineau, Mrs. Cobbe, Charlotte Robinson 
and many others. 
27 



418 Part Taken by Women in American History 

The editor has had the good fortune to know Mrs. Sever- 
ance and to visit her in Los Angeles, California, in her lovely 
home, El Nido, which is full of priceless literary treasures 
and souvenirs of great occasions and honors paid to her as 
"The Mother of Clubs." She has also been christened the 
"Ethical Magnet of Southern California." Many contem- 
porary authors have contributed valuable copies of their books 
suitably inscribed. Arranged in a cabinet are the autographed 
photographs of her distinguished friends and co-workers, whom 
she calls her "immortals," including Mrs. Browning, George 
Eliot, Margaret Fuller, Lydia Maria Childs, Lucy Stone, 
Frances Dana Gage, Caroline H. Dall, Louisa Alcott, Celia 
Burleigh, Ednah D. Cheney, and Lucretia Mott. In a cor- 
responding case, are pictures of Junipero Serra, Wendell 
Phillips, Longfellow, Whittier, James Freeman Clarke, Wil- 
liam H. Channing, Lowell, Samuel Johnson, and Charles 
Sumner. Another rare picture is one of five generations of 
the Severance family in a group. 

Among the most valued are the souvenirs of the cele- 
bration of the silver wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Severance, 
which occurred in 1865. When her literary friends and 
admirers journeyed from the Middle West and every part of 
the country to Boston, Mass., to participate in the festivities 
of the felicitous occasion, they brought tributes of affection in 
poetry and prose. Of the number, such illustrious names 
appear, as Isabella Beecher Hooker, Dr. and Mrs. Dio Lewis, 
Mattie Griffith, Albert G. Browne, Mrs. Satterlee, Mr. and Mrs. 
Henry Ivinson (sister of Mrs. Severance), the Burrage family 
of Boston and a host of others. While the letters of regret 
bore the signatures of such immortals as George Bradburn, 
Harriet Minot Pitman, James Freeman Clarke and Mrs. 
Clarke, William Lloyd and Frank Garrison, Dr. Marie Zakr- 
zewska, Rev. Zachos, William H. Avery, Salmon P. Chase, 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 419 

Theodore Tilton, Grace Greenwood, Truman Seymour, James 
F. Hall, George Wm. Curtis, Anna Q. T. Parsons, W. W. 
Story (the artist), General and Mrs. Fremont, Miss Fremont, 
Lieutenant Frank Fremont and George B. Grinnell. 

Mrs. Severance's "Ye Geste Book" is a rare volume, con- 
taining innumerable names of those who have paid their 
respects to this remarkable woman. John W. Hutchinson and 
his wife, with a record of "fifty-eight years old, thirty-nine 
years singing and ten thousand concerts," made a visit to Mrs. 
Severance. Ludlow Patten and wife (nee Abby Hutchinson), 
Henry M. Field and wife, Helen Hunt Jackson, Captain R. H. 
Pratt, J. Wells Champney and wife, William J. Rotch, Locke 
Richardson, Charles Dudley Warner, George W. Cable, Eliza- 
beth B. Custer (widow of General Custer), J. W. Chadwick 
and wife, John W. Hoyt and wife, Mary A. Livermore, Lucy 
Stone, Elizabeth Cady Stanton (written in her eighty-seventh 
year), Rev. William Milburn (the blind chaplain of the 
Senate), Mrs. A. D. T. Whitney, Edward Everett Hale, Miss 
Susan Hale, Charlotte Perkins Stetson, Grace Ellery Channing, 
Rev. J. Minot Savage, Kate Sanborn, Cordelia Kirkland, Ida 
Coolbrith, Susan B. Anthony, Carrie Chapman Catt, Mrs. E. 
O. Smith, "Vivekananda," (who wrote, "From the unreal, lead 
me to the real — from the darkness into light"), Mrs. J. S. 
Langrana, of Poona, India; Miss Florence Denton, of Kyoto, 
Japan; Jan Krigo, of Transvaal, South Africa; Henry De- 
marest Lloyd, who prefaced his autograph with "We can 
preserve the liberties we have inherited only by winning new 
ones to bequeath." 

Rich beyond compare in experiences which make life 
worth the living, and the fullness of years of well-doing for all 
mankind, Mrs. Severance is one of the noblest types of Amer- 
ican womanhood. Fascinated by the external youthfulness of 
her spirits and charming personality, one realizes that age 
cannot wither. 



420 Part Taken by Women in American History 



M. ELEANOR BRACKENRIDGE. 

An educational movement coincident with the wonderful awakening of women 
to a sense of their responsibilities characterized the last decade of the last and the 
first decade of the present century. A conspicuous leader in this movement, Miss 
M. Eleanor Brackenridge, of San Antonio, Texas, was a graduate of Anderson's 
Female Seminary, New Albany, Indiana, Class of 1855. Her girlhood was spent in 
Jackson County, Texas, where she devoted her energies to ministering to family 
and friends, even studying medicine and applying remedies for the diseases incident 
to a new country with much sickness and few physicians. With a burning desire 
to be helpful to humanity, it was not until 1898 when a club progressive in educa- 
tion and altruistic in scope was planned in San Antonio, that she found her 
opportunity as president, organizer and leader along her chosen line of work. 
Her enthusiasm and earnest zeal won the loyal support of her co-workers, to whom 
she insists the honor of the success of the first department club of Texas belongs. 
She served as regent for the first seven years of the State College of Industrial 
Arts for Women, and has served on state and national educational committees 
of women's clubs, Daughters of the American Revolution and Mothers' Congress. 
She has educated from three to seven girls yearly in the all-round education, the 
higher education, or in the profession of medicine. Her interest in humanity 
naturally makes her an ardent advocate of woman suffrage. With a keen realiza- 
tion of the possibilities of organized womanhood, in a quiet way she has started 
movements that are far-reaching in their results. A modest, home-loving, con- 
servative, but progressive in thought, she has used her wealth, social position and 
even accepted offices to encourage the organization of women for the betterment 
of humanity. 

MRS. SARAH PLATT DECKER. 

One of the most distinguished clubwomen of the country is Mrs. Sarah Piatt 
Decker, of Denver, Colorado. Mrs. Decker has been very active in the work of 
the societies to which she belongs, giving her time and strength to the work these 
clubs have undertaken. She was for some time president of the Woman's Club of 
Denver, and is considered an authority on the best methods for civic improvement. 
She has been vice-president and president of the National Federation of Clubs. 
Her exceptional talent and wonderful executive ability contribute largely to the 
success of the various clubs of which she is a member. 

HELEN VARICK BOSWELL. 

Miss Helen Varick Boswell is a Baltimorean, and although, for some years, 
has been an active worker in the political and later in the industrial and social 
work taken up by the New York State Federation of Women's Clubs, she is prob- 
ably to-day best known as the woman selected by President Taft and sent by 
the United States Government to Panama to look into the social conditions there, 
and as having founded eight women's clubs on the zone, which are federated 
and are known as the "Canal Zone Federation of Women's Clubs." This creating 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 421 

of social life through united club effort was much needed in the zone, and it 
brought the women together and helped to make the history of that place. When 
Mr. Taft last visited the zone and was the guest of the women's clubs, he was 
emphatic in his statement that they had been a strong factor in the progress of 
the work, for they had helped to keep all the people contented, and have done 
much for the civic betterment of the small communities in which they are at 
present placed. 

Miss Boswell devotes much of her time to the women's department of the 
Federation and General Federation of Women's Clubs; is chairman of the Indus- 
trial and Social Conditions department of that organization. Among the subjects 
discussed in her lectures and talks before the public in the interest of her work, 
are : "Social and Political Progress of American Women," "Society and the 
Criminal," "The Club Woman as a Molder of Public Opinion," "Everyday Life 
on the Canal Zone." 

Miss Boswell comes of Revolutionary ancestors, is prominent in the Daugh- 
ters of the American Revolution, and is well known in the social and official life 
of Washington and New York. 

The National Society Daughters of the 
American Revolution. 

Introduction by Mrs. Donald McLean. 

Just twenty-one years ago, in 1890, was organized a 
national society of women, whose purpose was patriotism and 
whose deeds now speak for them. To paraphrase the resolution 
presented for action to and by the Continental Congress, when 
the flag of our nation was created: "A new constellation was 
born," in woman's universe, and the stars sing together as they 
course through an approving heaven. Upon August 9th, 1890, 
was held the first organizing meeting of the National Society 
Daughters of the American Revolution. Three women were 
actually present, and these women, Miss Eugenia Washington 
(great-niece of General Washington), Mrs. Ellen Hardin Wal- 
worth, and Miss Mary Desha, have since been known as the 
"founders" of the society. A final meeting to complete 
organization was held October, 1890, and thereafter the society 
was an accomplished fact. The necessary eligibility to mem- 



422 Part Taken by Women in American History 

bership consists in direct descent from an ancestor — man or 
woman — who rendered "material aid" in establishing the inde- 
pendence of the republic. This ancestor may have been a 
commanding officer, or an humble private with true and proper 
American spirit. Rank, as such, has no influence in determining 
the eligibility of an applicant, but genealogical claims must be 
thoroughly proven, and an applicant must be acceptable to the 
society. As to the raison d'etre of the organization, the con- 
stitution states that the objects of this society are: 

(i). To perpetuate the memory of the spirit of the men 
and women who achieved American independence by the acqui- 
sition and protection of historical spots, and the erection of 
monuments; by the encouragement of historical research in 
relation to the Revolution and the publication of its results; by 
the preservation of documents and relics, and of the records of 
the individual services of revolutionary soldiers and patriots, 
and by the promotion of the celebration of all patriotic anni- 
versaries. 

(2). To carry out the injunction of Washington in his 
farewell address to the American people, "to promote, as an 
object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffu- 
sion of knowledge," thus developing an enlightened public 
opinion, and affording to young and old such advantages as 
shall develop in them the largest capacity for performing the 
duties of American citizens. 

(3). To cherish, maintain, and extend the institutions of 
American freedom, to foster true patriotism and love of coun- 
try, and to aid in securing for mankind all the blessings of 
liberty. 

As a practical demonstration of patriotism, as a central 
crystallization of concrete accomplishment, Memorial Conti- 
nental Hall stands the pre-eminent work of this society. 
Women conceived the idea and have carried into execution the 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 423 

rearing of a memorial such as the world has never heretofore 
beheld. A temple to liberty, a mausoleum of memory, and, 
withal, a building wherein the Daughters of the American Re- 
volution may gather officially for the transaction of business. 
The society has grown in its twenty-one years of existence, 
from the three members in attendance at the first meeting to 
a present membership of eighty thousand. Who could have 
foreseen such a phenomena of patriotism? Hence the necessity 
for business offices in addition to a revolutionary memorial. 
Continental Hall is the trunk from which spring all branches 
of sentiment and of active work. It is built of white marble 
and in pure colonial type; it is situated in Washington, the 
nation's Capital, and is adjacent to the White House and the 
Washington Monument; its cost, including the land, was half 
a million dollars; it stands now complete, without and within. 
The most notable feature of the exterior is the "memorial por- 
tico," looking southward down the Potomac; it is semi-circular 
in shape, and its roof is supported by thirteen monolithic col- 
umns memorializing the thirteen original states. The notable 
feature of the interior is the auditorium, seating two thousand ; 
its walls finished in highly ornate colonial decoration and its 
roof of translucent glass, in medallion designs, harmonizing 
with the mural ornamentation. There is a fireproof museum 
for revolutionary relics, documentary and otherwise, upon one 
side of the auditorium; upon the other is a library containing 
volumes chiefly pertaining to historical and genealogical re- 
search. Thus it would seem that Memorial Continental Hall, 
in itself, is the fulfillment of the first clause of the constitution- 
ally stated "objects of the society". Had the National Society 
Daughters of the American Revolution achieved naught else, 
the erection of such a monument would justify the existence of 
the organization and shed lustre upon it. But the society is 
engaging in other and important activities throughout the 
country. 



424 Part Taken by Women in American History 

"To promote the general diffusion of knowledge" a 
national committee on patriotic education exists. This commit- 
tee is broad in scope ; it deals with the incoming immigrant and 
with the native mountaineer; it teaches by lecture and by 
literature; it encourages scholarships; it presents flags 
(through the flag teaching the nation's history in one glorious 
demonstration). Connected with the committees on patriotic 
education is the "interchangeable Bureau" for the lectures, 
with slides illustrating the subject-matter. Frequently these 
lectures are delivered in various languages to meet the need 
of the lately landed immigrant. There is an interchange of 
these lectures from the chairman as fountain-head, throughout 
all the states. Besides such work, scholarships in perpetuity 
have been established in certain colleges for women. These 
scholarships insure a living monument to patriotic educational 
attainment. One student after another shall reap the benefit, 
so long as the college endures, and specializing in American 
history, as the student does, sends out into the world a force of 
wider and yet wider dominance, through which knowledge is 
distributed and the ideals of our formative period preserved, 
while practical results are obtained for the student, who is thus 
fitted to teach and become self-supporting. From Continental 
Hall, too, will emanate the true spirit of the "diffusion of 
knowledge" for lectures on American History will be delivered 
in its auditorium to the general public. "The acquisition and 
protection of historical spots" has not been neglected by the 
society. In many localities throughout the country are valuable 
properties, replete with revolutionary and historic associations, 
owned or cared for by the Daughters of the American Revo- 
lution. Sites of battles are marked by boulders and by 
monuments ; historic events are recorded by tablets on the walls 
of churches, courthouses and other buildings; libraries are 
provided for, the army and navy, and Red Cross nurses have 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 425 

been sent to the front. A national committee on Child Labor 
exists and the fruits of its energies are rapidly maturing into 
beneficent reforms. The Daughters of the American Revolution 
have been especially interested and active in the propagation of 
International Peace Arbitration. The society took action in its 
Congress of 1907 looking toward the encouragement of such 
work, and sent a memorial stating its action to the International 
Peace Congress being held in New York at the same time. 
Also, Continental Hall was offered to President Roosevelt for 
the use of the Japanese-Russian Peace Commission assembled in 
this country at the President's invitation. 

By all these means and many more, does the National 
Society Daughters of the American Revolution consider that it 
is fostering "true patriotism and love of country." That the 
Government of the United States so regards the work of the 
organization is argued, in that such Government recognizes the 
society in the official printing of the latter's annual reports, and 
the dissemination of them through the Smithsonian Institute. 

The first president-general of the National Society 
Daughters of the American Revolution was Mrs. Benjamin 
Harrison ; she has been succeeded by Mrs. Adlai E. Stevenson. 
Mrs. John W. Foster, Mrs. Daniel T. Manning, Mrs. Charles 
W. Fairbanks, Mrs. Donald McLean and Mrs. Matthew T. 
Scott. 

A Word by the President-General D. A. R. 

"The Wilds," 
Charlevoix, Mich., July i, 191 1. 
My Dear Mrs. Logan : 

It gives me great pleasure to learn that you are compiling 
a book to be known as "The Part Taken by Women in American 
History," and I am quite sure it will give to women credit which 



426 Part Taken by Women in American History 

has been withheld from them for their masterful achievements 
along many lines for the betterment of mankind and the 
preservation of republican institutions. I am sure that we may 
in advance congratulate the public upon a volume that will 
faithfully record and do justice to the history of the women who 
have been factors, and who have done their full part, in mold- 
ing that most wonderful product of the age, which we proudly 
proclaim "Americanism." 

The roll call of women who have taken part in the work of 
the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution 
is a long and distinguished one. I need not recall to you the 
names of the six president-generals who have preceded me — 
Mrs. Harrison, Mrs. Stevenson, Mrs. Foster, Mrs. Manning, 
Mrs. Fairbanks, and Mrs. McLean. Among those upon whom 
I have most relied during the two years of my administration 
are : Mrs. J. Ellen Foster, authority upon abuses of child labor, 
Mrs. John W. Foster, Mrs. Stevenson, Mrs. McLean, Madame 
Pinchot, a name synonymous with conservation, Mrs. Dickin- 
son, wife of the Secretary of War, Mrs. Samuel Amnion, Mrs. 
Alexander Patton, Mrs. John A. Murphy, Mrs. Howard Hodg- 
kins, Mrs. Draper, Mrs. Swormstedt, Mrs. Mussey, Mrs. 
Orton, Mrs. Edwin Gardner, Jr., all of whom except Mrs. 
McLean, Mrs. Stevenson and Mrs. John W. Foster — with 
many others equally able and devoted — have been chairmen of 
committees and done faithful and zealous work. 

In accordance with that law of nature and of Providence, 
that in this world one sows and another reaps, it is my glorious 
privilege to have gathered up into one splendid sheaf the 
results of the labor and devotion of all my greater predecessors 
in office, as well as of the 87,000 Daughters of the American 
Revolution, who, by their toils, labors, sacrifices and gifts, have 
produced the grand results we see in our magnificent memorial 
building, and in the reports of the inspiring work of state 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 427 

regents and chairmen of national committees presented at the 
annual Congresses. 

It is a source of pride and gratification to me that during 
my administration Continental Hall has been literally finished 
and was formally handed over to the society by the architect 
and contractors in March, 19 10. Within the two years not only 
have all the offices been successfully removed from 902 F. 
street to the hall, but many magnificent rooms have been fur- 
nished in splendid style by different states, and $30,000 of 
the $200,000 debt paid off, an income for current needs provided 
and business matters arranged on a satisfactory basis. 

With this material advancement, the intellectual and 
patriotic educational work has kept splendid pace, and the 
Daughters of the American Revolution are proving worthy 
descendants of the revolutionary ancestors whose memory and 
achievements they seek to perpetuate. This they are doing 
not only by showing their reverential homage for the old flag, 
but by continuing the work and the traditions of the fathers 
as a stimulus to this and to coming generations — both American 
and foreign born — to maintain the high standard of American 
citizenship, the splendid ideals of American manhood and 
womanhood we have inherited as a rich legacy from the past, 
and intend to hand down uncankered to our remotest posterity. 

Faithfully, 

(Signed) Julia G. Scott. 

The Active Incorporation of the Daughters of the 

American Revolution. 

The Daughters of the American Revolution were chartered 
by an act of the fifty-fourth Congress in 1895. The list of 
incorporators contains the names of the most conspicuous 
women of the United States : Mrs. John W. Foster, of Indiana ; 



428 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Mrs. William D. Cabell, of Virginia ; Mrs. Henry V. Boynton, 
of Ohio; Mrs. A. W. Greely, of Washington, D. C; Mrs. F. O. 
St. Clair, of Maryland; Mrs. A. Leo Knott, of Maryland; Mrs. 
Roger A. Pryor, of New York; Mrs. G. Browne Good, of 
Washington, D. C. ; Miss Mary Desha, of Kentucky; Mrs. 
Stephen J. Field, of California; Mrs. Thomas Alexander, of 
Washington, D. C. ; Mrs. Rosa Wright Smith, of Washington, 
D. C. ; Mrs. Hugh Hagan, of Georgia; Mrs. John Risley Put- 
nam, of New York; Mrs. G. H. Shields, of Missouri; Mrs. Ellen 
Hardin Walworth, of New York; Mrs. Marshall MacDonald, 
of Virginia; Miss Eugenia Washington, of Virginia; Mrs. A. 
Howard Clarke, of Massachusetts; Miss Clara Barton, of 
Washington, D. C. ; Mrs. Teunis S. Hamlin, of Washington, 
D. C. ; Mrs. Arthur E. Clarke, of New Hampshire ; Mrs. Henry 
Blount, of Indiana; Mrs. deB. Randolph Keim, of Connecticut; 
Miss Louise Ward McAllister, of New York; Mrs. Frank 
Stuart Osborne, of Illinois; Miss Marie Devereux, of Wash- 
ington, D. C. ; Mrs. Joshua Wilbour, of Rhode Island; Mrs. 
W. W. Shippen, of New Jersey; Mrs. N. B. Hogg, of Penn- 
sylvania; Mrs. Clifton C. Breckinridge, of Arkansas; Mrs. 
Adolphus S. Hubbard, of California; Mrs. Charles E. Putnam, 
of Iowa; Mrs. Simon E. Buckner, of Kentucky; Mrs. Samuel 
Eliot, of Massachusetts; Mrs. William Wirt Henry, of 
Virginia; Miss Elizabeth Lee Blair, of Maryland; Mrs. Julius 
C. Burrows, Mrs. James McMillan, Mrs. J. A. T. Hull, and 
Mrs. Joseph Washington. 

The charter was signed by Thomas B. Reed, and Vice- 
President Adlai A. Stevenson, president of the Senate, approved 
by Grover Cleveland, and certified to by Richard Olney. The 
board of management was composed of the following prominent 
women: Mrs. Daniel Manning, of Albany, New York; Mrs. 
Albert D. Brockett, Alexandria, Va. ; Mrs. Russel A. Alger, 
Detroit, Mich. ; Mrs. N. D. Sperry, New Haven, Conn. ; Mrs. 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 429 

John W. Thurston, Omaha, Neb. ; Mrs. Horatio N. Taplin, Vt. ; 
Mrs. Marcus A. Hanna, Cleveland, Ohio; Mrs. William W. 
Shippen, Seabright, N. J.; Mrs. William P. Frye, Lewiston, 
Me.; Mrs. John N. Jewett, Chicago, 111.; Mrs. Eleanor W. 
Howard, Alexandria, Va. ; Mrs. Anita Newcomb McGee, Iowa ; 
Mrs. Ellen M. Colton, San Francisco, Cal. ; Miss Mary Boyce 
Temple, Knoxville, Tenn. ; Mrs. Charles W. Fairbanks, 
Indianapolis, Ind. ; Miss Mary Isabella Forsyth, Kingston, N. 
Y. ; Mrs. Abner Hoopes, West Chester, Pa.; Mrs. Charles 
O'Neil, Massachusetts; Miss Anna Benning, Columbus, Ga. ; 
Mrs. Green Clay Goodloe, Kentucky; Mrs. Charlotte E. Main, 
Washington, D. C. ; Mrs. Angus Cameron, La Crosse, Wis.; 
Mrs. Charles Averette Stakely, Washington, D. C. ; Mrs. Albert 
Akers, Nashville, Tenn. ; Mrs. Kate Kearney Henry, Washing- 
ton, D. C. ; and Miss Susan Riviere Hetzel, of Virginia. 

To Mrs. Ellen Hardin Walworth, Mrs. Mary S. Lock- 
wood, Miss Mary Desha and Miss Virginia Washington belong 
the credit of having conceived the idea of the organization of 
the Daughters of the American Revolution, and as explained 
by Mrs. McLean, three of these women met together and from 
this beginning of three the organization has grown to the 
number of one hundred thousand. The reports of the Daugh- 
ters of the American Revolution show that the first meeting of 
the Continental Congress was held at the Church of Our 
Father, in Washington, D. C, February 22-24, 1892, with Mrs. 
Benjamin Harrison, the first president of the society, in the 
chair. The meeting was opened by the Chaplain, Mrs. Hamlin. 
The work which they have accomplished since that day has 
occupied the time, thought, and affection of hosts of noble 
women. Mrs. Harrison, the president-general, made the 
address of welcome to the delegates on this occasion, which was 
responded to by Mrs. Clifton R. Breckinridge, of Arkansas. 
After examining the credentials of the different delegates, they 



430 Part Taken by Women in American History 

formed a number of committees, who took up their work with 
much enthusiasm. 

CAROLINE SCOTT HARRISON. 

Mrs. Caroline Scott Harrison, the first president-general of the Daughters 
of the American Revolution, and the wife of President Benjamin Harrison, was 
born in Oxford, Butler County, Ohio, the daughter of John Witherspoon Scott 
and Mary Scott; granddaughter of George McElroy Scott and Annie R. Scott, 
and great-granddaughter of Robert Scott, who was a member of the Scottish 
Parliament, before the union of the crown. Her great-grandfather, John Scott, 
was commissary general of the Pennsylvania line and rendered efficient service 
in the Revolutionary struggle for independence. Her father, Dr. John Wither- 
spoon Scott, was a pioneer minister of the Presbyterian Church, and an educator 
at Oxford, Ohio. He was the president of the well-known Young Ladies' 
Academy at that place, where his daughters were educated. It was here that 
Benjamin Harrison, then a student in Miami University, met Miss Caroline W. 
Scott. They were married at Oxford, October 20, 1853, and removed to Indian- 
apolis, in 1854. Mrs. Harrison's life during her husband's struggles for success 
as a lawyer, legislator, soldier, and statesman was that quiet homelife which is 
so characteristic of American homes. During all those years she showed herself 
the self-sacrificing, self-denying wife and mother. In every position she has 
filled, whether as the wife of the poor lawyer, the daring soldier, the senator, or 
the president of the United States, she has displayed rare adaptability. Mrs. 
Harrison met the demands made upon her as "first lady of the land" with 
wonderful success. She endeared herself to all who knew her by her unostenta- 
tious, natural womanliness. On October 11, 1890, she was unanimously elected 
as the first president-general of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and 
took great interest in the organization. During the early difficulties of the society, 
consequent upon the inexperience of the members and the perplexities of the 
organization, her advice and good judgment and kindly consideration of the feel- 
ings of others materially aided in bringing about a happy solution. At the Con- 
tinental Congress, in February, 1892, she met delegates from all parts of the 
country, and by her courtesy and prompt decision, won the hearts of all. A 
Northern delegate asked one from the South : "What do you think of our Caro- 
line?" "She is simply splendid," came the quick reply, and she voiced the sentiment 
of all. She was unanimously elected as president-general by a rising vote of 
the congress. Her patriotic feelings were intense, and the National Society will 
always have cause to be proud of its first president-general. Mrs. Harrison died 
October 25, 1892. At a meeting of the Board of Management of the National 
Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, held in Washington, D. C, 
November 16, 1892, the following motion, made by Mrs. Walworth, was passed : 
"Resolved, That to facilitate the collection of a fund of $1,500, for a portrait of 
Mrs. Harrison, wife of the president of the United States and first president- 
general of this society, the said portrait to be placed in the White House, the 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 431 

Board of Management of the National Society, Daughters of the American Revo- 
lution, authorize the action of a national committee to be composed of all officers 
of the National Society, state regents, honorary officers, all of whom will be 
ex-officio members of the committee; and that the vice-president-general presiding 
shall be authorized to appoint a chairman and also a treasurer to receive, report 
upon, and receipt for contributions ; and that any surplus moneys collected over 
and above the amount required for the portrait, shall be appropriated to the 
permanent fund for the house of the Daughters of the American Revolution, to be 
erected in Washington, D. C, a project in which Mrs. Harrison had taken an 
earnest and active interest." 

The Board of Management met October 25, 1892, for the purpose of 
expressing the feelings inspired by the sad dispensation which had deprived the 
National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution of its honored 
president. The following members were present : Mrs. Cabell, Mrs. Kennon, Mrs. 
Field, Mrs. MacDonald, Mrs. Alexander, Mrs. Boynton, Mrs. Clarke, Mrs. Keim, 
Mrs. St. Clair, Mrs. Tittmann, Mrs. Cockrell, Mrs. Walworth, Mrs. Hamlin, 
Mrs. Blount, Mrs. Greely, Mrs. Devereux Miss Desha and Mrs. Rosa Wright 
Smith. On motion, a committee of three, composed of Mrs. Alexander, Miss 
Desha and Mrs. Rosa Wright Smith, was appointed to select a suitable floral 
offering, to be sent to the White House, in the name of the "National Society of 
the Daughters of the American Revolution." 

CATHARINE HITCHCOCK TILDEN AVERY. 

Mrs. Avery, founder and regent of the Western Reserve Chapter of the 
Daughters of the American Revolution, of Cleveland, Ohio, was born December 
13, 1844, at Dundee, Michigan. She is the eldest daughter of Junius Tilden and 
Zeruah Rich Tilden. She received her early education at Monroe, Michigan. Her 
father died in 1861, and she, with her sister, went to Massachusetts, and was 
graduated at the State Normal School of Farmingham. On July 2, 1870, she 
was married to Elroy M. Avery, of Monroe, Michigan. In 1871 Mr. and Mrs. 
Avery moved to the village of East Cleveland and engaged in public school work, 
he as superintendent and she as principal of- the high school. Mrs. Avery 
continued in high school work until 1882. As wife, teacher, helper, and friend 
she has proved her loyalty and wisdom, her benevolence and energy, and both 
merits and enjoys the admiration and affection of all who know her. Her chapter 
has been a model in its business and patriotic methods, its enthusiasm, and above 
all in its historic work. 

KATHARINE SEARLE McCARTNEY. 

Mrs. McCartney is the regent of the Wyoming Valley Chapter of the 
Daughters of the American Revolution of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Her 
ancestry is closely associated with the earliest Colonial period. She is descended 
from five of the Mayflower Pilgrims, viz: William Mullins and wife; Priscilla 
Mullins, who married John Alden ; Elizabeth Alden, the "first Puritan maiden," 



432 Part Taken by Women in American History 

who married William Pebodie; Elizabeth Wabache, who married John Rogers 
(.John Thomas, of the Mayflower); Sarah Rogers, who married Nathaniel Searle; 
Nathaniel Searle, Jr., assistant governor of Rhode Island from 1757-62, who 
married Elizabeth Kennicutt, sister of Lieutenant-Colonel Kennicutt; Constant 
Searle, killed in the battle of Wyoming, who married Harriet Minor, descendant 
of Thomas Minor and Grace Palmer; Rogers Searle, who married Catharine 
Scott ; Leonard Searle, who married Lyda Dimock, whose grandfather was 
a lieutenant in the Revolutionary Army and had charge of Fort Vengeance, 
a northern frontier of Vermont, and who was a great-grandfather of Mrs. 
McCartney. She is also descended from Rev. John Mayo, Rev. John Lathrop, 
Nathaniel Bacon, John Coggeshall, first president of Rhode Island; John Rathbone, 
who came in the Speedwell in 1620; from Margaret Beach, sister of Governor 
Winthrop's wife, and wife of John Lake, through daughter Harriet, who married 
Captain John Gallup; Captain James Avery and other early colonists. 

LOUISA ROCHESTER PITKIN. 

Mrs. Pitkin is a daughter of Colonel Nathaniel Rochester, of Revolutionary 
fame, is a member of the New York Chapter and an honorary vice-president of the 
National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and resides in 
Rochester, New York. She has reached the golden age of eighty-two years. 
Her reminiscences of these years are of great interest to her friends and to the 
Daughters of the American Revolution. She is an aunt of General Rochester, of 
the United States Army 

SARAH BERRIEN CASEY MORGAN. 

Mrs. Thomas Saunderson Morgan, regent of the Augusta Chapter of the 
Daughters of the American Revolution, is the daughter of Dr. Henry Roger 
Casey and Caroline Rebecca Harriss Casey; granddaughter of Dr. John Aloysius 
Casey and Sarah Lowndes Berrien Casey; great-granddaughter of Brigade-Major 
John Berrien and Wilhamina Sarah Eliza Moore Berrien; great-great-grand- 
daughter of Lord Chief Justice John Berrien and Margaret Eaton Berrien (niece 
of Sir John Eaton, of England). Major John Berrien entered the army at the 
age of seventeen and was made brigadier-major at eighteen. He made the campaign 
of the Jerseys, was at the battle of Monmouth, and served with General Robert 
Howe in Georgia and Florida. He was decorated by the hand of Washington 
with the badge of the "Order of the Cincinnnati," and by him appointed secretary 
of that society. After the war he was made treasurer of the state of Georgia. 
He died in 1815, and is buried in Savannah, Ga. Lord Chief Justice John Berrien, 
the father of Major Berrien, was a personal friend of General Washington, who 
often shared the hospitality of the chief justice's home at Rock Hill, Somerset 
County, New Jersey. It was from that home that "The Father of his Country'' 
bade farewell to his gallant band when the war was over. Lady Berrien, the 
wife of the chief justice, gave her family silver to be melted in order to assist 
in paying the soldiers of the Revolutionary Army. Washington used the home 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 433 

of Chief Justice Berrien as his headquarters. When offering to have the home 
repaired, which had suffered by its usage during the war, Lady Berrien declined, 
saying: "What I have done for my country, I have done." Through Wilhamina 
Sarah Eliza Moore Berrien, Major Berrien's wife, Mrs. Morgan is descended from 
Dr. James Weemyss Moore. This Dr. Moore, Mrs. Morgan's great-great-grand- 
father, was a surgeon of the South Carolina troops under General Gates. 
Insensible must be the heart and cold the patriotism of one who cannot be touched 
by such memories as these. Mrs. Morgan has also an honorable ancestry through 
Dr. James Weemyss Moore, who is descended from the Earl of Weemyss, who was 
the second son of the Macduff of Shakespeare. Through her grandfather, Dr. 
Aloysius Casey, Mrs. Morgan is descended from Sir John Edgeworth, of 
Longworth, Ireland, a cousin of Maria Edgeworth, the noted author. 

MARY NEWTON. 

For years Mrs. Newton, of Athens, Georgia, has received a pension from 
the government in virtue of being the only surviving child of John Jordan, who 
was a Revolutionary hero, and was at Yorktown when Cornwallis surrendered. 
Mrs. Newton is now eighty-seven years of age, and is remarkable for her activity 
and much beloved by all who know her. 

JANE SUMNER OWEN KEIM. 

The family roll of honor in the Revolution contains the names of eighteen 
heroes in the three collateral lines of Sumner descent from the colonists, some of 
whom belong to that of Mrs. Keim, including also Robert, the son of her fighting 
ancestor, Captain John Sumner. Mrs. Keim's paternal great-great-grandfather, 
Benjamin Owen, born in 1761, at Ashford, Connecticut, fourth descendant from 
Samuel and Priscilla Belcher Owen, who came to America from Wales in 1685, with 
their son Josiah, and settled first in Massachusetts and later in Rhode Island, was a 
captain in the Windham County, Connecticut, militia. The sixth line of Mrs. 
Keim's Colonial and Revolutionary ancestry, the Palmers, descended from Walter, 
the settler in the Endicott Colony, through Ruth Palmer, her great-grandmother, 
were also distinguished for patriotic service in the Revolution. Dr. Joseph Palmer, 
the father of Ruth Palmer, served as a surgeon in the Continental forces. At the 
outbreak of the Revolution he was captain of a company from Voluntown for 
the relief of Boston during the Lexington alarm. Mrs. Jane Sumner Owen Keim 
was born in Hartford, Connecticut, and educated in the public schools of her 
native city, graduating in 1862 from the high school, formerly the Latin grammar 
school, founded in 1636, the second oldest institution of the kind in America. She 
took a higher course of two years at East Greenwich Seminary, on Narragansett 
Bay, Rhode Island. She engaged immediately in charitable work in the city of 
her birth, teaching seven years in the Sixth Ward Evening School, and was active 
in city mission, Sunday and sewing schools. She also organized, with Miss Fannie 
Smith, authoress, pianist, and lecturer, and conducted for some years a boys' 
reading room and Sixth Ward Temperance Society, out of which initial movement 

28 



434 Part Taken by Women in American History 

sprung the "union for home work," a noble charity in Hartford to-day. Mrs. 
Keim has the gratification of knowing that many boys taught by her in charity 
have become men of prosperous business in several states. On June 25, 1872, she 
became the wife of deBenneville Randolph Keim, of "Edgemount," Reading, 
Pennsylvania, an author and Washington correspondent. They spent six months 
in foreign travel. They visited the localities associated with their ancestral families 
and nearly all the countries of Europe, extending their journey to Nijni Novgorod, 
on the Volga. 

MRS. ROGER A. PRYOR. 

The Southern woman-writer has become, of late years, an important factor 
in the literary life of New York. One who is perhaps at present better known in 
the first circles of society in New York than in literature, as yet, is Mrs. Roger A. 
Pryor, the lovely wife of Judge Pryor, of the Court of Common Pleas. Mrs. 
Pryor is known in New York as the writer of charming and brilliant feuilletons 
for the most prominent society journal there, but she invariably publishes over a 
pen-name, so that, outside the circle who penetrated the secret of her nom-de- 
plume, she is best known as a society woman. She has also published many 
sketches and short stories. "The Story of a Persian Rug" was copied widely in 
English periodicals, and was the true story of an exquisite Persian carpet that 
lies before the hearth of her pretty drawing room. Mrs. Pryor has refused the 
most flattering offers from editors to write over her own name, for probably 
there is no one who can write more cleverly and authoritatively on social life 
in New York than she. She has no methods of work, writing when she feels the 
inclination. Mrs. Pryor was a Southern heiress, born to every imaginable luxury, 
and never a life looked more hedged in with happiness than hers, yet, when the 
war wrecked and stranded the fortunes of the family, no bourgeois housewife ever 
performed heavier duties to a large family, ever sewed more diligently on her 
children's little garments, than this brave and brilliant woman in that dark period 
after the war when so many great fortunes were swept away. Through the 
efforts of Mrs. Pryor a handsome sum has been added to the Mary Washington 
Monument Association fund, and this is most gratifying to the Daughters of the 
American Revolution, as one of the first working objects placed before the 
Daughters by an early resolution of the society was assistance to be given to this 
Mary Washington fund. It is a noble cause, in which women are called upon 
to honor a woman who displayed high qualities of character under conspicuous 
circumstances — one who combined tenderness with strength, and dignity with 
simplicity, as found in the individuality of Mary Washington. Mrs. Pryor's 
services to the Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution cannot be 
compassed in this brief sketch. She was the first regent of the New York City 
chapter. She organized it and led it on to success under trying circum- 
stances. After serving for over a year she resigned on account of uncertain 
health, amid the regrets of the chapter. As vice-president-general of the National 
Society, and a member of the New York City chapter, she is still active in her 
efforts for the organization. Mrs. Pryor's home in New York is a charming place, 
where, in her artistic drawing-room, the hospitable traditions of her family are 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 435 

maintained, and at her weekly receptions one may meet many agreeable and 
eminent persons. 

DELIA GRAEME SMALLWOOD. 

Mrs. Smallwood, vice-regent of the District of Columbia, was born in 
Lawrence, Massachusetts. Her Revolutionary ancestry is on the side of her 
mother, whose people have lived in New England for many generations. Her great- 
grandfather, Dr. James Jackson, for whom the town of Jackson, New Hampshire, 
was named, was one of the first surgeons of New England. Another ancestor was 
Joseph Clark, who was one of the men who rowed General Benedict Arnold to 
the British ship "Vulture" on the morning of his desertion and who refused a 
command in the British army which was offered him as an inducement to remain 
on the British side. One of the earliest of Mrs. Smallwood's ancestors in this 
country was General Hercules Mooney, who came from the north of Ireland in 
his own boat, "The Hercules," landing at Plymouth, New Hampshire. He was 
highly educated and became one of the foremost teachers of his day. He served 
in the early Colonial wars as a British colonel and took part in the capture of 
Louisburg. At the beginning of the Revolutionary War, however, he united his 
fortunes with the American colonies, was made a general and figured largely in 
the northern campaign of that heroic seven years' struggle. Through her father 
Mrs. Smallwood belongs to the Graemes of Scotland and the Hetheringtons of 
England. "The Fighting Graemes," as they were called, have served in every 
English and Scotch war and at the battle of Bunker Hill they were in the 
British army and stormed the heights which her mother's people were valiantly 
defending. Mrs. Smallwood's family have always placed a high valuation upon 
education. Her own was obtained in Boston, where she received the advantages 
of its splendid public school system in conjunction with private tutoring in music, 
art, oratory, literature and science, and finally occupied a high position as a teacher 
in the Boston public schools. For years she has been, conjointly with her husband, 
principal of the Washington Seminary of the Capital city. Mrs. Smallwood is a 
public spirited woman, active in the philanthropic work of the city, and she is 
closely identified with the Young Women's Christian Association as one of its 
vice-presidents. She is well known as an accomplished teacher, able speaker 
and an enthusiastic member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She is 
tireless in her work in whatever case she champions. 

RUTH M. GRISWOLD PEALER. 

Ruth M. Griswold Pealer, genealogist of the Daughters of the American 
Revolution, was born in Dansville, Steuben County, N. J., daughter of Hubbard 
Griswold, one of the pioneers of western New York, a descendant through an 
unbroken male line from Edward Griswold, of Kenilworth, England, who settled 
in Connecticut in 1639. 

In early life Ruth Griswold was a student at the Rogersville Union Seminary, 
near her home, and spent a year at the seminary in Dansville, Livingston County, 
N. Y. At the age of seventeen she became a teacher in a country school, which 



436 Part Taken by Women in American History 

occupation she followed until her marriage in 1869 to Philip J. Greene, who was 
also a teacher of Dansville, N. Y. He died in 1883, leaving her with one son. 
In 1881 Mrs. Pealer, then Mrs. Greene, was a member of the faculty of the 
Rogerville Union Seminary as teacher of music. During this period she was also 
active in grange work of her county. 

In 1885 she married Peter Perry Pealer, of South Dansville, N. Y., who in 
1800 was a member of the New York State legislature from the first district of 
Steuben, and later received an appointment as chief of a division in the Government 
Printing Office, Washington, D. C. Previous to her removal to Washington, Mrs. 
Peeler had taken an active part in club work and musical circles, having been one 
of the organizers and president of the literary club in South Dansville. This club 
was instrumental in securing a free library for the town. Soon after her removal 
to Washington she became a member of the National Society of the Daughters 
of the American Revolution and joined "Continental Chapter," of which she 
became recording secretary. At the Daughters of the American Revolution 
Congress of 1902, she was elected registrar-general, and re-elected in 1903. In the 
fall of 1903 she resigned and was elected genealogist of the National Society, which 
position she still holds. 

Mrs. Pealer is also the national registrar of the Daughters of Founders 
and Patriots of America, serving her fifth term. She is a past-president of the 
Woman's National Press Association and a past-secretary-general of the National 
Auxiliary, United Spanish War Veterans, an organization which she assisted in 
forming soon after the close of the Spanish-American War. For two years she 
was president of the first auxiliary formed — "Mary A. Babcock, of Washington, 
D. C." 

Work for temperance has also appealed strongly to her and for three years 
she was president of the West End Union Woman's Christian Temperance Union 
in Washington, and for years has been the superintendent of the Press on the 
State Executive Woman's Christian Temperance Union. She is a member of 
the Washington Colony of New England Women and a member of the Order of 
the Eastern Star in Canaseraga, N. Y. 

Some Real Daughters of the American Revolution. 

These women are our nearest links in independence and it is surprising 
fact that there are one hundred and fifty-eight "Real Daughters" alive to-day 
(July 4, 1911). Sentiment has impelled the Daughters of the American Revolution 
organization to provide each "real daughter" with an enduring souvenir to be 
handed down to posterity, and this memento takes the form of a solid gold spoon 
properly inscribed. No dues or fees are expected from these survivors, as members 
of the Daughters of the American Revolution. 

The oldest living child of a Revolutionary patriot is 

MRS. ILEY LAWSON HILL, 

of Lakeport, California, who is over one hundred and three years of age, having 
been born in Adams County, Ohio, May 5, 1808. Her patriot father, James Lawson, 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 437 

was born in 1760, and was but seventeen years of age when he entered Washington's 
army, and when the war for our independence was over he fought in some of 
the Indians wars. 

MRS. SAMANTHA STANTON NELLIS. 

The next "real daughter" in point of age is Mrs. Samantha Stanton Nellis, 
of Naples, New York, whose father Elijah Stanton, was one of Washington's 
bodyguard. She was one hundred and one years of age January 5 last (1911). 

MRS. SUSAN S. BRIGHAM. 

Mrs. Susan S. Brigham, of Worcester, Massachusetts, won her century 
goal February 3, 191 1, and is the daughter of Ammi Wetherbee, a Massachusetts 
Minute Man. 

Very close indeed to the century mark are Mrs. Jane Newkirk, of Laporte, 
Indiana, and Mrs. Margaret K. Johnson, of Flemington, Kentucky; also Miss 
Jeannette Blair, of Madison, New York, who entered upon her ninety-eighth year 
May 30, 191 1. Her father, Seth Blair, enlisted three times during the Revolution. 

MRS. MARY ANNE RISHEL, 

of Clintondale, Pennsylvania, is the daughter of a Revolutionary veteran, a sister 
of a veteran of the War of 1812 and the mother of a Civil War veteran. Her 
father served during five years of the Revolution as a ranger on the frontier. 
Mrs. Rishel celebrated her ninetieth birthday, March 23, 1911. 

Two remarkable women among this group of "real daughters" are the twin 
sisters, Elizabeth Ann Russell and Julia Ann Demary, of Lake Odessa, Michigan, 
daughters of John Peter Frank, a patriot of the Revolution. 

MRS. EUPHRASIA SMITH GRANGER 

in 1909 came to Washington to the annual meeting of the Daughters of the 
American Revolution as an alternate for her regent. 

MRS. MARY ANNE SCOTT, 

cf Medway, Massachusetts, who was born December 29, 1851, when her father, 
Thomas Piatt, a veteran of the Dorchester Heights Guards was in his eighty- 
eighth year, is said to be the youngest "real daughter." 

Although one hundred and thirty years have elapsed since Cornwallis 
surrendered, there is still one Revolutionary pensioner upon the government pension 
rolls, Phoebe M. W. Palmiter, of Brookfield, New York, who entered upon her 
ninetieth year December, 191 1. Her father was Jonathan Wooley, born in Swansea, 
New Hampshire, August 21, 1759, and died in Vermont, July 21, 1848. He enlisted 
in the Vermont Volunteers in 1775 at the age of sixteen in Colonel Capron's 
command and served under Gates and Sullivan. He was present at Saratoga at 
the surrender of Burgoyne and also took part in the battle at Valley Forge. 



438 Part Taken by Women in American History 



lucy parlin. 

Almost in sight of Judge's cave, in the home of her son-in-law, near New 
Haven, Connecticut, lives Mrs. Lucy Parlin, one of the surviving daughters of the 
heroes of 1776. The father of this venerable lady was Elijah Royce, of Wolcott, 
Connecticut, who at the age of sixteen enlisted in the Revolutionary Army and 
served seven years and three months. In the famous battle of Monmouth, New 
Jersey, he received a severe sabre wound on the face and was left for dead on the 
field. During the terrible winter at Valley Forge, Corporal Royce was awakened 
one night by some intruder who was trying to share his scanty blanket. He kicked 
the unwelcome visitor most lustily, and when daybreak came, to his surprise and 
chagrin, he saw the familiar features of the Marquis de Lafayette. 



MRS. DONALD McLEAN. 

"Mrs. Donald McLean, member and vice-president of the 
New York State Commission to the Jamestown Exposition, and 
president-general of the Daughters of the American Revo- 
lution, was born in Prospect Hall, Frederick, Maryland ; and is 
the daughter of Judge and Mrs. John Ritchie. Her father was 
judge of the Court of Appeals of Maryland, and served in the 
National Congress before his elevation to the bench. 

"Mrs. McLean's grandfather was Judge William P. 
Maulsby, and her grandmother, Emily Nelson (for whom Mrs. 
McLean is named), was the daughter of General Roger Nelson, 
who was at college, a boy of sixteen, when the Declaration of 
Independence was signed. He ran away from the university 
and joined the Revolutionary forces. He was commissioned 
lieutenant, and afterwards brevetted brigadier-general for 
conspicuous bravery on the field of battle. Later in life he 
served in the National Congress, and afterwards was placed 
upon the bench of his native state. 

"Further back in Mrs. McLean's ancestry were Judges 
Lynn and Beattie, two of the twelve judges known as 'The 
Twelve Immortals,' who first signed a protest against the 
British Stamp Act, eleven years before the first battle of the 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 439 

Revolution. Lieutenant James Lackland was also an ancestor, 
as was one of the earlier deputy governors of Maryland, 
Governor Burgess. 

"Mrs. McLean was educated at the Frederick Female 
Seminary, now known as the Woman's College. She graduated 
at the age of fourteen, receiving a diploma. She continued the 
study of history, the languages, and music until her marriage 
and, indeed, has pursued the former ever since. In 1883 she 
married Mr. Donald McLean, a lawyer of standing in New 
York, who has had various distinctions in office conferred upon 
him by the President of the United States and the Mayor of the 
City of New York. Mrs. McLean is the mother of three 
children. 

"From the time of her marriage and removal from Mary- 
land to New York, Mrs. McLean has been interested in social, 
professional and educational circles of that city. On learning 
of the formation of the Daughters of the American Revolution, 
her interest was immediately aroused, and she became a charter 
member of the society, and also of the New York City Chapter 
of that organization, being elected to its regency. A scholar- 
ship in perpetuity has been founded in Barnard College by the 
New York City Chapter, and named the 'Mrs. Donald McLean 
Scholarship.' Mrs. McLean held the office of regent for ten 
years, until her election, in April, 1905, to the presidency-gen- 
eral of the National Society of the Daughters of the American 
Revolution. 

"The president-general has served as an active commis- 
sioner from New York to the Cotton States International 
Exposition, in 1895, and as an honorary commissioner to the 
South Carolina Exposition. She made public addresses at both 
above-named expositions ; also at the Tennessee Exposition, and 
at the Pan-American Exposition, in 1901, at Buffalo, and at the 
Louisiana Purchase Exposition, in 1903-04, at St. Louis, — 



44-0 Part Taken by Women in American History 

representing the varied interests of women, education, and the 
Daughters of the American Revolution. Mrs. McLean was an 
active commissioner and vice-president of the commission 
from New York to the Jamestown Exposition. In the presi- 
dent-general's administration a memorial building has been 
erected by the D. A. R. on Jamestown Island in Virginia, 
which building is a replica of the old Malvern Hall, and will 
remain as a permanent 'rest house/ upon the island. 

"Mrs. McLean has traveled several hundred thousand 
miles throughout the states, visiting innumerable cities and 
towns, making addresses upon patriotic subjects, not only in 
furthering the work of the Daughters of the American Revo- 
lution, but in participation in civic and national patriotic 
celebrations. She is deeply interested in the work of patriotic 
education, both for immigrants and Southern mountaineers, as 
well as in keeping alive a patriotic spirit in all classes of Ameri- 
can citizens, and is widely and internationally known as a 
speaker in patriotic and educational gatherings, and in her 
interest in the movement for peace by arbitration." 

The foregoing sketch of Mrs. Donald McLean was taken 
from the report of the Jamestown Exposition Commission of 
the state of New York. Mrs. McLean was the only woman 
upon that distinguished commission, and this report gives 
indubitable evidence of the high esteem in which she was held 
by the commission, and their appreciation of her keen percep- 
tions, rare intelligence, sound judgment, and wonderful 
executive ability. 

It has been the editor's valued privilege to have known 
Mrs. McLean since the beginning of the twentieth century, and 
she takes pleasure in adding that among the thousands of gifted 
women she has met during these years Mrs. McLean is second 
to none in largeness of heart, brilliancy of mind, quickness of 
perception, eloquence of speech, marvelous executive ability, 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 441 

genial disposition, sturdiness of purpose, and charming person- 
ality. As president-general of the Daughters of the American 
Revolution she lifted the society out of the chaos into which 
contentious rivals had dragged it, and placed it in the line of 
progression and achievement. She made the dream of Con- 
tinental Hall a possible reality by her skillful financial 
management. No other woman has received greater honors or 
worn them more gracefully than has Mrs. Donald McLean, who 
is among the most faithful of wives, tenderest of mothers, 
loyal of daughters, truest of patriots, most generous and loyal 
of friends. 

ELLEN HARDIN WALWORTH. 

Mrs. Walworth was born in Jacksonville, Illinois, and is a daughter of 
General John J. Hardin, United States Volunteers, and Sarah Ellen Hardin. 
She was educated at Jacksonville Academy and by private tutors. She was 
married at Saratoga Springs, New York, to M. T. Walworth in 1852. She 
graduated from the Woman's Law Class of the University of New York. She 
was president and founder of the Art and Science Field Club of Saratoga and 
founder and ex-president of the Post Parliament, New York, and was one of the 
first three women nominated and elected to a school board under the New York 
law admitting women as trustees. She is chiefly prominent as being one of the 
three founders — with Miss Eugenia Washington and Miss Mary Desha — of the 
National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She was director 
general of the Woman's National War Relief Association in 1898, and was at 
the Field Hospital at Fortress Monroe to meet the first wounded brought front 
Santiago, with supplies, nurses, etc. She went to Montauk and remained in the 
Field Hospital there until it closed. She has served on many important com- 
mittees of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She is the author of 
"Battles of Saratoga," "Parliamentary Rules," also various monographs. 

MRS. MATTHEW T. SCOTT. 

Mrs. M. T. Scott, recently re-elected as president-general 
of the Daughters of the American Revolution, is one of the 
most charming and interesting personalities in American public 
life. She is a rare combination of the best that blood, culture 
and wealth can produce on our continent. 



442 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Born in old Kentucky, her ancestry goes back through a 
long line of the best, bravest and the most distinguished men 
and women that this country can boast, including such names 
as that of Lawrence Washington, Colonel Joshua Fry, 
Augustine Warner, Dr. Thomas W'alker, etc. 

Her father, the Reverend Lewis "Warner Green, was one 
of the most eloquent and scholarly divines of his generation, and 
was at one time president of Hampden Sydney College, Vir- 
ginia, and later of Centre College, Danville, Kentucky. Up to his 
premature death at the age of fifty-six, he was recognized as 
one of the intellectual and spiritual leaders of the old South, 
who by sheer force of brains and character, so largely directed 
and dominated our national life up to the time of the Civil War. 
The home life of the youthful Hypatia could hardly have been 
more propitious for the development of those charms and 
graces of mind and character, which have gained for her so 
unique a position in the history of womankind, than w r as that 
of the beautiful and accomplished Miss Julia Green. 

At the age of nineteen her romantic and sheltered girlhood 
was brought to an end by her marriage and migration across 
the almost trackless prairies, to take up her abode among the 
prairie dogs and rattlesnakes of central Illinois. Here for a 
score of years she threw herself heart and soul into her self- 
appointed tasks of inspiring and helping her husband, who 
rapidly became one of the financial, political and intellectual 
"master builders" of this great region, and of making her home 
a center from which radiated countless refining and ennobling 
influences on every side. The good old Southern way in which 
these hospitable Kentuckians entertained friends and relatives 
for weeks and even for months at a time, was for years the 
talk of the countryside. 

On her husband's sudden death in the midst of his brilliant 
business career, she found herself forced to take his place at the 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 443 

helm, and to concentrate all her thought and attention upon 
the heavy responsibilities connected with the management of 
the M. T. Scott estate, one of the largest estates in this the 
most fertile and influential agricultural region in the world. 
To the surprise of herself and her closest friends, her sound 
judgment and careful husbandry soon gained for her the title 
of "the best business man in central Illinois. " Moreover, with 
that dignity, poise and balance which have always been her 
distinguishing characteristics, she demonstrated that it is quite 
possible to be hard-headed without being hard-hearted. For in 
spite of being a first-class woman of affairs, she never forgot 
nor allowed others to forget, that first of all she was an old- 
fashioned Kentucky gentlewoman. 

Up to the time of her election to the highest office within 
the gift of the women of this country, Mrs. Scott had been too 
completely occupied with her own business interests to devote 
much time or energy to club matters or public affairs. But in 
spite of this, her friends had quietly pushed her to the front as 
much as she would permit, instinctively recognizing her innate 
capacity for leadership, and for the effective handling of large 
enterprises. 

It is a curious and interesting psychological fact, that at an 
age when most women don becoming lace caps and retire to the 
fireplace with their knitting — to watch the procession of life go 
by — Mrs. Scott, whose previous years had been almost 
exclusively devoted to her home, her friends and her business 
interests, should suddenly have launched out on a new, untried 
and signally tempestuous sea of activity, where she at once 
assumed a prominent, and very soon, a dominant position. 

Mrs. Scott during her incumbency as president-general 
of the Daughters of the American Revolution has been a sur- 
prise to herself and her friends as well as to her enemies. 
Talents and traits of character which had lain almost dormant 



,]/\ /\ Part Taken by Women in American History 

for a quarter of a century were aroused to newness of life by 
the fresh interests aroused and the new duties which were 
imposed upon her by her high official position. 

When she went to Bloomington, Illinois, to attend the 
"homecoming banquet" given by her friends and neighbors, she 
made a powerful and polished speech, putting into it all the 
strength and restrained force of character of which she is 
capable. A day or two after, a remark was made by 
an old friend and neighbor, which gave expression to the 
widespread feeling among those present at the banquet. 
"I have come to the conclusion," she said, "that though I have 
known Mrs. Scott for so long and have known her so 
intimately, I have always underestimated her. I was aware 
that she was a woman of great ability, but I am free to confess, 
that I did not think she had it in her to speak as she spoke 
last night. I did not realize that we had in our midst a woman 
of such intellectual grasp, and such wonderful personal dignity 
and strength." 

However, the eloquence and literary charm of her speeches 
are apparent to everyone. What is, perhaps, less generally 
known and certainly more rare in her makeup, is her largeness, 
her ability to rise above petty personal considerations, the 
broad impersonal way she has of treating people and questions 
that are brought to her attention. For example, when some of 
her old-time friends have deserted her and joined the ranks 
of the enemy, she not only has wasted no time nor energy in 
recriminations and lamentations, but actually has felt no bitter- 
ness toward them. The ability to maintain this attitude is 
very rare among men and almost unheard of among women. 
It has something about it that is reminiscent of the attitude 
manifested towards quitters and turncoats by Julius Caesar in 
Bernard Shaw's "Caesar and Cleopatra" and shows the 
remarkable mastery of the conscious mind, of the rational 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 445 

element in her nature, over whims, prejudices and ordinary 
human passions. 

The past two years have also proven to be a sort of Indian 
Summer for the spiritual element in her nature. The old-time 
ideals which she had learned to love as a girl sitting at her 
father's feet, the old-time belief in the efficacy of spiritual 
powers and the reality of spiritual values have again been quick- 
ened into life. The long stretch of years during which she was 
largely engrossed in family affairs and the heavy labors 
involved in the management of the material interests of herself 
and her children, was brought to a close when she assumed her 
present position of moral and intellectual leadership among 
American women. As a widow and a mother, she did not 
hesitate to focus all her energies and abilities upon the financial 
duties and responsibilities which she felt demanded her first 
attention, but when these affairs having been satisfactorily 
and successfully attended to, new intellectual and spiritual 
responsibilities were thrust upon her, the latent moral fires and 
spiritual enthusiasms of her girlhood burst into sudden flame — 
the idealistic element in her nature again asserted itself. To her 
own surprise, as much as that of her friends and family, she 
threw into her new work not only the practical skill, and 
trained energy, which had been developed during her long 
business career, but as well the old moral fervor and the old 
spiritual outlook, that had been handed down to her as a rich 
spiritual inheritance from her distinguished father. 

In spite of the fact that she has manifested an extraor- 
dinary ability as a presiding officer, showing not only a 
remarkable mastery of parliamentary law, but an even more 
remarkable mastery of all the complicated and tempestuous 
situations that have arisen during the various discussions of the 
nineteenth and twentieth Congresses; and in spite of the fact 
that her unusual business and executive ability have enabled her 



446 Part Taken by Women in American History 

to manage all the financial and administrative affairs of the 
National Society, with a clear head and a firm hand, yet 
undoubtedly the most distinctive thing about her administration 
has been her own personality — that subtle combination of the 
patrician and the idealist, which has enabled her to infuse into 
the organization so much of her own spirit of refinement, 
strength and moral fervor. 

In nearly all of her speeches, she somewhere and somehow 
manages to strike the same clear and fearless note of noble 
aspiration, high purpose, fearless independence and invincible 
resolve. In her address at the opening session of the nineteenth 
Continental Congress occurs the following passage which is a 
fair sample of her literary style and of her conception of the 
mission of the "Daughters." 

"The National Society of the Daughters of the American 
Revolution had its genesis in the sentiment of 'noblesse oblige.' 
It is our proud title to distinction that we trace our ancestry 
back, not to forbears distinguished for the arrogance of wealth, 
or the supercilious vanity that is based upon a supposed aristo- 
cratic blueness in our blood — but one and all of us trace our 
lineage back to faithful men and women whose splendid 
distinction it was to have served their country in their time, at 
the sacrifice of all that was most precious from the material 
standpoint of life. Ours is an aristocracy of service. It is no 
light responsibility to have become, as we have undertaken to 
make ourselves, the ambassadors in this twentieth century, of 
the ruling spirits of the colonies of the last half of the eighteenth 
century — the time that tried men out and called them to cement 
with their blood a union of new-born states, setting up for the 
whole modern world, so startling a conception of political 
freedom, religious tolerance and social justice." 

The Daughters of the American Revolution have since 
their inception, some twenty-two years ago, selected worthy and 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 447 

distinguished women to wear the badge of supreme authority. 
Mrs. Benjamin Harrison, Mrs. Adlai Stevenson, Mrs. John W. 
Foster, Mrs. Daniel Manning, Mrs. Charles Warren Fairbanks, 
Mrs. Donald McLean and the present incumbent, Mrs. Mat- 
thew T. Scott, of Bloomington, Illinois. Mrs. Scott is now well 
into the third year of her stewardship, and the list of splendid 
results which may be directly ascribed to her methods is worthy 
of five times that lapse of time. Like Joshua, she led the cohorts 
into the land of their desire — the Continental Memorial Hall — 
and has placed the business affairs of the society on a firm 
financial basis which will lighten the burden for her successors 
for all time to come. To build this national hall of fame had 
been the goal of the society's ambition from the early days of 
its existence. Every president-general which the Daughters 
elected labored indefatigably for this end, but it was the keen 
business acumen, the steady purpose and unflagging labor 
of Mrs. Scott which made possible so speedy a realization of 
this hope. Mrs. Donald McLean had by her prompt action in 
raising the money by mortgage made possible the erection of 
the hall without the slow, painful method of waiting for the 
money to be collected. Mrs. Scott took up the work with 
splendid energy and pushed the lagging forward, closed out 
every contract connected with the building and planning with- 
out one lawsuit or even unfriendly episode with those in charge 
of the construction. This is a remarkable record in Wash- 
ington, where even the national government gets entangled in 
the laws affecting labor and construction. Pushing the work to 
a speedy termination and taking possession of the Memorial 
Hall far in advance of the time generally named, Mrs. Scott 
saved the society a tidy sum in the rental of a great suite of 
offices. During this same busy juncture of time, she has begun 
the reorganization of the business affairs of the society in the 
effort to place it on the same plane as that of other corporate 



448 Part Taken by Women in American History 

enterprises. The result will be that the society will be saved 
a considerable amount annually which is to go into the treasury 
to take up the notes due on the Memorial Hall. 

This Valhalla is in an especial way dear to Mrs. Scott, as 
her sister, Mrs. Adlai Stevenson, who was second and fourth 
president-general of the Daughters, was the first to crystallize 
the endeavor to collect funds for its erection. It is unique 
among the magnificient halls which the national Capital or the 
country at large possesses. It is the largest and most costly 
monument ever erected by women in this land or any other, in 
this era or any past one. It is besides, the first grand monu- 
ment erected to all heroes who helped to gain American 
independence, men and women alike. The insignia of the 
society, the distaff, is pregnant with memories of the noble 
women who were the ancestresses of those who from the 
motives of purest patriotism erected the noble memorial. The 
history and achievements of the Daughters of the American 
Revolution are written in this hall in letters of bronze and 
marble. It is a Corinthian temple built of white Vermont marble 
with a wonderful colonnade, thirteen majestic pillars, typical 
of the thirteen states which formed the first American union 
and given by the Daughters from each of these historic com- 
monwealths. Magnificent among the stately buildings which 
are its near neighbors, the Corcoran Gallery of Art and the 
Bureau of American Republics, the Memorial Continental Hall 
is an achievement of which every woman in the land may be 
proud, because it is the result of the conservation of the vital 
forces obtainable when worthy women are leagued together. 

The interior of the hall has been the object of loving 
solicitude from the day the foundation stone was laid. It is a 
rare combination of delicate and graceful symmetry combined 
with every practical consideration. Over each door and in the 
ornamental niches may be seen busts of heroes, gifts of states, 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 449 

chapters and of individuals. The beginnings of the nation are 
plainly written here — George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, 
Thomas Jefferson, John Hancock, Nathan Hale, John Adams, 
James Oglethorpe, Edward Hand, Isaac Shelby, John Stark, 
General Clinton, and Ethan Allen look down benignly on the 
passersby. 

Mrs. Scott's energy and enthusiasm is well attested in the 
rich and varied decorations of the various rooms. Always 
ready to encourage and to suggest, the entire hall is now fur- 
nished, nearly every pledge made by the members has been 
redeemed, and the hall stands in completeness, a sign of what 
the strong purpose and ripe judgment of the present president- 
general accomplished in little more than two years. Mrs. Scott 
brought all forces into a mighty effort to this endeavor and she 
used all means at her command. In a word she gathered, while 
she might have scattered. 

All these material proofs of her success as an executive 
officer are worthy of all praise, but when the sum total of Mrs. 
Scott's regime as president-general is computed, it will be found 
that her best and most useful service has been in the deep and 
intelligent study which she has given the ideals and aspirations 
of the society, and her dominant energy in forcing the public 
to accept them, and not a preconceived, distorted notion. She 
has elevated the tone of the society ; not that she has labored for 
this end especially, but her dignity and personal worth have' 
eliminated the smaller issues which for a time overpowered 
the real issues. Mrs. Scott is the first president-general from 
whom the President of the United States accepted an invitation 
to open a Continental Congress. The highest officials of the 
land feel honored when they are requested to appear before the 
Daughters, and the wives of the loftiest officials now work side 
by side with the councillors. Those who went before Mrs. Scott 
solved many a problem and did many a useful and uplifting 

29 



450 Part Taken by Women in American History 

service to the society, but it remained for her to place the 
Daughters of the American Revolution before the country as 
they should be known. She broke down the bulwark of ridicule 
and sarcasm which greeted every effort, erected by a sensation- 
loving press of the country. She made it plain to those 
responsible for giving such news to the world that to bear false 
witness applied to women organized as well as to women 
individually, and through courteous and gentle means she 
showed the injustice with which her society had been treated. 
In this she performed a service for the society greater in the 
moral sense than the brilliant management of the business 
affairs is in a material way. 

Very recently she has been elected president of the McLean 
County Coal Company, of Bloomington, Illinois, to succeed the 
former vice-president, Adlai Stevenson. The respect and 
admiration in which she is held by her Illinois neighboring 
farmers, many of them keen-witted business men, is in itself a 
tribute which bears testimony to her rating in the realm of 
great and practical affairs. Her farms yield a golden harvest, 
but better is the distinction which she has earned as a stimulus 
to scientific farming and a factor in the future welfare of her 
environment. One of her many wisely beneficent deeds is to 
send a certain number of her tenants yearly to the Agricultural 
College of Illinois to prepare themselves for more productive 
work. 

Mrs. Scott has always taken a keen interest in inland water- 
ways, and she has served on many committees which inquired 
into that problem which so vitally concerns the future. She 
has learned by practical experience the excellent results of con- 
serving water. As Father Noah says in that wonderful poem 
of Jean Ingelow, "With my foot, have I turned the river to 
water grasses that are fading," she has redeemed a wilderness 
in the lower counties of Iowa by means of irrigation. 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 451 

A favorite charity of Mrs. Scott's is to aid the mountain 
whites in various Southern states, but especially in her home 
state, Kentucky. Many years ago, she established a school at 
Phelps, Kentucky, named in honor of her husband, the Matthew 
T. Scott Institute. Her noble intention is when she rests from 
the arduous labors connected with the stewardship of the 
Daughters, to devote her time and energy to arousing the 
people of this country to their duties towards the poor moun- 
taineers. Mrs. Scott deplores that so much more is given to 
educate and uplift the Afro-American race than for the poor 
whites who are left in ignorance and poverty, without hope or 
ambition. That this phase of our national neglect is now receiv- 
ing so much attention may be attributed in a large measure to 
public-spirited women like Mrs. Scott, who by word and deed 
have set the example of what should be done. She served for 
many years with eminent success as secretary of the Home 
Missionary Board of the Presbyterian Church of Illinois, and 
later as president of the Woman's Club of Bloomington. 

Mrs. Scott has written a charming book on her Revo- 
lutionary ancestors. This book is intended for her children and 
grandchildren and has only a limited circulation. It contains 
some exceedingly interesting facts and ranks among the 
genealogical records of times remote from written history. 
Even a meagre list of the famous men and women from whom 
Mrs. Scott and her sister, Mrs. Stevenson, claim descent, would 
make a long article. One of the very interesting points, how- 
ever, is that one of her first American ancestresses was Mildred 
Warner, aunt and godmother of the "Father of His Country." 
This hallowed name is perpetuated in the only granddaughter 
of Mrs. Scott, Mildred Warner Bromwell, daughter of her 
elder daughter, Letitia, wife of Colonel Charles S. Bromwell, 
U. S. A. " 

Since she became president-general of the Daughters of 



452 Part Taken by Women in American History 



the American Revolution, historic work has been emphasized 
and innumerable landmarks have been saved from the decaying 
tooth of time. She encouraged the marking of the trails fol- 
lowed by the pioneers of the nation, and almost every month 
some new achievement in this line has been recorded in the 
annals of the society. The trail of the first adventurers to the 
Golden West has been marked by the Pueblo Chapter of Colo- 
rado ; the Natchez trail by the Tennessee Daughters ; the Oregon 
trail by the Daughters of Nebraska. General Harrison's 
military road has been marked by the Daughters of Ohio and 
Indiana, and the path of Daniel Boone by the Daughters of the 
American Revolution of Kentucky. But while urging the 
marking of historic spots, Mrs. Scott has always urged on 
the society that deeds are more prolific of results than words, 
and she deplores that so many believe that patriotism is best 
expressed by enthusiastic devotion to the past. She gives 
profound deference to the past, but under her leadership the 
seventy-six thousand women who compose the National 
Society Daughters of the American Revolution are endeavor- 
ing to obtain exact knowledge of present conditions. Her 
ambition is that the Daughters shall play an important part in 
forming public opinion upon certain vital national questions — 
child labor, the Juvenile Court, patriotic education in all its 
scope, playgrounds, the observance of a safe and sane July 4th, 
the preservation of historic spots and records, and the 
conservation of the national resources in the interest of the 
future homemakers of the nation. Mrs. Scott's optimistic 
philosophy put in epigrammatic form is, that there "exists in the 
heart and mind of every loyal American woman, latent civic 
and moral sentiment that needs only to be aroused and intel- 
ligently focused, in order to make of women one of the most 
potent and resistless factors for good in the civilization of the 
twentieth century." 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 453 

Mrs. Matthew T. Scott is one of the noblest types of 
American womanhood. Her character in every sense is 
worthy of emulation by those who come after her. 

EUGENIA WASHINGTON. 

Miss Washington was born beneath the shadow of the Blue Ridge Moun- 
tains near the romantic and historic Harper's Ferry. Her father, William Temple 
Washington, a graduate of William and Mary College, educated his daughters 
at home. About 1859 Miss Washington's father moved to Falmouth, opposite 
Fredericksburg, the Rappahannock flowing between. On this debatable land, 
between the contending armies of the Civil War, the family suffered all the 
horrors and all the hardships, and the end showed them deprived of all worldly 
goods. Mrs. Washington soon died and was followed in a short time by Mr. 
Washington. Miss Eugenia Washington was offered and accepted an honorable 
place under the government and made Washington her home until her death. 
On her mother's side she was descended from Charles Francis Joseph, Count de 
Flechir, and who served in the War of the Revolution. He was the friend and 
kinsman of Lafayette. On her father's side she was descended from John Wash- 
ington who, with his brother Lawrence, settled in the northern neck in West- 
moreland County, where the Potomac ran strong and ample and there was easy 
trade with the home ports of London and Bristol. Descended from such illus- 
trious ancestry on both sides, closely allied with the Father of His Country, George 
Washington, and of lineal descent from so many who served in the war that made 
us a nation, it was fitting that Miss Washington should be identified with the 
organization of the National Daughters of the American Revolution. She was 
one of the founders and the first registrar. Having served the society as registrar- 
general, secretary-general and vice-president-general she was, in 1895, made 
honorary vice-president-general, which high position was for life. She was 
presented by the society with a magnificent jeweled badge, showing the high 
appreciation in which she was held and that they recognized in her one of the 
founders of the great powerful organization. Miss Eugenia Washington died at 
Washington on Thanksgiving Day, 1900. 

MARY DESHA. 

Miss Desha was born in Lexington, Kentucky, and was the daughter of 
Dr. John Randolph and Mary Bracken Desha. She was educated at Sayre Insti- 
tute and the Kentucky State College at Lexington. She was a teacher in the 
Kentucky public schools for twelve years, until 1886, when she came to Washing- 
ton to take a position under the government. This she held until her death in 
1910. Miss Desha is most prominent as having been one of the three founders — 
with Mrs. Ellen Hardin Walworth and Miss Eugenia Washington— of the National 
Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. In that society she served 



454 Part Taken by Women in American History 

in many capacities. She was assistant director of the Daughters of the American 
Revolution Hospital Corps, which furnished a thousand trained nurses during the 
Spanish-American War. She was an honorary vice-president-general of the 
National Society, and served on many of its committees. Miss Desha was a 
president of the Albert Sidney Johnston Chapter of the United Daughters of 
the Confederacy, and was parliamentarian of the National Mary Washington 
Memorial Association and recording secretary of the Pocahontas Memorial 
Association. 

MRS. JOHN W. FOSTER. 

Mrs. Foster, president-general of the Daughters of the American Revolu- 
tion, was born in Salem, Indiana, and is a direct descendant of a line of Revolu- 
tionary heroes on both sides of the house. Mrs. Foster is the daughter of the 
late Rev. Alexander McFerson, her mother being Eliza Reed McFerson, whose 
nine brothers all became distinguished at the bar, in medicine, or in the army or 
navy. She graduated at Glendale College, near Cincinnati. Her marriage to Mr. 
Foster has proved a very happy one. In 1873, four years after the marriage of 
Mr. and Mrs. Foster, General Grant appointed Mr. Foster minister to Mexico. 
Their residence at the Mexican capital covered a period of seven years. During 
this time Mrs. Foster became thoroughly familiar with the language, people, habits 
and manners of the country. Many of the literary societies of Washington have 
been beneficiaries of her and her husband's experience and knowledge. From 
Mexico Mr. Foster was transferred to St. Petersburg, in 1880, by President Hayes. 
During her stay in Russia, Mrs. Foster spent a part of her time in translating 
Russian fiction into English. Upon Mr. Foster's return to Washington, he was 
again urged by President Arthur to accept a mission to Spain, which he accepted 
in 1884. During a residence there of two and a half years Mrs. Foster mingled 
in the brilliant court of Alphonso XII. The residence in Washington of Mr. and 
Mrs. Foster has often been the scene of brilliant social events Mrs. Foster is a 
woman who has had personal experience in the working of the various govern- 
ments of the world. She has seen the glory and pomp of monarchs, emperors and 
kings, and comes back to the simplicities of a democratic republican government 
more of an American than ever, believing that her institutions are the making 
of the grandest people of the earth, for the foundation of her law is for whatso- 
ever things are true, honest, just, pure and of good report. 

MRS. CHARLES WARREN FAIRBANKS. 

Mrs. Fairbanks was born in the Buckeye State, at Marysville, in Union 
County. Her father, Judge Philander B. Cole, was one of the prominent men 
of the Southern shore. He believed in the higher education of women and con- 
sequently sent his daughter Cornelia to college. She entered the Wesleyan Col- 
lege in 1868, taking the classical course, and she graduated in 1872. Like many 
Western girls she was as active in the athletic field and the gymnasium as she 
was in the historical and literary societies of the college. She was also connected 
with the college paper of which Charles Warren Fairbanks, one of the students 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 455 

at the college was the editor. Mrs. Fairbanks, as a girl, became familiar with 
parliamentary law and her early training gave her an excellent basis for her work 
in later years. Two years after obtaining her degree she became the wife of 
Charles Warren Fairbanks, her former college editor, and they took up their 
residence in Indianapolis. Mrs. Fairbanks became the president of the first 
literary club of the state and was the first woman appointed on the Indiana 
State Board of Charities. She organized "The Fortnightly Literary Club" and 
belonged to art and musical societies, all of this in addition to caring for her 
little family of five children. When Mr. Fairbanks was elected senator from 
Indiana Mrs. Fairbanks became one of the winter residents of Washington, 
joined the Washington Club, and founded, together with a number of other 
progressive and enterprising women, "The Woman's League," to aid and assist 
the "Junior Republic." During the Spanish War she did an incalculable amount 
of work for our soldiers, was made president of the Indiana Aid Society to send 
nurses, hospital supplies and commissary stores to the front. In 1900 Mrs. Fair- 
banks was elected director of the Federation of Woman's Clubs. One of her 
chief aims was the promotion of Continental Hall, in which she was actively 
interested. Another measure that Mrs. Fairbanks strongly advocated during her 
term as president-general was the commemoration of the historic places of the 
country which she thought might be made into object lessons in love of country 
to those who had not had early patriotic training. 

MRS. A. LEO KNOTT. 

Mrs. Knott is among the earliest members of the Society of the Daughters 
of the American Revolution, being at the time of its formation, a resident of 
Washington. She was elected a member of the society on June 19, 1891, having 
previously attended several preliminary meetings of the society at the residence 
of Mrs. Cabell. On the 9th of May of the same year she was elected one of the 
vice-presidents-general. Mrs. Knott claims membership in the society on account 
of the Revolutionary services rendered by Captain John Phelan, through her 
mother Mary J. Kienan, nee Mary J. Phelan. Captain Phelan joined the Amer- 
ican army at Boston in 1776. He survived the war, being promoted to the rank 
of captain for gallant services performed during the war and was with the army 
until it disbanded at Newburg in October, 1783. After the war Captain Phelan 
engaged in mercantile business in New York. He made a trip to Rio Janeiro in 
connection with his business. On his return he was shipwrecked, losing the 
vessel and cargo in which most of his fortune was invested. He removed to 
Baltimore and established a classical and mathematical school which enjoyed a 
wide reputation for many years. He died in Baltimore in 1827. Mrs. Knott 
took an active part in the work of the early building up of the Daughters of the 
American Revolution. On the retirement of Mrs. Flora Adams Darling from 
the position which she filled of vice-president-general in charge of the organiza- 
tion of chapters, Mrs. Knott, together with Mrs. John W. Foster and Mrs. H. V. 
Boynton was appointed by the national board to take charge of that work. In 
1891 Mrs. Knott, on her removal to Baltimore, was requested by the national 



456 Part Taken by Women in American History 

board to accept the position of state regent of Maryland and to undertake the 
work of establishing chapters in that state. In accordance with that request 
Mrs. Knott, in 1892, sent out invitations to ladies in Baltimore whom she knew 
were eligible to membership in the National Society and on March 4th, the Balti- 
more Chapter was formed at her house. Mrs. Knott appointed Miss Alice Key 
Blunt regent of the chapter. In 1894 Mrs. Knott resigned the office of state 
regent of Maryland, and at the succeeding congress was elected one of the 
honorary vice-presidents-general for life. In 1889, at the urgent request of 
many of the members of the chapter, Mrs. Knott was elected to the office of 
regent of the Baltimore Chapter, which has done good work under her regency 
and has taken a lively interest in the construction of Continental Hall. 

SOPHIE WALKER HYNDSHAW BUSHNELL. 

The subject of this sketch was born in Henry, Illinois; her father Silas 
Condict Hyndshaw, coming there from Morristown, New Jersey as a young man. 
In 1858 he was married to Miss Elizabeth Walker of Cincinnati, Ohio. At an 
early age Mrs. Bushnell was sent to Monticello Seminary, one of the oldest schools 
for young women in the Middle West and there she spent four years. During 
the time she was attending school at Monticello, her parents moved to Norwood 
Park, a suburb of Chicago, and there in 1878 she was married to Drayton Wilson 
Bushnell. Mr. Bushnell was a native of Ohio, his ancestors coming there from 
Connecticut in 1880 and settling on the Western Reserve. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Bushnell went to Council Bluffs, Iowa, 
and decided to make that place their home. Mrs. Bushnell became much interested 
in the Daughters of the American Revolution during the first years of the 
organization but did not identify herself with the society until 1897, when a 
chapter was formed in Council Bluffs, and she became a charter member. She 
has served the chapter in various offices, being regent for three years and in 
office or a member of the board of management constantly since the chapter was 
organized. She was state historian for two years, state vice-regent for one year 
and vice-president-general for four years. She is also a member of various other 
patriotic societies — the Colonial Dames — the Huguenot Society — United States 
Daughters of 1812 and others. Her line of ancestry through her father embraces 
many prominent New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New England names; her father 
having been named for the Hon. Silas Condict of New Jersey, who was a member 
of the first Continental Congress and speaker of the House; while his great- 
grandfather, Captain James Hyndshaw, was a distinguished soldier in the French 
and Indian Wars ; a fort near the Delaware Water Gap being named for him in 
recognition of his service. Her mother (Elizabeth Walker of Ohio) traces her 
lines to the Walkers, Fosters, Hicks, Millers and many of the old Maryland 
families; also to the Wiltsees and other Dutch families of New York. When 
elected to the office of vice-president-general, Mrs. Bushnell suggested to the 
Daughters of Iowa that they pay for one of the rooms in Memorial Continental 
Hall, to be called the Iowa Room. This plan met with the approval of the mem- 
bers, and Mrs. Bushnell was made the chairman of the Iowa Room Committee 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 457 

and has held the office until the room has been finished and furnished. Recog- 
nizing the good work accomplished in the chapter, the state, and on the national 
board by a member of their own chapter, the Council Bluffs Daughters had the 
name of Mrs. Bushnell placed on the roll of honor book in Memorial Continental 
Hall. Mrs. Bushnell's greatest interest is in her patriotic work, her first love, 
the Daughters of the American Revolution claiming the most of her attention. 
She has given to it of her best, and in return it has been her privilege and 
pleasure to feel that in a small way she has been able to add her "mite" to the 
growth, development, and great work achieved by this grand society. 

MRS. I. C. VANMETER, JR. 

Mrs. Pattie Field Vanmeter was an enthusiastic and active member of the 
National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution from the earliest 
days of its organization, having joined in 1890, when a pupil in Mrs. Somer's 
popular school in Washington, D. C. The tradition of her family lead her to 
an immense interest in a society which honored Revolutionary sires. She was the 
daughter of Thomas M. Field, of Denver, Colo., and was born in that city on 
April 10, 1865. She was graduated from the Denver High School in 1883, and 
bore off prizes in painting and in elocution. After leaving school in Washington 
she, with her younger brother and sister visited, in 1887, most of the countries 
of Europe. On May 4, 1892, she was married to I. C. Vanmeter, Jr., of Kentucky, 
and they removed to Winchester, Kentucky, where on February 24, 1893, she 
died. 

LUCIA A. BLOUNT. 

Mrs. Blount was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan. She was the daughter of 
Lovett Eames and Lucy C. Morgan Eames, and comes of good Revolutionary 
stock. Mrs. Blount was educated in Kalamazoo College under Dr. and Mrs. 
Stone. She lived several years abroad to educate her children. Since her home 
has been in Washington she helped to organize and was made the president of 
the Pro-ra-Nata Society, an organization which has taken a front rank in the 
federated clubs. Mrs. Blount is a charter member of the Daughters of the Amer- 
ican Revolution. She has been a vice-president and historian for two years. She 
has also been identified with several other societies and clubs whose trend is for 
the betterment of society. 

MRS. J. HERON CROSMAN. 

Mrs. Crosman has been deeply, lovingly interested in the National Society 
of the Daughters of the American Revolution from its inception. When the 
vice-president, first in charge of organization, was sent to form a chapter in New 
York, initial meetings were held at Mrs. Crosman's house and the proposed mem- 
bers were entertained by her. From these beginnings grew the great army of 
over four thousand daughters of the American Revolution in New York, the 
banner state. Mrs. Crosman was the fourth member from New York and her 



458 Part Taken by Women in American History 

national number is 262. Her distinguished services were fittingly recognzied when 
in 1900 she was elected vice-president-general to represent the Empire State in 
the councils of the society. She is a member of the Continental Hall Committee 
and of the Magazine Committee. Among her ancestors who won renown in 
Colonial and Revolutionary times is Elihu Hall who served as lieutenant-captain 
and colonel, receiving his commission as colonel of the Susquehanna battalion in 
1778. He was descended from Richard Hall of Norfolk, England, who settled 
in Cecil County, Maryland. John Harris, another of Mrs. Crosman's colonial 
forefathers, came from Yorkshire, England, to Philadelphia, where he married 
Esther Say. Mrs. Crosman was Miss Ellen Hall, daughter of William M. and 
Ellen Campbell Hall. Mr. J. Heron Crosman, whose wife she is, is a member 
of an old West Point family. Besides being an honored and beloved Daughter 
of the American Revolution, Mrs. Crosman is a Colonial Dame, and a promoter 
of the Society of Children of the American Revolution. A beautiful home life 
is her crowning inheritance. 

ANNA SCOTT BLOCK. 

Wife of Colonel Williard T. Block, is a daughter of William P. Scott, and 
Mary Piper, his wife. Mr. Scott is a descendant of Hugh Scott, who came to 
America prior to 1720, and settled in Lancaster County, Pa., and whose descend- 
ants have had much to do with the making of this country in civil, military, 
political and industrial affairs. In 1748 some of the Scotts moved from Donegal 
Church, in Lancaster County, and took up land in Adams County, upon part of 
the land over which in 1S63 the great battle of Gettysburg was fought. 

Mrs. Block's ancestor, Rebecca Scott, married Captain James Agnew, who 
commanded a company of associators in 1756, among whose descendants were 
Colonel Thomas A. Scott, late president of the Pennsylvania Railroad, also presi- 
dent of the Northern Pacific Railroad, Union Pacific Railroad, Kansas Pacific 
Railroad and Texas Pacific Railroad, the latter road owned by him, when he 
sold it to Jay Gould. 

Colonel Scott was appointed by President Lincoln assistant secretary of 
war in 1861, and was placed in charge of all the railroads needed for military 
operations of the war. Colonel Scott was Mrs. Block's uncle. 

Other descendants of Captain Agnew and his wife Rebecca Scott were Dr. 
D. Hayes Agnew the celebrated surgeon. Another descendant was David A. 
Stewart, a former partner of Andrew Carnegie, and president of the Carnegie 
Steel Company. 

The great-grandmother of Mrs. Block, Sarah Agnew, was married to 
Archibald Douglas, a descendant of Lord Douglas of Scotland. Mrs. Block's 
grandmother, Rebecca Douglas, married Thomas Scott, whose father John Scott 
was a pioneer in the settlement of Franklin County, Pa., and served in the 
Revolution. 

Mrs. Block's great-grandfather on her maternal side was General John 
Piper of Bedford County, Pa., who served his state in 1763 as lieutenant in the 
French and Indian Wars, provincial justice in 1775 and 1776. June 18, 1776, 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 459 

was a member of the provincial conference held in Carpenter Hall, Philadelphia, 
which conference took steps to form a new government to denounce George III. 
The conference signed the declaration on June 18, 1776, that the state of Penn- 
sylvania was willing to concur in a vote to the Congress declaring the colonies 
free and independent states. 

Colonel Piper was a member of the convention of 1776, that formed the 
Constitution of Pennsylvania. In 1776 Colonel Piper was appointed lieutenant- 
colonel of Bedford County, Pennsylvania, with free military power reporting 
to the president of the assembly. 

In 1777 he was appointed lieutenant of western Pennsylvania. From 1779 
to 1783 he represented Bedford County in Supreme Executive Council, and a 
member from 1785 to 1789 of the general assembly, member of the convention of 
1789, and one of the framers of the Constitution of 1790, a justice from 1796 to 
1801, a senator from 1801 to 1803, presidential elector in 1797, major-general 
of state militia in 1801 until his death in 1817. 

Upon the organization of the Daughters of the American Revoultion, Mrs. 
Block was one of the charter members, her number being 337, and a charter mem- 
ber of the Chicago Chapter, her number being three, also a member of the first 
board of management. 

Mrs. Block represented her chapter several times as a delegate at Annual 
Congress and at the Congress of 191 1. She presented before Congress a plan to 
raise money to pay off the debt on Memorial Continental Hall, and to start a fund 
for its maintenance by designing a beautiful and artistic certificate that could be 
sold at one dollar each to every Daughter and descendant. Her plan as suggested 
by her was so simple, so effective, that it was unanimously adopted by the Con- 
gress and Mrs. Block was appointed chairman of a committee to carry out her 
idea. This she is now employed in doing. 

She is a member of the Daughters of 1812, the Second Presbyterian 
Church of Chicago, and The Woman's Athletic Club of Chicago. 

CHARLOTTE LOUISE LAWRENCE. 

Mrs. Lawrence, a Daughter of the American Revolution, has the following 
ancestry: She is a great-granddaughter of Roger Sherman, a signer of the Dec- 
laration of Independence, who was her mother's grandfather; the great-grand- 
daughter of Major Morgan, her father's grandfather on his mother's side; the 
great-granddaughter of Colonel Jonathan Bliss, of Longmeadow, Massachusetts, 
by her father's grandmother on his father's side, who commanded a Massachu- 
setts regiment of the Continental Line, and a great-great-granddaughter of David 
Morgan, from her father's grandmother on his mother's side, who was a private 
in Captain Joseph Hoar's company of Colonel Gideon Bart's regiment of Massa- 
chusetts militia, who served in 1782 in the army of Canada. 

Mrs. Lawrence, a charter member of the Daughters of the American Revo- 
lution, was the daughter of Randolph Morgan Cooley and Maria Louise Steven- 
son Cooley. She is the wife of George A. Lawrence of New York City. 



460 Part Taken by Women in American History 



HELEN MASON BOYNTON. 

Mrs. Boynton was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, of Massachusetts parentage on 
both sides of the house in an unbroken line back to 1630, when Robert Mason came 
to America from England and settled in Dedham. The family was prominent 
in civil and military affairs in the colonies. Thomas Mason, son of Robert, was 
killed by the Indians at the defense of Medfield in 1676. Lieutenant Henry Adams, 
one of her lineal ancestors was also killed in this massacre. He was the ancestor 
of Samuel Adams, Revolutionary patriot, John Adams and John Quincy Adams, 
presidents of the United States. Andrew Hall, her colonial ancestor on her 
mother's side, was a lineal descendant of Elizabeth Newgate, daughter of John de 
Hoo Hessett, of England. The Halls were active in the Indian wars, and in the 
Revolution. Mrs. Boynton's national number is twenty-eight. She has served 
as vice-president-general in charge of organization, vice-president-general, hon- 
orary vice-president-general and librarian-general. In 1871 she married General 
H. V. Boynton an officer of national reputation in the Civil and Spanish Wars. 
He received the medal of honor for gallantry in the attack on Missionary Ridge. 

LUCY PRESTON BEALE. 

Mrs. Beale was elected through the Continental Congress in Washington to 
the honor of vice-president-general of the Daughters of the American Revolution. 
She was already well known as a representative for her state to the Colorado 
Exposition. She is the daughter of the late honorable William Ballard Preston 
and Lucy Staples Redd and was born in Montgomery County, Virginia, at the 
old family seat, Smithfield. When it was proposed to reproduce for the Virginia 
State building at Chicago, facsimiles of the furnishings of the home of Washing- 
ton, Mrs. Beale was able to save the state some expense by her offer to furnish 
several counterparts from the household belongings of old Smithfield. She is 
descended on both sides from distinguished Revolutionary ancestors and in her 
we find the high courage which grapples with different enterprises, the talent 
that organizes, the executive force that reaches completion, and the diplomatic 
instinct that leads all circumstances to the consummation of determined purpose. 
The office to which Mrs. Beale was called was not of her own seeking, for contented 
in the happy home of an honored husband, she found all that her true, womanly 
heart asked, in his devotion and that of her children to which is lavishly added the 
warmest devotion of a wide circle of friends. 

AUGUSTA DANFORTH GEER. 

Mrs. Geer, vice-president-general of the Daughters of the American Revo- 
lution, was born at Williamstown, Massachusetts. She was the daughter of 
Keyes and Mary Bushnell Danforth. She is of good Revolutionary stock, being 
the grandchild of Captain Jonathan Danforth, a soldier at Bunker Hill and Ben- 
nington, besides her grandfather, two uncles and ten other relatives who fought 
at Bunker Hill. Her father served several terms in the state legislature of Massa- 
chusetts and was for many years leader of the Democratic party in Berkshire 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 461 

County. Miss Danforth was married in January, 1856, to Asahel Clark Geer, a 
lawyer of Troy, New York. She was educated by her brother-in-law, Joseph 
White, secretary of the board of education of Massachusetts and one of the foun- 
ders and trustees of Smith College, and for nearly forty years treasurer and trustee 
of Williams College. She was an excellent scholar, especially proficient in the 
languages. Mrs. Geer was one of the earliest members of the National Society 
of the Daughters of the American Revolution and has been unwavering in her 
devotion to its largest interests. 

ELIZABETH HANENKAMP DELAFIELD. 

Mrs. Delafield was the daughter of Richard P. Hanenkamp and Agnes C. 
Jones, his second wife. She was born in Missouri and has resided in St. Louis 
all her life. On her father's side she is descended from Pennsylvania Dutch, on 
her mother's side from Virginia ancestry. One of her ancestors was governor 
of Virginia in 1617. She has been prominent in the work of the Daughters of the 
American Revolution, having held the offices successively of treasurer and regent 
of the St. Louis Chapter, vice state regent and state regent of Missouri. At the 
sixteenth Continental Congress she was elevated to the high position of vice- 
president-general of the National Society. She was chairman of the Daughters 
of the American Revolution at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, where the 
entertainments arranged by her were a great success. She has served the Daugh- 
ters well on the Continental Hall Committee, as the liberal contributions from 
Missouri show. She is a member of the Daughters of 1812, of the Colonial Dames 
and the Colonial Governors and of many local clubs for betterment. She is the 
wife of Wallace Delafield, one of the best-known business men of St. Louis 
and has five children. Mrs. Delafield is a descendant of Peter Humrichhouse. 
William Jones, who was killed at the battle of Guilford Court House, was another 
of her ancestors. 

MARY STEINER PUTNAM. 

Mrs. John Risley Putnam, vice-president-general of the Daughters of the 
American Revolution, was born in Ohio. Her life until her marriage was mainly 
spent in her father's country seat, Glendale, fifteen miles out of Cincinnati. Her 
father, Robert Myers Shoemaker, was one of the most prominent citizens of his 
state, being a power among railroad men of the country. Mrs. Putnam's mother 
was, before her marriage, Mary Colegate Steiner, the daughter of Captain Henry 
Steiner, who served in the War of 1812. Mrs. Putnam is a charter member of 
the Daughters of the American Revolution and one of its most zealous officers, 
having been from the first vice-president-general representing the state of New 
York. Mrs. Benjamin Harrison was an early and long valued friend of Mrs. 
Putnam, and when the latter came to Washington in the interest of the National 
Society a warm welcome awaited her at the White House. 

MARY KATHARINE JOHNSON. 

Mary Katharine Johnson, vice-president-general of the Daughters of the 
American Revolution, was born in Washington, D. C, and was educated at the 



462 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Fulford Female Seminary, Maryland. She is a daughter of the late Mitchel 
Hervey Millar and Sallie Clayton Williams Millar and the wife of Charles Sweet 
Johnson, who is a member of the District of Columbia Society of the Sons of the 
American Revolution. On the paternal side she is descended from John and Jane 
Millar, born in Scotland, who came to America from Ireland in 1770 and settled 
in the western part of Pennsylvania ; on the maternal side from Pierre Williams, 
sergeant-at-law, of London, England. Mrs. Johnson has been actively interested 
in the Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution for many years, having 
served one year as registrar-general and one year as a member of the National 
Advisory Board before she was elected vice-president-general. 

ALICE BRENARD EWING WALKER. 

Mrs. Walker is the widow of John Reed Walker, a lawyer of Kansas City, 
Missouri, widely known in his profession and in politics. She is the daughter of 
Ephraim B. Ewing and Elizabeth Ann Allen, his wife. Judge Ewing was born 
in Todd County, Kentucky, but grew to manhood in Missouri and is identified 
with its history in many distinguished positions secretary of state, attorney- 
general, judge of the Supreme Court and of the Surrogate Court of St. Louis, 
and was on the supreme bench at the time of his death. His father, Finis Ewing, 
was born in Bedford County, Virginia, but at an early date he and his brothers 
went to Kentucky. An old historian says : "The Ewings brought with them the 
law and the Gospel to Kentucky." Finis Ewing was the founder of the Cumberland 
Presbyterian Church and was a man of great ability and force of character. In 
the war of 1812 he served as chaplain on condition that if needed he might use 
his rifle. He was the intimate and lifelong friend of Andrew Jackson and Thomas 
H. Benton. Mrs. Walker's mother, Elizabeth Ann Allen, was the daughter of 
Dr. Thomas Allen and Nancy Watkins, his wife, of Prince Edward County, 
Virginia. Dr. Allen's father, Charles Allen, was a colonel in the Revolutionary 
army. On the maternal side her grandfather was Colonel Thomas Watkins, who 
served under Washington and was personally complimented by him for bravery 
at Guilford. Mrs. Walker was elected vice-president of the Daughters of the 
American Revolution in 1903 and re-elected in 1905, both times receiving the 
highest vote cast by the congress. She served the Elizabeth Benton Chapter of 
Kansas City, Missouri, as regent three consecutive terms, resigning when elected 
vice-president-general. Mrs. Walker is identified with the Memorial Continental 
Hall monument, as a member of that committee. She incorporated the fund for 
the Missouri room. She has written and spoken much on patriotic subjects, 
delivering an address on Daughters' Day at the World's Fair and was invited by 
both Mrs. Fairbanks and Mrs. McLean to respond to the address of welcome. 
She was elected to represent Missouri at the ceremonies of the Jamestown 
Exposition, September 19, 1906. 

CHARLOTTE EMERSON MAIN. 

Mrs. Main was vice-president-general in charge of the organization of 
chapters. She comes of fine New England stock. On her father's side her 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 463 

ancestry has been traced back to the time of King Henry VI. Mrs. Main's 
paternal grandmother was a direct descendant of Roger Conant, who was appointed 
hrst governor by the Dorchester Company of St. Ann, Endicott being his successor. 
Mrs. Main's mother, Elizabeth Emerson, belonged to that family which was so 
prominent in the early educational life of New England, the most widely known 
member being Ralph Waldo Emerson, whose fame as a thinker is world-wide. 
Her maternal grandmother was Esther Frothingham, daughter of Major Benjamin 
Frothingham, the personal friend of George Washington. Mrs. Main has been 
identified with the Daughters of the American Revolution since 1896, having filled 
many important offices in the society. 

MRS. BALDWIN DAY SPILMAN. 

Mrs. Baldwin Day Spilman, vice-president-general of the Daughters of the 
American Revolution, is a daughter of Senator and Mrs. J. N. Camden, and 
though born in Wheeling, West Virginia, has always lived in Parkersburg. She 
was educated at Madam Lefebvre's school in Baltimore. She lived in Washington 
during her father's service in the United States Senate and traveled abroad, thus 
acquiring many graces which distinguished her, and which later attracted the fine 
young lieutenant who became her husband, and which have made her successful 
in the work which she has undertaken. Mrs. Spilman formed the James Wood 
Chapter in Parkersburg. In the annual congress in Washington, in April, 1904, 
she was elected regent of the little mountain state of which all West Virginians 
are so justly proud. She was later elected to the position of one of the vice- 
presidents-general of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Mrs. Spilman's 
Revolutionary ancestor, Captain Cornelius Stimrod, enlisted in the Westchester 
Militia of New York in 1776 under Colonel Alexander McDougal. He commanded 
a company of Minute Men in 1782. 

MRS. JOHN RITCHIE. 

Mrs. Ritchie was elected at the Congress of 1895 state regent of Maryland. 
She is the widow of the late Honorable John Ritchie, of Frederick City, Maryland, 
and is the daughter of the late Judge William Pinkney Maulsby, of Maryland, 
and his wife, Emily Contee Nelson, daughter of Roger Nelson, from whom she 
derives her eligibility to the Daughters of the American Revolution. She is 
descended from the legal profession on every side. Her grandfather, General 
Israel David Maulsby, was one of the most distinguished lawyers of his day, an 
eloquent and polished orator and a tried public servant, having represented his 
country in the state legislature twenty-nine times. He was one of the volunteer 
defenders of the city of Baltimore when it was besieged by the British in 1814, and 
was one of those who made it possible for the "Patriot Poet" to see the Star- 
Spangled Banner still waving "in the dawn's early light." His wife was the 
daughter of John Hall, an officer of the Revolution. Mrs. Ritchie's maternal 
ancestors came to this country in the latter part of the seventeenth century, 
locating first in St. Mary's County, Maryland, and later coming up into western 



464 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Maryland. The first patent issued to John Nelson was for several thousand acres 
of land and bears the date of 1725. Mrs. Ritchie was commissioned by the first 
president-general of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Mrs. Caroline 
Scott Harrison, regent of the Frederick Chapter. Entering upon the work of its 
organization with enthusiasm, her efforts were crowned with success. In 1894 she 
was elected vice-president-general of the society, and in 1895 regent for the state 
of Maryland. She was a member of the State Committee on Women's Work for 
the Columbian Exposition of 1893, and did good service in that cause. She was a 
member of the Academy of Political and Social Science and an active member of 
the Frederick Historical Society, to whose annals she contributed several papers. 
She is one of the founders and one of the board of management of the Key 
Monument Association. She was commissioned by Governor Brown a member of 
the Maryland Committee for the Cotton States Exposition in Atlanta, Georgia, 
and was also appointed a member of the Colonial Relic Committee. In her 
character Mrs. Ritchie manifests the traits to be expected from her inheritance. 
Courageous, gracious and courtly, she represents the typical Maryland woman. 
She is distinguished for her patriotic spirit and her zeal has resulted in the 
establishment of a most prosperous chapter in Frederick. Mrs. Ritchie resides 
in the old colonial mansion built by her uncle, Honorable John Nelson, the 
eminent jurist. 

MRS. R. OGDEN DOREMUS. 

Mrs. R. Ogden Doremus was appointed regent of the New York City Chapter 
of the Daughters of the American Revolution, January 1, 1892, by the Committee of 
Safety, and this election was unanimously confirmed by the chapter at its next 
meeting on May 19, 1892. She was also made corresponding secretary and has 
been performing the duties of both offices until the present time. Mrs. Doremus, 
the daughter of Captain Hubbard Skidmore and Caroline Avery Skidmore, was 
born in the city of New York and educated under the care of the celebrated 
Madam Mears. She was married in New York to Dr. R. Ogden Doremus, the 
distinguished professor of chemistry, October I, 1850. The ceremony took place 
in the South Dutch Church, corner of Fifth Avenue and Twenty-first Street, the 
oldest church organization in the city of New York. The original edifice was 
built by the Dutch within the fortification walls at the Battery. Mrs. Doremus' 
maternal grandfather, Thaddeus Avery, of Mount Pleasant, Westchester County, 
New York, was born October 19, 1749, and died November 16, 1836. He was 
captain of cavalry during the Revolution and at one time paymaster of the 
Westchester troops. Mrs. Doremus is richly endowed by nature with a graceful 
and commanding figure, beautiful features, and a brilliancy of complexion rarely 
seen. Her tact in securing representative audiences, premiums on boxes at the 
Charity Ball, for the benefit of the Nursery and Child's Hospital (which the 
revered mother of her husband was instrumental in founding) inaugurated 
entertainments which continue to be successful to the present time. Never have 
the receipts been so large as when under her management. Tn Paris, during the 
Empire, her receptions were the favorite resorts of our distinguished American 
colony, and of French scientists and army officers. Here among other celebrities. 
Mile. Christine Nielsson sang while yet a pupil. Mrs. Doremus' table at the fair 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 465 

of the Princess Czartoryska, for the benefit of the exiled Poles, attracted American 
residents in the gay capital. Before the late war she gave efficient aid to the 
"Metropolitan Fair." During the war, in 1863, she was among the most zealous 
and indefatigable workers for the sanitary fair, which secured $1,400,000 for the 
sick and wounded soldiers. Her scientific table, with its marvels of the microscope 
and other philosophical instruments, always surrounded by the wit and wisdom of 
the day, added greatly to swell the donations. By a vote for the most popular 
lady at the French fair, held in New York for disabled soldiers, during the Franco- 
Prussian War, she was honored with the ambulance decoration of the Red Cross, 
set with diamonds. Successful performances of the play of "Cinderella" were 
planned and conducted by her, in 1876, in the New York Academy of Music, for 
the benefit of the "Women's Pavilion," at the Centennial Exposition held in 
Philadelphia. She secured the hearty co-operation of the parents and children 
of our best families. She rendered efficient aid in the performances of pantomimes 
on the "Mistletoe Bough" and "Sleeping Beauty," at the Academy of Music, for 
the Mount Vernon fund. She never allowed her charitable and patriotic work to 
interfere with the duties and responsibilities as a mother of eight children — seven 
sons and a daughter. Her nursery witnessed her greatest triumphs. She has been 
for many years a communicant in the South Reformed Church of New York. 

MRS. J. MORGAN SMITH. 

Mrs. Smith comes of illustrious Colonial and Revolutionary ancestry. She 
is eligible to membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution through 
seven different ancestors who served in the Revolutionary War. For ten years 
she held the state regency of Alabama, and her service, efficient, faithful and 
enthusiastic, has won for her a high place in the esteem and affection of her 
"Alabama Daughters." At the sixteenth continental congress Mrs. Smith was 
made vice-president-general, a distinction which she has well earned, not only by 
her tireless efforts in her own state, but by labors which have been far reaching 
and national in their extent. Mrs. Smith is also an honored member of the 
Pennsylvania Colonial Dames and an officer of the Alabama Colonial Dames. 

MABEL GODFREY SWORMSTEDT. 

Mrs. Swormstedt is a native of the "Old Bay State" and a graduate of 
Wellesley College, class of 1890. She was a teacher in the Washington High 
School for three years and is the wife of Dr. Lyman Beecher Swormstedt. She is 
the mother of a beautiful daughter eleven years old. She has held several offices 
in the Columbia Chapter, culminating in the regency. She has been president of 
the Washington Branch of the Association of Collegiate Alumnae and corresponding 
secretary of the Ladies' Aid Association of the Homeopathic Hospital. Mrs. 
Swormstedt claims six Revolutionary ancestors. 

ESTHER FROTHINGHAM NOBLE. 

Mrs. Noble is the wife of the Rev. Thomas K. Noble, pastor emeritus of 
the First Congregational Church of Norwalk, Connecticut. She is a native of 



466 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Massachusetts and connected with some of the most prominent New England 
families. On her mother's maternal side she is a direct descendant of Major 
Benjamin Frothingham, a personal friend of George Washington and one of the 
original members of the Order of the Cincinnati. On her mother's paternal side 
she belongs to the noted Emerson family, that long line of ministers and teachers 
who have been ever since Colonial times such an important factor in the religious 
and educational life of New England. On her father's side she is descended from 
Captain Thomas Bradbury and from Roger Conant, who were among the earliest 
settlers of Massachusetts. During Mr. Noble's pastorate in Norwalk, Connecticut, 
she was state vice-regent of Connecticut and regent of the Norwalk Chapter. She 
is a member of the Daughters of the Cincinnati, the Daughters of Founders and 
Patriots and the Daughters of 1812, the Mary Washington Memorial Society and 
the board of directors of the Aid Association for the Blind, and also of the 
Presbyterian Home for the Aged. She is an honored member of the Society of 
New England Women and of the National Geographic Society. 

ELIZABETH MOORE BOWRON. 

Mrs. Bowron is the daughter of Hannah Hoffman Moore and the late 
Watson Appleby Bowron. She is the wife of Henry Snowden Bowron. She 
was born in New York City of Dutch and New England descent on her mother's 
side and of English and New England with two lines from Virginia on her 
father's side ; she is allied with some of the most prominent families. Mrs. 
Bowron was elected recording secretary of the Mohegan Chapter at its first 
meeting. Her Revolutionary ancestor was Captain Robert Nichols, of the New 
Jersey Volunteers, who served throughout the entire war. In 1896 Mrs. Bowron 
became interested in the work of the National Society of the Daughters of the 
American Revolution, and as chairman conducted successfully a "Loan Exhibit" 
to raise funds for Continental Hall. In April, 1897, she formed a chapter of the 
Children of the American Revolution, and this same year her untiring work as 
secretary of Auxiliary No. 13 of the Red Cross Society formed by the Mohegan 
Chapter, contributed largely to its success. In 1900 she became regent of the 
Mohegan Chapter. The chapter then elected her honorary regent presiding and 
still continues the word "presiding" as a mark of confidence. Mrs. Bowron, 
through her interest in genealogy, has personally assisted many in her home 
chapters and others to qualify for membership in the Society of the Daughters of 
the American Revolution. She has served on many committees of the society and 
with Mrs. Charles H. Terry collected the exhibit from ancestry for the Hall of 
History at the Jamestown Exposition. She is a member of the New York 
Genealogical and Biographical Society and the Mary Washington Monument 
Association. 

REBECCA CALHOUN PICKENS BACON. 

Mrs. Bacon was born near Edgefield Court House, South Carolina. She was 
the daughter of Governor Francis W. Pickens, a wealthy planter of the South, 
and she enjoyed all the advantages attendant upon such a life in the ante-bellum 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 467 

days. After a thorough training with governesses she attended a course at the 
famous Montpelier Institute, presided over by Bishop Elliot of Georgia, where 
she was graduated with high honors. Having lost her mother when very young, she 
accompanied her distinguished father to Washington while he was there in 
Congress, and elsewhere in his political career. In this way she attained unusual 
accomplishments and became a fine linguist. In 1856 her father was appointed by 
Mr. Buchanan Minister to Russia, with residence at St. Petersburg, at that time 
the most brilliant court in Europe. There she married John E. Bacon, secretary 
of the American Legation at that court, after which they made an extended tour 
through Europe. Upon the election of Mr. Lincoln she returned to the United 
States with her husband, who entered the Civil War and served until its close. 
After the war the family settled in Columbia, South Carolina. In 1884 Mrs. 
Bacon went to South America, her husband having received from Mr. Cleveland 
the appointment of Minister to Paraguay and Uruguay. She resided four years 
at Montevideo, where she acquired a thorough knowledge of the Spanish language. 
Her letters on South America were widely read and greatly admired. In February, 
1893, Mrs. Bacon was elected by the National Board of the Daughters of the 
American Revolution state regent for South Carolina. No more appropriate 
appointment could have been made, as in addition to her superior qualifications 
she is lineally descended on the paternal side from General Andrew Pickens, who 
ranked with Sumter and Marion as one of the principal leaders in the war for 
independence. On her maternal side Mrs. Bacon is descended from General 
Elijah Clarke, of Georgia, and of Revolutionary fame: also Captain Arthur 
Simpkins, an intelligent and brave officer and staunch friend of his country. Her 
father's mother was a daughter of Christopher Edward Wilkinson, whose 
grandfather was Landgrave Joseph Moreton, colonial governor of South Carolina 
under Charles II, in 1681, and who married the niece of the famous Admiral 
Blake, of England. 

ANNIE WARFIELD LAWRENCE KERFOOT. 

Mrs. Kerfoot was the daughter of Otho Williams Lawrence, a lawyer of 
Hagerstown, Maryland, and his wife, Catherine Murdoch Nelson, of Frederick, 
in the same state. Her maternal grandfather was Brigadier-General Roger Nelson, 
of Point of Rocks Plantation, Frederick County, who entered the troops of horse 
under command of Colonel Augustine Washington in 1776, at the age of sixteen 
years. After the disbandment of the Maryland troops General Nelson read law. 
Was for six years in the Maryland senate ; for a similar period in the National 
House of Representatives and was subsequently appointed for life judge of the 
upper district of Maryland. Three granddaughters and five great-granddaughters 
of General Nelson have become members of the associations of the Daughters of 
the American Revolution. Among the distinguished lineal ancestors of Mrs. 
Kerfoot on the maternal side was her great-grandfather, Colonel Joseph Sims, of 
Prince George County, Justice of the Supreme Court of Maryland, who represented 
his country in the convention held at Annapolis June 22, 1774, to denounce the 
English bill closing the port of Boston. Mrs. Kerfoot was born in Hagerstown, 



468 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Maryland, in 1829, and was a graduate of St. Mary's Hall, Burlington, New Jersey, 
having received her diploma during the presidency of its revered founder, Bishop 
George W. Doane, in 1846. She married, in 1847, Samuel Humes Kerfoot, son of 
Richard Kerfoot, of Castle Blaney, Monaghan County, Ireland. Mr. and Mrs. 
Kerfoot removed from Maryland to Chicago in 1848 and have since resided in 
that city. Their home was burned in the Chicago fire of 1871, with a rare library 
and very fine collections of paintings and many priceless relics of Revolutionary 
and Colonial ancestry. Mrs. Kerfoot has inherited in a marked degree the clear 
mind and sound reasoning powers and unbiased judgment of her distinguished 
ancestors of the bench and bar. She has the enthusiastic temperament of her 
cavalier blood, which is united with the moderation of her Quaker forefathers. 
She is a member of the Executive Committee of the Chicago Chapters of the 
Daughters of the American Revolution and holds the chairmanship of its Literary 
Committee and that of the Committee upon Membership, and was elected in 
February, 1893, state regent of Illinois. 

GEORGIA H. STOCKTON HATCHER. 

Mrs. Hatcher, regent of the General de Lafayette Chapter, Daughters of the 
American Revolution, of Lafayette, Indiana, was born in that city July II, 1864, 
and is of New Jersey Revolutionary stock. In 1883 she was graduated from the 
Moravian Seminary for Young Ladies at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, which is the 
oldest institution of the kind in this country, the school having been turned into 
a soldiers' hospital during the Revolution. In 1889 she became the wife of 
Mr. Robert Stockwell Hatcher, of Lafayette, and after a long residence in 
France and other European countries returned to her native city. Mrs. Hatcher 
was commissioned as chapter regent by the national board June 1, 1893, and on 
April 21, 1894 she organized the General de Lafayette Chapter at Lafayette, 
Indiana, which is in a flourishing condition, with a membership of twenty-seven 
enthusiastic daughters. 

MRS. WILLIAM WATSON SHIPPEN. 

Mrs. Shippen was born in Hoboken, New Jersey, the daughter of George 
Washington, D. C, and joining the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1896, 
ancestry extends back in all its lines to the early settlement of this country. She 
early married William Watson Shippen, of New Jersey. He was always prominent 
and active in affairs in his native state and she was his coadjutor in all his 
schemes for its prosperity and progress. She was prominent during the late war 
in the Sanitary Commission and has always been connected with popular charities. 
She is a leading member of the Ladies' Club in New York; also a trustee of 
Evylyn College, the woman's college of New Jersey. When a regent of the 
Daughters of the American Revolution was to be appointed in New Jersey, Mrs. 
Shippen was chosen and held office from April, 1891, to February, 1895. In a 
large measure it is due to her good judgment, patience, perseverance and tact 
that the organization has been perfected in New Jersey. It is one of the most 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 469 

cleverly and thoroughly organized of all the states. After serving as regent she 
was unanimously elected one of the vice-presidents-general of the National Society. 

MRS. M. E. DAVIS. 

Mrs. Davis is a native of Wisconsin. She removed from that state to 
Washington, D. C, and joined the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1896, 
being indorsed by and entering through the Columbia Chapter of the District of 
Columbia. Mrs. Davis has served the chapter as historian, treasurer, vice-regent 
and regent, and represented it in the Continental Congress as delegate or regent 
from 1897 until she was elected to fill out the unexpired term of Mrs. D. K. Shute, 
resigning the office of regent to become treasurer-general. At the Fourteenth 
Continental Congress she was called upon to succeed herself. No other 
candidate being brought forward, she was declared the unanimous choice of the 
congress. Mrs. Davis is of English descent in three lines of ancestors. She also 
had the honor of receiving and reporting the two largest contributions to the 
Memorial Continental Hall, that to the Fourteenth Congress being in cash and 
pledges and amounting to $37,660.32 and that to the Fifteenth Congress being in 
cash and pledges amounting to $35,654.60. 

MRS. JOHN C. AMES. 

Mrs. John C. Ames — Minerva Ross Ames — state regent for Illinois, 1909- 
1910, is a native Illinoisan. Her father, John Ross, of Cumberland County, 
Pennsylvania, whose antecedents were the same as George Ross, the "signer," and 
her mother, Elizabeth Hunter Ross, of Indiana County, Pennsylvania, came to 
Illinois about 1850. 

Mrs. Ames comes of patriotic stock, tracing her ancestry back to 
Revolutionary soldiers both through her father's and mother's line. Her great- 
grandfather, Lieutenant Hunter (on her mother's side), was a Revolutionary 
hero. She is also eligible to the Daughters of 1812. Her only brother gave his 
life for his country in the Civil War. She has perpetuated the patriotic and 
military spirit by giving a son for service in the Spanish-American War. 

Mrs. Ames became a member of the National Society Daughters of the 
American Revolution many years ago, and has always taken an active part in 
promoting the welfare of the organization and the patriotic principles for which 
it stands. During her temporary residence in Chicago she served the Chicago 
Chapter as its recording secretary and first vice-regent. 

Mrs. Ames is possessed of a love and loyalty for the order, a fervent 
patriotic spirit, a pleasing personality and great executive ability and extended 
acquaintance throughout the state. She was a member of a "State Park 
Commission" appointed by Governor Deneen to investigate and report to the 
legislature several sites suitable for state parks, which resulted in an appropriation 
by the legislature of funds for buying the historic spot, "Starved Rock," and 
several hundred acres surrounding it as a state park. She was one of the 
founders of the oldest and most active literary clubs in her city and has served 



470 Part Taken by Women in American History 

as its president. She has since her childhood been a member of the Baptist 
Church. In 1875 she was married to John C. Ames, and coming to Streator a bride 
she has ever since been a resident of that city. She is a member of the Amor 
Patriae Chapter of Streator, Illinois. 

MRS. AMOS G. DRAPER. 

Mrs. Draper was born in Haverhill, New Hampshire, and is the daughter 
of Daniel F. Merrill, for many years principal of a large boys' school in Mobile, 
AJ"bama, and Luella Bartlett Bell Merrill, of Haverhill, New Hampshire. She 
was graduated from Mount Holyoke Seminary in 1877 and soon after graduation 
was married to Professor Amos G. Draper, of Gallaudet College, a national 
institution, and the only one in the world where deaf mutes can receive a college 
education. Among the several ancestors through whose services Mrs. Draper 
claims eligibility to the Daughters of the American Revolution, two, Daniel and 
Jonathan Weeks, were over seventy years, and one, John Bell, Jr., only sixteen 
years of age at the time of service. Another, Hon Josiah Bartlett, the last 
president of New Hampshire and its first governor, was the first member of the 
Continental Congress to vote for the Declaration of Independence, and the first 
after John Hancock, the President, to attach his name to that document. Since 
her marriage Mrs. Draper has lived very quietly, surrounded by her family, but 
devoting her leisure moments to some of the many historical and benevolent 
societies of the Capital. She was one of the original members of the Ladies' 
Historical Society, is the vice-president of the Home Missionary Society in her 
church, and has for many years been connected with the Homeopathic Hospital 
and Dispensary. She was for two years regent of the Dolly Madison Chapter, and 
in that capacity attended the Third and Fourth Continental Congresses of the 
Daughters of the American Revolution, and by the latter body was unanimously 
elected treasurer of the society. 

MRS. HENRY LEWIS POPE. 

Sarah Lloyd Moore Ewing Pope, of the city of Louisville, Kentucky, was 
appointed regent of Louisville on September 15, 1891, by the president-general 
of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Mrs. Caroline Scott Harrison. 
Mrs. Pope is descended from William Moore, of Pennsylvania, who with unfailing 
loyalty rendered material aid to the cause of American independence as president 
of the Executive Council of Pennsylvania during the war, Council of Safety and 
of the Board of War, captain-general of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 
Mrs. Pope was twice married; first, to Nathaniel Burwell Marshall, grandson of 
Chief Justice John Marshall. On the nth of January, 1891, when she organized 
her chapter, it was named the "John Marshall Chapter." Her second husband, 
Mr. Henry Lewis Pope, is related to the Washingtons. Mr. Pope's father, 
William Pope, although only seventeen years old, fought during the Revolutionary 
War. Mrs. Pope's father. Dr. Urban E. Ewing, was also of Revolutionary 
descent. The Rev. Finis Ewing, the great-uncle of Mrs. Pope, founded the 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 471 

Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Mrs. Pope, a devoted Episcopalian, is proud 
of the patriotism and piety of these relations. Adlai Ewing Stevenson former Vice- 
President of the United States, is a relative of this family. Gently affectionate 
and stately, Mrs. Pope displays a remarkable strength of character and energy 
of action for one who has led an easy, luxurious life. Being of natural right one 
of the queens of social life in the beautiful city of her birth, she has ever 
exercised other queenly gifts of charity and hospitality that inspire love as well 
as respect. Her patriotic spirit was warmly aroused at the first inception of the 
organization of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and her unfailing 
zeal has resulted in the establishment of a most prosperous and important chapter 
in Louisville. 

MARY McKINLAY NASH. 

Mrs. Nash, regent of the state of North Carolina, Daughters of the American 
Revolution, was born in New Bern, North Carolina, January 2, 1835. She is the 
daughter of John Pugh Daves and Elizabeth V. Graham Daves. Her paternal 
ancestor was of England and came to this country about the middle of the 
seventeenth century, settling first in what is now Chesterfield, Virginia. Her 
maternal ancestors were Grahams, of Arglyeshire, Scotland. Mrs. Nash was 
educated at St. Mary's School Raleigh, and at Madam Chegaray's, New York. On 
August 11, 1858, she was married to Hon. John W. Ellis, who was later made 
governor of North Carolina. Governor Ellis died while still in office, July 7, 1861. 
In 1866 she became the wife of James E. Nash, of Petersburg, Virginia, who died 
in New Bern May 30, 1880. On March 21, 1892, Mary McKinlay Nash was 
appointed regent for the state of North Carolina, her identity with its interests 
and history rendering her peculiarly fitted for this honorable position. 

MARY MARGARET FRYER MANNING. 

Mrs. Daniel Manning can trace her Dutch ancestry back many generations 
in Holland on her father's side. On her mother's side she traces her ancestry 
from Robert Livingston, first head of the house of Livingston. She is a woman 
of pleasing and gracious presence, a sweet and abiding kindness pervading her 
every act, official or social. She is a leader in social circles at home, but it is in 
the humanitarian and spiritual side of life, in her church work and in her deeds 
of charity that the sweetest and truest womanhood is found. She is the daughter 
of W. J. Fryer, one of the early merchant princes of Albany, and her mother 
was Margaret Livingston Crofts, granddaughter of Robert Thong Livingston. 
Miss Fryer was the second wife of the late Daniel Manning. They were married 
in November, 1884, and in March, 1885, he was appointed by Mr. Cleveland 
Secretary of the Treasury. During the years that Mr. Manning held the portfolio 
of the Treasury their home in Washington became a center of social and political 
affairs in Washington. After Mr. Manning's death in 1887 Mrs. Manning continued 
to spend part of each year in Washington, and has never lost sicrht of the 
friendships made there. Her patriotism is shown in her work for the Mohawk 
Chapter of Albany, of which she was regent. She has done yeoman service on 



472 Part Taken by Women in American History 

the Continental Hall Committee. She was admirably adapted to her position of 
president of the society, to which she was elected by the congress of 1898. 

JULIA CATHERINE CONKLING. 

Mrs. Roscoe Conkling, founder and first regent of the Oneida Chapter of the 
Daughters of the American Revolution, was born in Utica, New York, May 4, 
1827. She was the youngest child of Henry Seymour and Mary Ledyard Forman 
Seymour. Mrs. Conkling was endowed with rare gifts of personal beauty and 
most lovable traits of character. All her early life was spent in Utica. In June, 
1855, she married Roscoe Conkling, who was just beginning his brilliant public 
career. During the many winters Mrs. Conkling spent in Washington with her 
husband, she was frequently mentioned as one of the most graceful and refined 
women of the administrations of President Lincoln and President Grant, and as 
possessing a high-bred charm of manner rarely equaled. The Oneida Chapter 
of the Daughters of the American Revolution was formed at her house in 1893 
with a most gratifying number of eligible applicants, full of zeal and patriotism, 
present. Mrs. Conkling died at Utica, New York, October 18, 1893. 

MARY ORR EARLE. 

Mrs. Mary Orr Earle, corresponding secretary-general of the Daughters of 
the American Revolution, is the daughter of the late Hon. James L. Orr, of South 
Carolina. She was born in 1858, while her distinguished father was Speaker of 
the United States House of Representatives. Mrs. Earle's connection with the 
National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution is through descent 
from Robert Orr, a captain of Pennsylvania troops, and dates from the organization 
of the society in 1890, she having been one of the early vice-presidents and a member 
of the first national board. At the congress of 1895 she was elected corresponding 
secretary-general, which position she has filled with marked ability. Gifted with 
rare mental and social qualities, Mrs. Earle has drawn around her a large and 
cultured circle of friends at the national Capital, where her accomplishments as a 
linguist are much appreciated in the diplomatic corps. 

MRS. OGDEN H. FETHERS. 

Mrs. Ogden H. Fethers was born in New York State and educated at 
Claverock on the Hudson. ' Her maiden name was Frances Conkey. She is a 
descendant of Elder William Brewster, of Plymouth Colony, and her member- 
ship to the Society of the Colonial Dames is through Rev. James Fitch of Con- 
necticut Colony. 

On July 15, 1868, she was married in Canton, New York, to Ogden Hoffman 
Fethers, a well-known and able attorney, of Janesville, Wisconsin. 

In 1909, upon the death of Mrs. James Sidney Peck, of Milwaukee, Mrs. 
Fethers succeeded her as governor of the Society of Mayflower descendants for 
the state of Wisconsin. Wisconsin is the only state which has enjoyed having a 
woman governor of this society. Mrs. Fethers' name will be long remembered 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 473 

by her song "The Star of Wisconsin," which has been adopted by the Daughters 
of the American Revolution of Wisconsin for the state song. Mrs. Fethers was 
state regent of the Daughters of the American Revolution for Wisconsin for 
four years. From the sale of this song, she has furnished a small room in the 
Memorial Continental Hall. 

Mrs. Fethers has been high in the councils of the Daughters of the Amer- 
ican Revolution, having served on some of its most important committees and 
having done particularly valuable work for the Continental Hall. She is a woman 
of unusual culture and refinement, of wide travel and an intimate acquaintance 
with the best literature and art. Mrs. Fethers is a director of Janesville public 
library, in which she has done work of inestimable value for her city and state. 
The private library of Mr. and Mrs. Fethers and their collection of valuable 
works of art are among the finest in the country. 

ELIZABETH CAROLYN SEYMOUR BROWN. 

Mrs. Brown was born at Linden, Michigan. She is a granddaughter of the 
late Zenas Fairbank, one of the early and most prominent citizens of that town. 
She was educated at the University of Michigan, and was an active member of 
the musical and dramatic societies connected with that institution. She spent 
several years teaching in the schools of Ann Arbor and Manistee, Michigan, and 
Duluth, Minnesota. She married Frederick Charles Brown, editor and journalist, 
and since his death in 1900 has resided in Phoenix, Arizona, and at the present 
time occupies the position of preceptress at the Arizona State Normal School. 
Mrs. Brown has been an enthusiastic worker in the Maricopa Chapter. Being a 
writer of merit and possessing a love for research she made an efficient officer 
and historian and furnished the chapter with a great deal of interesting data 
connected with the early history of this section. On her mother's side she is 
descended from Thomas Dudley and Simon Bradstreet, colonial governors and 
on her father's side from Mathew Gilbert, also one of the colonial governors. 

MARGUERITE DICKINS. 

Mrs. Dickins was born in the picturesque valley of the Unadilla in central 
New York, and had the good fortune to pass her childhood at the home of her 
grandfather, Squire Noah Ely, a lawyer and influential citizen in his section of 
the country, and under his careful tuition she acquired a thorough knowledge of 
the dead languages, which no doubt gave her greater ability to acquire foreign 
languages, of which she speaks French, German and Spanish fluently. Her 
widowed mother married Mr. C. Francis Bates of Boston and then the scenes of 
her life were transferred to New York City and Newport, Rhode Island. In the 
former state she pursued her studies at one of the most famous private schools 
for young ladies until 1872, when she was taken by her mother to Europe, where 
she remained three years, visiting the principal capitals and continuing her 
studies of languages and art. Shortly after her return to the United States she 
married Commander F. W. Dickins, United States Navy. In 1882 she traveled 
extensively through the south and has given her impressions in a series of letters 



474 Part Taken by Women in American History 

published in the Danbury News, of Connecticut. In 1883 she went with her hus- 
band to the South Pacific, living on board the United States steamship "Onward," 
then stationed at Callao, Peru. The period of two years that was spent in Peru 
was full of interest due to the war then going on between that country and 
Chile. Naturally she became interested in the situation in that part of South 
America. These impressions were published in a series of letters in the National 
Republican, of Washington, D. C. Not long after her return to the United States 
in 1889, she followed her husband to the east coast of South America where she 
passed more than two years, visiting principally the countries of Brazil, Uruguay, 
Argentine and Paraguay, and living on board the United States steamship "Talla- 
poosa" most of the time. Her perfect knowledge of the Spanish language enabled 
her to become familiar with the home life of the people and gain much correct 
information as to their manners and customs, accounts of which she contributed 
to the Washington Post. After her return to the United States she made her 
home in Washington, D. C, where her husband was stationed on duty. She 
accompanied her husband on a trip to Japan and her impressions of that country 
were published in the Washington Post. Besides her literary and artistic pur- 
suits, Mrs. Dickins devotes much of her time to missionary work and is promi- 
nently connected with many charitable institutions in Washington. She is the 
well-known author of the delightful volume "Along Shore with a Man of War." 
At the Continental Congress of February, 1893, she was elected by unanimous 
vote, treasurer-general of the National Society of the Daughters of the American 
Revolution. Her work in this important position has been earnest and thorough. 
She held the unqualified confidence and respect of her associates while her cheer- 
ing view of life and labor wins for her an affectionate regard. Her many high 
qualities are exercised with the modest unconsciousness of a sincere purpose and 
directed by generous culture. 

MRS. J. STEWART JAMIESON. 

Mrs. Jamieson, registrar-general, entered the society by virtue of the rec- 
ords of two patriots, James Schureman, born in New Jersey, in 1751, and died at 
New Brunswick, New Jersey, June 23, 1824. Served in the Revolutionary army; 
was a delegate to the Continental Congress from New Jersey in 1776-1777. and 
was elected to the first Congress as a Federalist, serving from March, 1789, until 
March, 1791, and again to the fifth Congress, serving from May, 1797, until March, 
1799. Was then chosen United States Senator in place of John Rutherford, serv- 
ing from December, 1709, until February, 1801, when he resigned. Subsequently 
became mayor of the city of New Brunswick and was again elected to Congress 
serving from May 24, 1813. to March 2, 1815. Dr. Melanchthon Freeman of 
Piscataway township, New Jersey, was a member of the Committee of Observa- 
tion and surgeon in the state troops, Colonel Forman's battalion, Heard's brigade. 

JENNIE FRANKLIN HICHBORN. 

Mrs. Hichborn, registrar-general of the Daughters of the American Revo- 
lution, is the daughter of Philip Franklin and Mary Bailey Franklin, and was 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 475 

born in southern Vermont. She was educated at Leland and Gray Seminary, 
Townshend and Glenwood Seminary, Brattleboro, Vermont. At the age of 
nineteen her attention was called to music, and three years were profitably spent 
at the Old Boston Music School, after which several years were devoted to 
church music and teaching the art. Mrs. Hichborn's claim of eligibility to the 
National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution is through Captain 
Comfort Starr, Captain Richard Bailey, Lieutenant Joshua Hyde and Philip 
Franklin, the second. At the Congress of 1895, she was elected registrar-general 
of the society. Mrs. Hichborn is the wife of Philip Hichborn, the distinguished 
chief constructor of the United States Navy. A son and daughter constitute the 
home circle. 

MRS. LA VERNE NOYES. 

The subject of this sketch was born in the state of New York, of New 
England ancestors. When quite young, her parents moved to Iowa. She is a 
graduate of the Iowa State College, with a record for scholarship which was not 
equaled for a great many years. When in college, she was president of a literary 
society. She married La Verne Noyes, also a graduate of the Iowa State College, 
who later became widely known as an inventor and manufacturer in Chicago. 
She lives in one of the beautiful homes of Chicago. 

For many years her fields of activity have been manifold in literary, social 
and philanthropic work. She is one of the directors of the Twentieth Century 
Club and of the Woman's Athletic Club; was, for years, president of the North 
Side Art Club; has been active in the Woman's Club; has been regent of Chicago 
Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution, the first chapter organized in the 
United States, and the largest one, having over 800 members. She is a good 
writer of verses and an excellent and forceful speaker. During the last Conti- 
nental Congress, where there were nearly 1100 delegates present, she made the 
nominating speech for the successful candidate for president-general; a brilliant 
speech, considered by many the best nominating speech delivered during the 
Congress. Her felicity and strength as a writer and speaker in this organization 
made her a vice-president-general, and makes her a strong factor in its manage- 
ment. 

In the work of the Daughters of the American Revolution she has been 
especially active in the Department of Patriotic Education and in the organiza- 
tion of boys' clubs to teach patriotism. 

MRS. ROBERDEAU BUCHANAN. 

Mrs. Buchanan, a native and life-long resident of Washington City, is the 
wife of Roberdeau Buchanan, of the Nautical Almanac Observatory. She entered 
the Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution on February 2, 1892, 
by virtue of descent from her grandfather, Thomas Peters, who was one of the 
original twenty-eight men of family and fortune who formed the famous First 
Troop, Philadelphia City Cavalry, November 17, 1774. He served with great dis- 
tinction at the battles of Trenton and Princeton, under General Washington. Mrs. 



476 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Buchanan was elected to a vacancy on the National Board of Management as 
registrar-general on December io, 1894, and at the Congress of 1895 was elected 
to the office of recording secretary-general. 

EMILY TRUE DE REIMER. 

Mrs. De Reimer, state chaplain of the District of Columbia, is a Boston 
woman, educated at Abbot Seminary, Andover, Massachusetts, and the New York 
Musical Conservatory. She was a teacher at Wilbraham Academy before her 
marriage. Her father, Dr. Charles De True, a Harvard graduate, was Professor 
of moral philosophy and belles lettres in Wesleyan University, Middletown, Con- 
necticut. Her mother, Elizabeth Hyde True was one of the early pupils of the 
famous Emma Willard School at Troy, New York. Through the Hyde ancestry 
Mrs. De Reimer becomes a Daughter of the American Revolution. Her early 
life was spent in Boston, Middletown, Connecticut and New York City. Return- 
ing to Boston she married Reverend William E. De Reimer and went with him 
to India and Ceylon. Mrs. De Reimer spent ten years in Asia learning an 
Oriental language and conducted a Hindoo Girls' School. On her return to this 
country she lived in Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois. She started the first Christian 
Endeavor Society in Iowa and has organized Chautauqua Circles and has taken 
a great interest in missionary work. After editing a series of Congregational 
Missionary studies and doing other literary work, she was made a member of the 
Illinois Women's Press Association. Coming to Washington years ago, she became 
a Daughter of the American Revolution and was elected chaplain of Columbia 
Chapter. She has served as state chaplain three times. She has represented the 
Daughters of the American Revolution at various meetings and congresses of well- 
known clubs and during the Lewis and Clark Exposition, represented the Smith- 
sonian Institution. 

MRS. TEUNIS S. HAMLIN. 

Mrs. Hamlin was elected four times to the position of chaplain-general of 
the Daughters of the American Revolution and was the first to hold this position. 
Mrs. Hamlin's descent is from Andrew Ward, who was one of the four sent from 
the Bay Colony to govern Connecticut, having come over the sea with Winthrop. 
Her great-grandfather, David Ward, entered the first New York Continental 
Regiment at the age of fourteen, while her great-great-grandfather was killed in 
the militia during Burgoyne's raid into Vermont. Her grandparents were pioneers 
in Michigan, where for three generations the "Ward Line" was the great steam- 
boat line on the Great Lakes. Mrs. Hamlin has been very active in Home Mission 
work, being a vice-president in the Woman's Presbyterian Board of Home Mis- 
sions. She has been a strenuous opponent of Mormonism and few understand the 
subject better than she. She is treasurer of the National League of Women's 
Organizations, and it was due to her that resolutions relative to an amendment of 
the Constitution of the United States on polygamy was introduced and unani- 
mously passed at a Congress of the Daughters. She was educated in the State 
Normal School of Michigan, and was a fine parliamentarian and fluent extemporary 
speaker. 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 477 
mary c. beach. 

Mrs. Beach, corresponding secretary of the Daughters of the American 
Revolution, comes of Colonial and Revolutionary ancestry. She is a native of 
New York and is eligible to membership in the Society of the Daughters of the 
American Revolution on the maternal side through five different ancestors ; the 
Holland Dutch and Huguenot French, who are so closely identified with the 
history of New York, and on the paternal side from the Scotch-Irish Puritans 
of New England. She is a member and ex-regent of the Continental Chapter 
and chairman of the Committee on Neighborhoods, and two classes have been 
formed in industrial training through her. With the regent of the chapter, she 
is a frequent attendant at the Juvenile Court and is also greatly interested in the 
night schools and particularly in the foreign classes, and believes that they deserve 
the support and co-operation of the Daughters in promoting good citizenship. 
She was instrumental in forming a new chapter in Telma, Alabama, which was 
christened "The Cherokee," and at their first meeting she was elected an honorary 
member. 

MARY S. LOCKWOOD. 

Mrs. Lockwood is a woman who has done as much as any other woman in 
this century to elevate her sex and to secure to herself an honorable place in the 
literary world. Mary Smith was born in Chautauqua, New York. She lost her 
mother when but four years old, and the tender love of her infancy was lavished 
on her brother, three years her senior. To him her last book, "The Historic 
Homes of Washington," is most touchingly dedicated. She is physically slight, 
but strong and rather below the medium height. She has firmness, strength 
and executive ability of a high order. An interesting face with character written 
on the broad brow; and in the deep blue eyes of intellectual sweetness there is 
mingled a determination of purpose and firm resolve. Her hair, silvered and 
wavy, shades a face full of kindly interest in humanity. Her voice has a peculiar 
charm, low-keyed and musical, yet sympathetic and far-reaching. She is friendly 
to all progressive movements, especially so in the progress of women. Mrs. Lock- 
wood was the founder of the celebrated "Travel Club," which met at her home 
ever since its formation, on Monday evenings for many long years. In her house 
was also organized the association of the Daughters of the American Revolution. 
Mrs. Lockwood was elected historian at the first meeting. She is the author of a 
text-book on ceramics, and of many bright articles on the tariff written for the 
best periodicals. She is also the author of "The Historical Homes of Washing- 
ton." She has been president of the Woman's National Press Club, and she held 
the position of Lady Manager at Large of the Columbian Exposition and was 
among the most efficient managers of the Woman's Board, throwing immense 
labor into the work of classification, and exercising serious responsibilities in the 
Committee on the Press. We look at her with amazement and wonder, when 
we see this little woman doing so much and still holding all her faculties in calm, 
leisurely poise. She certainly demonstrates the possibility of combining business 
with literature, and both with an active sympathy in social reforms, and all with 
a womanly grace that beautifies every relation of life. 



478 Part Taken by Women in American History 
mrs. james eakin gadsby. 

Mrs. Gadsby, historian-general of the Society of the Daughters of the 
American Revolution, comes of a long line of distinguished ancestry on both 
sides, who served in Colonial and Revolutionary periods, all of whom settled in 
Maryland on original land grants. All of her ancestors were of English descent. 
Mrs. Gadsby entered the society in 1898 for patriotic services in the Spanish 
American War and assisted Mrs. Dickens in her work for the soldiers' families of 
the District of Columbia. She also sent supplies of clothing to General Fitzhugh 
Lee for the hospital he founded at Havana for the destitute women and children. 
She was a member of the Mary Washington Chapter from 1898 and served as its 
historian and did special work for Continental Hall. In May, 1907, she resigned 
from the Mary Washington Chapter and was transferred to the Emily Nelson 
Chapter. She was appointed by Mrs. Charles W. Fairbanks, a member of the 
Continental Hall and other committees and was re-appointed by Mrs. Donald 
McLean. She is a member of the Jamestown and Pocahontas Societies and a 
member of the Columbia Historical Society. She served as chairman of the 
Daughters of the American Revolution Press Committee for the District and 
has been a writer of historical articles for many years and an enthusiast on his- 
torical subjects, devoting her time to her office of historian with interest and zeal. 

MARY CHASE GANNETT. 

Mrs. Gannett, the third historian-general of the Daughters of the Amer- 
ican Revolution, is a New England woman by birth and education, her early 
home having been in Saco, Maine. Her grandfather on the maternal side, Samuel 
Peirson, entered the Revolutionary Army when very young and after a short 
period of active service became Washington's private secretary. Her great-grand- 
father was Major Hill, who served through the war and afterwards held many 
positions of trust and honor. On the paternal side Mrs. Gannett is descended 
from General Frye, an officer who distinguished himself at the battle of Louis- 
berg, and as a reward for his services received a grant of the township in Maine 
which has since borne the name of Fryeburg. Mrs. Gannett was married in 1874 
to Henry Gannett. Her husband is one of the leading men in the scientific society 
of Washington. He is a geographer by profession and has been for many years 
connected with the United States Geological Survey. 

MARIE RAYMOND GIBBONS. 

Mrs. Gibbons was born in Toledo, Ohio, but removed with her parents to 
California when a young girl and her subsequent life was entirely passed on this 
coast. In 1871 she married Dr. Henry Gibbons, Jr. She was a member of the 
Society of Colonial Dames of America and of the Order of the Descendants of 
Colonial Governors, and eligible to the Society of Descendants of the Mayflower, 
but her special interest was in the Society of the Daughters of the American 
Revoh Ion. She was the organizer and regent for two years, of the second 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 479 

Chapter of Puerta del Ora. Mrs. Gibbons was eligible to the Daughters of the 
American Revolution through several lines, but chooses to found her claim to 
membership upon the services of Captain Samuel Taylor of Danbury, Connecticut, 
an ancestor of her father, Samuel Augustus Raymond. When, during the war 
with Spain, San Francisco became a vast camp and the Red Cross Society was 
established for the aid of our volunteers, the patriotic instincts and the generous 
feeling of Mrs. Gibbons at once responded to the call. 

E. ELLEN BATCHELLER. 

Miss Batcheller was born in Freetown, New York. The founder of her 
family in America was Honorable Joseph Batcheller who came from England in 
1636 with his wife Elizabeth, one child and three servants. Miss Batcheller's 
father, Charles Batcheller was the personal friend and co-worker with Gerrit 
Smith and Wendell Phillips. Too old to enter the army at the time of the Civil 
War, he sent his son, who was a martyr to the cause. Miss Batcheller is also 
eligible through two grandmothers, Rebecca Dwight and Sarah Norton, to mem- 
bership in the Mayflower, Colonial Dames and Huguenot Societies, but her chief 
patriotic work has been with the Daughters of the American Revolution, organiz- 
ing the General Frelinghuysen Chapter and remaining regent until elected state 
regent, in which position she was eminently successful, organizing nine new chap- 
ters in as many months. Few, if any families have more illustrious members — 
Whittier, Daniel Webster, Caleb Cushing, General Dearborn, Senators Morrill 
and Allison and many others. A sister of Miss Batcheller married James Jared 
Elmendorf, a descendant of Sobieski, King of Poland. Miss Batcheller is a staunch 
Episcopalian, has traveled extensively in her own country and resides in Somer- 
ville, New Jersey. 

ELLEN SPENCER MUSSEY. 

Mrs. Mussey is a woman esteemed for her knowledge of practical affairs 
and general business capacity. She was chosen by the District Supreme Court as 
successor to Mrs. David J. Brewer on the Board of Education for the district. 
For years was active in the business life of the Capital and a genuine factor in the 
practice of law at the local bar. Organizer of the Washington College of Law. 
Member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and state regent of the 
District of Columbia. Descended from Caleb Spencer, who enlisted from Dan- 
bury, Connecticut, under Captain Benedict, in the first call for troops. 

MRS. ROBERT A. McCLELLAN. 

Mrs. Aurora Pryor McClellan is the daughter of Luke Pryor, who was 
prominent in public life of Alabama for many years, and in 1880 succeeded 
George S. Houston, his law partner, as United States Senator from Alabama. 
Mrs. McClellan's mother was Isabella Harris, a descendant of distinguished 
Virginia families — the Spotswoods and other well-known families of that state. 
Mrs. McClellan's father was descended on the paternal side from the Blatffls, of 



480 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Virginia, and through this ancestry from Governor Richard Bennett, of the 
commonwealth period in the Old Dominion ; on his maternal side from Ann Lane, 
of Virginia, whose mother, Sylvia Perry, was descended from Judge Freeman 
Perry, of Rhode Island. 

Mrs. McClellan is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, 
Colonial Dames and the Order of Descendants of Colonial Governors. She 
founded a chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution in Athens, 
Alabama, and was for four years state vice-regent of the Alabama Daughters of 
the American Revolution and six years state regent, and is to-day honorary life 
regent of the Alabama Daughters of the American Revolution. 

Mrs. McClellan has devoted most of her time and efforts to securing the 
adoption of the "Golden Rod" as the national flower. She is to-day second vice- 
president of the National Flower Association of the United States, and through 
her personal efforts the National Farmers' Congress adopted this flower in 1890 
and recommended its adoption as the national emblem. 

Mrs. McClellan is one of the most gifted of Southern women, possessing 
wonderful executive ability and a strong, clear mind. Her capacity as an original 
thinker made her a marked woman in the South. 

MRS. JOHN H. DOYLE. 

Mrs. Doyle was born in Windsor, Connecticut, in 1851. In 1868 she was 
married to John H. Doyle, of Toledo, Ohio, where her parents moved after the 
Civil War. Her father served as a surgeon all through the war. Her maiden 
name was Alice Fuller Skinner. She was the second member to join the 
Daughters of the American Revolution in Toledo, Ohio, and is now vice-regent of 
the Toledo Chapter. Mrs. Doyle has always been an enthusiastic and conscientious 
worker for the Daughters of the American Revolution and in the many philanthropic 
efforts of Toledo and throughout the state of Ohio. She is a member of the Colonial 
Dames and one of the board of managers of the Ohio Circle She is also a 
member of the Colonial Governors Society and has always taken a foremost place 
in all matters in which she was personally interested and is to-day one of the 
representative women from the state of Ohio. 

MRS. LINDSAY PATTERSON. 

Mrs. Patterson is a descendant of the "Fighting Grahams," of Scotland, of 
whom the Duke of Montrose is the head. Her grandfather, Robert Patterson, 
fought through three wars, that of 1812, in which he was made captain at nineteen, 
the Mexican War, in which he was offered the chief command, but refused on 
account of his devoted friendship for General Scott, and the Civil War. For 
fifty years he was one of the notable hosts, of Philadelphia. Elizabeth Patterson 
of Baltimore, who married Jerome Bonaparte, was a distant cousin. General 
Patterson married Sara Engle, a Quakeress, whose father, when a boy, ran away 
from home and joined the Revolutionary Army. It is through this ancestor that 
Mrs. Patterson is eligible to be a Daughter. Her father was Colonel William 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 481 

Houston Patterson. Mrs. Patterson is a Tennessean by birth, a Philadelphian by 
residence and a North Carolinian by marriage to Mr. Lindsay Patterson, who is 
descended from the older branch of the family that settled in Lancaster County, 
Pennsylvania. Mrs. Patterson is president of the Southern Woman's Interstate 
Association for the Betterment of Public Schools, vice-president, of the North 
Carolina Historical Society, vice-president of the Salem Historical Society and 
president of the County Association for Betterment of Public Schools. 

MRS. CHARLES H. DEERE. 

Of Colonial ancestors Mrs. Deere has record of sixty-five who were founders 
and patriots and fighters in the Indian wars. Six of their descendants marched 
at the first alarm at Lexington. Mrs. Deere is a member of the Memorial 
Continental Hall Committee of the Daughters of the American Revolution. 

MRS. A. L. CONGER. 

Mrs. A. L. Conger, widow of Colonel A. L. Conger, of Akron, Ohio, is a 
woman who has devoted much of her life, time and means to charitable works. 
She is a member of the Woman's Relief Corps, the Daughters of the American 
Revolution and other patriotic organizations and has from the beginning of 
the Civil War, done all that she possibly could in the interest of the soldiers and 
their families. After the death of Colonel Conger she went to Kirksville, 
Missouri, and studied osteopathy at the Still Institute graduating with honors. 
She is an enthusiastic osteopathic physician and spent more than two years in the 
Philippines, giving her services, time and money to the relief of the soldiers 
of the Spanish-American War. She was in the field at Iloilo-Iloilo and gave 
all her time to the hospitals. She is deeply interested in Evangelistic work and 
has contributed largely to Evangelistic and other charitable work in Akron. She 
has three sons. Her eldest son, Mr. K. B. Conger, assisted Mr. McAdoo when 
he built the great New York tunnel. Captain A. L. Conger, Jr., is in the United 
States Army. Her youngest son is engaged in railroading. 

MRS. JOHN MILLER HORTON. 

One of the most accomplished and representative women of her native 
state, the great Empire State of New York, and identified with many interests 
along patriotic, educational and philanthropic lines. She has achieved not only 
state, but national fame as well, having faithfully performed the duties of the 
various offices she has been called upon to assume. Mrs. Horton was Miss 
Katharine Lorenz Pratt, the daughter of Pascal Paoli Pratt, a prominent banker, 
financier and philanthropist of Buffalo. Being the eldest daughter, Mrs. Horton 
shared intimately in her father's ambitions for the welfare of Buffalo, and has 
continued this work, becoming one of the most prominent factors in the social life 
and civic welfare of the city of Buffalo. 

Mrs. Horton was elected unanimously regent of the Buffalo Chapter, 

31 



482 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Daughters of the American Revolution, for seven successive years, and through 
her duties as regent has been a prominent figure in the national congress each 
year of the Daughters of the American Revolution, which meets in Washington. 
The Buffalo Chapter is the largest in the New York State organization, and the 
second largest in the national organization. It was through her instrumentality 
that the New York State Daughters of the American Revolution Conference was 
held in Buffalo in 1898, which was one of the most interesting gatherings of 
Daughters held outside of Washington. The Buffalo Chapter has the honor of 
having on its rolls the names of two real daughters whose fathers served as 
soldiers in the Army of the Revolution. It is largely due to the energy and 
generosity of Mrs. Horton, as regent of the Buffalo Chapter, that the graves of 
over one hundred patriots of the War of Independence, buried in the vicinity of 
Buffalo, bear markers to tell of their devotion to the cause of patriotism. The 
graves of these heroes were found, all the records restored and the ceremony of 
marking these graves and the ritual used in the ceremony being written and the 
ceremonies directed by Mrs. Horton. 

She has been indefatigable in sustaining an active interest in the patriotic 
educational work of her chapter, and during the winter season two illustrated 
lectures, weekly, are given to the Italians and Poles of the city of Buffalo on 
the history of the United States. The lectures arc given in the Polish and Italian 
language, at the expense of her chapter. Buffalo Chapter was the pioneer in this 
commendable work of educating the foreign element. 

Mrs. Horton was appointed on the Board of Woman Managers of the 
Pan-American Exposition, at Buffalo, N. Y., and acted as chairman of the com- 
mittee on ceremonies and entertainments of the Women's Board of the Pan- 
American Exposition. She was also appointed by the Governor of New York, 
commissioner to the Charleston Exposition in 1902, and again served on the 
Board of Lady Managers of the St. Louis Exposition. She was appointed by 
President Francis of the Exposition, and Mrs. Blair, president of the Ladies' 
Board, chairman of the Committee on Exposition interests at the National Con- 
gress of the Daughters of the American Revolution, held at Washington, Febru- 
ary, 1903. 

In close touch with all this patriotic work, in New York, there is an 
organization known as the Niagara Frontier Landmarks Association, of which 
Mrs. Horton is vice-president, a position which she has held since the formation 
of the society. The purpose of this society is to lm.rk all important historical sites 
along the Niagara Frontier with tablets and monuments. At La Salle was erected 
a tablet commemorative of the building, by La Salle, of "The Griffon," the first 
boat to navigate the waters of the north ; Mrs. Horton drove the stake to mark 
the spot, and also unveiled the tablet at the ceremonies held afterwards. Later 
on, when a tablet was placed in the Niagara Gorc;e to mark the spot of the 
Devil's Hole Massacre, Mrs. Horton, in the name of the Colonial Dames, unveiled 
the tablet. When the site of "Fort Tompkins" was marked by the society, Mrs. 
Horton presided over the program and made the principal address, and on the 
momentous occasion of placing a tablet to mark the site of the first Court House 
of Erie County, it was Buffalo's gifted townswoman who presided, gave the 



Women from the Time of Mary Washington 483 

address and introduced Judge Haight, the last judge to hold a judiciary session 
in the old house of justice, and other important and prominent lawyers who were 
speakers — Mr. Herbert Bissell, and others of the Erie County Bar. 

And back of all these praiseworthy undertakings for patriotism and civic 
betterment, is the president of Buffalo City Federation of Women's Clubs. Because 
the federation's aims are solely to lend a woman's assistance to the civic author- 
ities wherever it will ameliorate the condition of women and children, Mrs. 
Horton consented to accept the office of president. During her administration it 
has brought about the appointment of a woman probation officer, and has estab- 
lished penny luncheons in some of the public schools of the poorer districts of the 
city, with hopes of further increasing the number of schools similarly located. 
Medical inspection for public schools of Buffalo is another excellent philanthropy 
in which the Federation has been successful in securing, Mrs. Horton having 
made an appeal in its favor before the Common Council of Buffalo, which did 
much towards securing the appropriation towards this good work, while it has 
pledged the sum of $2,000.00 towards a scholarship in the proposed Buffalo Uni- 
versity Extension for the education of a poor girl, to be won by competitive 
examination. 

At the urgent request of the national officers of the society, Mrs. Horton, 
in 1904, organized the "Niagara Frontier Buffalo Chapter, National Society United 
States Daughters of 1812," and was appointed regent. In 1908, Mrs. Horton 
organized the Nellie Custis Chapter, National Society Children of the American 
Revolution. Mrs. Horton was appointed president of the national board, and is 
also vice-president-general of the national society. She is also a member of the 
following organizations: President of Buffalo City Federation of Women's Clubs; 
regent of the Buffalo Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American 
Revolution; Buffalo Historical Society; Buffalo Genealogical Society; Buffalo 
Twentieth Century Women's Club; Buffalo Society Natural Sciences, honorary 
member; American Social Science Association; Buffalo Society of Artists; Buffalo 
Art Students' League; Church Home League; Old Planters' Society of Massachu- 
setts; Memorial Continental Hall Committee, National Society Daughters of the 
American Revolution; National and New York State Daughters of the American 
Revolution Committee on Patriotic Education ; National and New York State 
Committee on Real Daughters who are living descendants of soldiers of the 
American Revolution; Women's Republican League of New York State; New 
York State Federation of Women's Clubs; Federation of Women's Literary and 
Educational Organizations of Western New York; president. Section 2, Army 
Relief Association ; Trinity Church Society, trustee of National Society of 
Daughters of the Empire State; regent of Niagara Frontier Buffalo Chapter, 
National Society United States Daughters of 1812; vice-president Niagara Frontier 
Landmarks Association; vice-president Order of Americans of Armorial Ancestry; 
director Women's Educational and Industrial Union ; director Women's League 
of New York State; New York State Historical Association; New York 
Genealogical and Biographical Society ; Buffalo Fine Arts Association ; vice- 
president general National Society. Children of the American Revolution ; president 
Nellie Custis Chapter, National Society Children of the American Revolution; 



484 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Chautauqua New York Women's Club; Chautauqua Daughters of the American 
Revoution Circle; Buffalo Society of Mineral Painters; National Society of New 
England Women, Colony 2; National Society Daughters of Founders and Patriots 
of America; National Society Colonial Dames of Vermont; National Society 
Daughters of American Pioneers; National George Washington Memorial 
Association; National Mary Washington Memorial Association; International 
Sunshine Society; Eclectic Club of New York; the Entertainment Club of New 
York ; Japanese Red Cross Association ; vice-president Erie County Branch of the 
American National Red Cross Association ; National Society of Patriotic Women 
of America; Rubinstein Club of New York; Minerva Club of New York; chairman 
Franco-American Committee, National Society Daughters of the American 
Revolution ; chairman Pension Records Committee, National Society of the 
Daughters of the American Revolution; chairman Magazine Committee, National 
Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution; Buffalo Peace and 
Arbitration Society; National Committee and New York City Peace Society; 
delegate to Peace Congress at Rome, and vice-president National Society United 
States Daughters of 1812. 




WINNIE DAVIS MONUMENT IN "HOLLYWOOD," RICHMOND, VA. 
Erected by the Daughters of the Confederacy. 



Women of the Confederacy. 

In Richmond, when the hospitals were filled with wounded 
men brought in from the seven days' fighting with McClellan, 
and the surgeon found it impossible to dress half the wounds, 
a band was formed, consisting of nearly all the married women 
of the city, who took upon themselves the duty of going to the 
hospitals and dressing wounds from morning till night; and 
they persisted in their painful duty, until every man was cared 
for, saving hundreds of lives, as the surgeons unanimously 
testified. When nitre was found to be growing scarce, and the 
supply of gunpowder was consequently about to give out, 
women all over the land dug up the earth in their smoke-houses 
and tobacco barns, and with their own hands faithfully 
extracted the desired salt, for use in the government 
laboratories. 

Many of them denied themselves not only delicacies, but 
substantial food also, when, by enduring semi-starvation, they 
could add to the stock of food at the command of the subsistence 
officers. I, myself, knew more that one houseful of women, who, 
from the moment that food began to grow scarce, refused to 
eat meat or drink coffee, living thenceforth only upon vegetables 
of a speedily perishable sort, in order that they might leave 
the more for soldiers in the field. When a friend remonstrated 
with one of them, on the ground that her health, already frail, 
was breaking down utterly for want of proper diet, she replied, 
in a quiet, determined way, "I know that very well; but it is 
little that I can do, and I must do that little at any cost. My 
health and life are worth less than those of my brothers, and if 

(485) 



486 Part Taken by Women in American History 

they give theirs to the cause, why should not I do the same? I 
would starve to death cheerfully, if I could feed one soldier 
more by doing so, but the things I eat can't be sent to camp. 
I think it a sin to eat anything that can be used for rations." 
And she meant what she said, too, as a little mound in the 
churchyard testifies. 

Every Confederate remembers gratefully the reception 
given him when he went into any house where these women 
were. Whoever he might be, and whatever his plight, if he 
wore the gray, he was received, not as a beggar or tramp, not 
even as a stranger, but as a son of the house, for whom it held 
nothing too good, and whose comfort was the one care of all 
its inmates, even though their own must be sacrificed in secur- 
ing it. When the hospitals were crowded, the people earnestly 
besought permission to take the men to their houses and to 
care for them there, and for many months almost every house 
within a radius of a hundred miles of Richmond held one or 
more wounded men as especially honored guests. 

"God bless these Virginia women," said a general officer 
from one of the cotton states, one day; "they're worth a 
regiment apiece." And he spoke the thought of the army, 
except that their blessing covered the whole country as well as 
Virginia. 

f The United Daughters of the Confederacy. 

Introduction by Cornelia Branch Stone. 

It is a privilege accorded me by the author of this work, to 
write, at her request, a brief introductory to that part of her 
book which recognizes the organization known as the United 
Daughters of the Confederacy — a body of Southern women, 
approximately numbering sixty thousand, and now organized 



Women of the Confederacy 487 

in thirty-one states, the District of Columbia and city of Mexico, 
Republic of Mexico. 

In 1894 the chapters of the Daughters of the Confederacy, 
which had been previously formed in many of the Southern 
states met in Nashville, Tennessee, and organized themselves 
into one general federation, the objects of which are "memorial, 
historical, benevolent, educational and social, namely to honor 
the memory of those who served and those who fell in the 
service of the Confederate states; to record the part taken by 
the women of the South, in patient endurance of hardships 
and patriotic devotion during the struggle, as well as their 
untiring effort, after the war, in the reconstruction of the 
South; to collect and preserve the material for a true history 
of the war between the states ; to protect and preserve historical 
places of the Confederacy; to fulfill the sacred duty of charity 
to the survivors of that war, and to those dependent upon them ; 
to promote the education of the needy descendants of worthy 
Confederates; and to cherish the ties of friendship among the 
members of the association." 

With such aims and purposes, the women of this organ- 
ization — worthy daughters of noble sires — have cared for the 
living veterans, and urged upon the legislatures of the Southern 
states the payment of pensions and the establishment and main- 
tenance of homes for these old heroes, and for the needy 
Confederate women. By their own efforts they have erected 
monuments throughout the South, to commemorate the heroism 
of the "men behind the guns," and their great leaders — among 
whom stand high on the scroll of fame, the name of Robert E. 
Lee, Stonewall Jackson, J. E. B. Stuart and a host of others 
who have now become, in our re-united country, a common 
heritage, as types of American courage and valor. 

Under a well-organized educational system, much valuable 
work is being done for the higher education of worthy sons and 



488 Part Taken by Women in American History 

daughters of needy Confederates by securing scholarships in 
universities and colleges. Within such sacred effort, no spirit 
of antagonism or bitterness has entered, for the heart and soul 
of this organization has lived and had its being in a clearer, 
purer atmosphere, where loyalty and faithfulness to our common 
country has had full part ; and the youth of our land while being 
taught to honor and revere these memories, are also instructed 
in that patriotism, which leads to the highest type of citizen- 
ship, and which will give to the service of our country faithful- 
ness and honesty of purpose. 

With such inspiration it is not surprising that the women 
of this organization — heirs of a rich heritage of glorious 
achievements, calling forth the best qualities of manhood and 
womanhood — should have in many cases, developed a high 
order of executive and administrative ability. 

MRS. JEFFERSON DAVIS. 

It has been said of Mrs. Varina Howell Davis, who was 
born May 7, 1826, that she was the key of President Davis' 
career, and certain it is, that while the public life of this 
celebrated family was in many respects one long storm, their 
private life was full of peace and sunshine. In the memoirs 
of her husband, a work of great merit which Mrs. Davis 
published early in the '90's, we find every evidence of her 
loving ministrations and their intellectual companionship, 
during the memorable years of his life, and her children bear 
testimony that she enabled him more completely to achieve that 
career which has made his name immortal. The war career of 
Mrs. Davis is historical, and a cherished memory of those who 
watched her unfaltering devotion in the dark days, and when 
overcome by misfortune met the inevitable like a true daughter 
of noble sires. She was indeed well descended coining from the 



Women of the Confederacy 489 

famous Howell family, whose founder settled in New Jersey. 
Her grandfather, Governor Richard Howell, was a Revolu- 
tionary officer, and her father, William Burr Howell, won dis- 
tinction under McDonough on Lake Champlain. Mrs. Davis' 
maternal grandfather, James Kempt, was an Irish gentleman 
who came to Virginia after the Emmet Rebellion. He was a 
man of much wealth and moved to Natchez, Mississippi, when 
Mrs. Davis' mother was an infant. Colonel Kempt organized 
the Natchez troops and accompanied them during the Revolu- 
tion. Mrs. Davis' uncle, Franklin Howell, was killed on the 
"President." Her marriage to Jefferson Davis took place the 
26th of February, 1845. When Jefferson Davis died there was 
ended a most remarkable chapter of national history and 
domestic devotion. His widow retired to live in absolute 
seclusion in their pleasant home in Beauvoir, Mississippi, 
having with her as close companion her daughter "Winny," 
affectionately known throughout the South as the "Daughter 
of the Confederacy." 

Many anecdotes have come down to us bearing testimony 
to the mercy and kindness and loyal service of this "Highest 
Lady of the Southern Land." The following is typical : Dur- 
ing the height of the war a minister passing through the 
streets of Augusta, Georgia, on his round of duty to the sick, 
called at the hospitals, and encountered a stranger who accosted 
him thus: "My friend, can you tell me if Mrs. Jeff Davis is 
in the city of Augusta?" "No, sir," replied the minister, "she is 
not." "Well, sir," replied the stranger, "you may be sur- 
prised at my asking such a question and more particularly so 
when I inform you that I am a discharged United States 
soldier, but," (and here he evinced great feeling) "that lady 
has performed acts of kindness to me which I can never forget. 
When serving in the Valley of Virginia, battling for the Union 
I received a severe and dangerous wound. At the same time 



490 Part Taken by Women in American History 

I was taken prisoner and conveyed to Richmond, where I 
received such kindness and attention from Mrs. Davis that I 
can never forget her; and, now that I am discharged from the 
army, I wish to call upon her and carry my expressions of 
gratitude to her and offer to share with her, should she 
unfortunately need it, the last cent I have in the world." 
Mrs. Davis died in 1906. 

SALLIE CHAPMAN GORDON. 

Just upon the eve of preparation by ex-Confederates a few 
years ago to celebrate the Fourth of July in a becoming manner 
and spirit, the sad news was announced of the death of the 
venerable Mrs. Law, known all over the South as one of the 
mothers of the Confederacy. She was also truly a mother in 
Israel in the highest Christian sense. Her life had been closely 
connected with that of many leading actors in the late war, in 
which she herself bore an essential part. She passed away June 
28, 1904, at ldlewild, one of the suburbs of Memphis, nearly 
ninety-nine years of age. 

She was born on the River Yadkin, in Wilson County, 
North Carolina, August 27, 1805, and at the time of her death 
was doubtless the oldest person in Shelby County. Her mother's 
maiden name was Charity King. Her father, Chapman Gordon, 
served in the Revolutionary War, under Generals Marion and 
Sumter. She came of a long-lived race of people. Her mother 
lived to be ninety-three years of age, and her brother, Rev. 
Hezekiah Herndon Gordon, who was the father of General 
John B. Gordon (late senator from Georgia), lived to the age 
of ninety-two years. 

Sallie Chapman Gordon was married to Dr. John S. Law, 
near Eatonton, Georgia, on the 28th day of June, 1825. A few 
years later she became a member of the Presbyterian Church, 



Women of the Confederacy 491 

in Forsyth, Georgia, and her name was afterward transferred 
to the rolls of the Second Presbyterian Church, in Memphis, 
of which she remained a member as long as she lived. 

She became an active worker in hospitals, and when 
nothing more could be done in Memphis she went through the 
lines and rendered substantial aid and comfort to the soldiers 
in the field. Her services, if fully recorded, would make a book. 
She was so recognized that upon one occasion General Joseph 
F. Johnston had thirty thousand of his bronzed and tattered 
soldiers to pass in review in her honor at Dalton. Such a 
distinction was, perhaps, never accorded to any other woman 
in the South, not even Mrs. Jefferson Davis, or the wives of the 
great generals. Yet, so earnest and sincere in her work was 
she that she commanded the respect and reverence of men 
wherever she was known. After the war she strove to comfort 
the vanquished and encourage the down-hearted, and continued 
in her way to do much good work. 

MRS. A. BAUM. 

Mrs. Baum, late of Irwinton, Georgia, was born near Bingen, Germany. 
She emigrated to the United States in 1849 and came to Georgia, residing in 
Savannah one year, when she removed to Irwinton and there married. From 
1850 till her death Irwinton was her home. She died October 30, 1910. During 
the trying times of 1861-1865 she was ever diligent in aiding in every way in her 
power the cause of the Confederacy, by donating food, clothing and medicines 
to the soldiers, and by caring for the needy and sick wives and children of the 
soldiers of her country at the front. 

SARAH ANN DORSEY. 

Mrs. Dorsey was the daughter of Thomas G. P. Ellis and was born at 
Natchez, Mississippi. She was the niece of Mrs. Catherine Warfield, who left 
her many of her manuscripts. In 1853 she married Mr. Samuel W. Dorsey, of 
Tensas Parish, Louisiana. She established a chapel and school for slaves. Their 
home was destroyed during the war and they removed to Texas, but afterwards 
returned to Louisiana, and in 1875, on the death of her husband, made her home at 
"Beauvoir" and acted as the amanuensis of Jefferson Davis in his great work, 
"Rise and Fall of the Confederacy." In her will she left this beautiful home to 
Mr. Davis and his daughter Winnie. 



492 Part Taken by Women in American History 



LUCY ANN COX. 

On the evening of October 15th, an entertainment was given in Fredericks- 
burg, Virginia, to raise funds to erect a monument to the memory of Mrs. Lucy 
Ann Cox, who, at the commencement of the war, surrendered all the comfort of 
her father's home, and followed the fortunes of her husband, who as a member 
of Company A, Thirteenth Virginia Regiment, served the South until the flag of 
the Southern Confederacy was furled at Appomattox. No march was too long 
or weather too inclement to deter this patriotic woman from doing what she con- 
sidered her duty. She was with her company and regiment on their two forays 
into Maryland, and her ministering hand carried comfort to many a wounded and 
worn soldier. While Company A was the object of her untiring solicitude, no 
Confederate ever asked assistance from Mrs. Cox but it was cheerfully rendered. 

She marched as the infantry did, seldom taking advantage of offered rides 
in ambulances and wagon trains. Mrs. Cox died, a few years ago. It was her 
latest expressed wish that she be buried with military honors, and, so far as it was 
possible, her wish was carried out. Her funeral took place on a bright autumn 
Sunday, and the entire town turned out to do homage to this noble woman. 

The camps that have undertaken the erection of this monument do honor to 
themselves in thus commemorating the virtues of the heroine, Lucy Ann Cox. 

CORNELIA BRANCH STONE. 

No one can read an account of the daily life in our Southern states during 
the Civil War without becoming impressed with the fact that the lofty zeal and 
heroic fortitude of the Confederate women has received too little attention in our 
literature. A Southern man in his writing has given us a glimpse of the "war 
women" of Petersburg. "During all those weary months," he says, "the good 
women of Petersburg went about their household affairs with fifteen inch shells 
dropping, not infrequently, into their boudoirs or uncomfortably near to their 
kitchen ranges. Yet they paid no attention to any danger that threatened them- 
selves and indeed their deeds of mercy will never be recorded until the angels 
report. But this much I want to say of them — they were 'war women' of the most 
daring and devoted type." The following succinct report of a Confederate general 
in the midst of the war shows that the women of Winchester were in no wise 
second in their unselfish fortitude to the women of Richmond, Petersburg and 
elsewhere. "Its female inhabitants (for the able-bodied males are all absent in 
the war)," ran the general's brief, "are familiar with the bloody realities of war. 
As many as five thousand wounded have been accommodated here at one time. 
All the ladies are accustomed to the bursting of shells and the sight of fighting 
and all are turned into hospital nurses and cooks." Throughout the whole South, 
in every city, town and hamlet arose heroines to meet the emergency of war. On 
first thought it would have been expected that these women, reared in luxury and 
seclusion, would have become greatly excited and terrified when under fire and 
amid scenes of actual war, but almost invariably they exhibited a calm fearlessness 
that was amazing. 



Women of the Confederacy 493 

S But it was after the war, when the contemplation of ruined homes and 
broad desolation was thrust upon the South, that the real test came. The men 
met the awful responsibility and their hideous trials with amazing courage, and to 
the glory of the Southern woman be it said that the women became equal sharers 
in courage and in work. They have never faltered and never shown any weariness. 
Those left penniless, who were once wealthy, took up whatever work came to hand. 
Not a murmur escaped their lips. They cheered each other as they strengthened 
the energies of the men, and they kept up their work for the Confederate soldiers 
and keep it up till this day. Memorial associations were organized all over the 
South. The two great societies of Richmond, the Hollywood, and the Oakwood, 
each look after thousands of graves, the names of whose occupants are unknown. 
But probably the most noble work for the support of charity as well as of loyal 
sentiment has been done through the United Daughters of the Confederacy. A 
foremost worker in this noble society is Mrs. Cornelia Branch Stone, for several 
years president of the Texas Division, and whose biography will well illustrate the 
strength of character and the executive ability for which the leading ladies among 
Southern womanhood were distinguished. 

A wise counsellor, of clear judgment and indefatigable energy, remarkable 
administrative ability, tact, high literary attainments, loyal to duty, and a gracious 
and charming personality — these are the characteristics which make Mrs Cornelia 
Branch Stone one of the most admired and influential women of the South. She 
has been and is an active worker in every organization which stands for the good 
of the people and the uplift of mankind. 

She was born in Nacogdoches, Republic of Texas, in February, 1840. Her 
father, Edward Thomas Branch, a native of Chesterfield County, Virginia, went to 
Texas in the fall of 1835. He enlisted in the army of Texas, under General Sam 
Houston and participated in the battle of San Jacinto, which victory decided the 
independence of Texas from the Republic of Mexico. He was a member of the 
first and second sessions of the Congress of the Republic of Texas, was district 
and supreme judge of that republic and was a member of the first legislature of 
Texas. From this distinguished father, Mrs. Stone undoubtedly inherited her keen 
virile mind, though her mother, Ann Wharton Cleveland, was a woman of rare 
culture and intellect. 

At fifteen years of age Cornelia Branch was married to Henry Clay Stone, 
a Virginian by birth. After his death in 1887 Mrs. Stone devoted her time to the 
education of her only son and when he had graduated in medicine she took up her 
active work in the organization which she has since pursued with such distinctive 
success. Her first official position was president of the Texas Division of the 
United Daughters of the Confederacy. While Mrs. Stone was president, the Texas 
Division increased twenty-six chapters in two years. She served as president- 
general of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and during that administra- 
tion she kept in touch through correspondence with all the daughters and the 
heads of departments, writing every letter with her own hand. Any one reading 
her decisions and rulings while presiding over this body cannot but realize the 
excellency of Mrs. Stone's mind. 

She was later first vice-president of the Texas Federation of Woman's Clubs, 



494 Part Taken by Women in American History 

during which time she was chairman of a committee to secure an amendment to 
the poll tax law of the state of Texas. The effect of this was to better enforce the 
poll tax, one-fourth of which is paid to the school fund of Texas, and it was 
wholly through the efforts of Mrs. Stone that the amendment was carried, increas- 
ing the school fund by many thousands of dollars. As chairman for two years 
of the committee on education in the Texas Federation of Women's Clubs, she 
contributed many papers on educational interests, secured scholarship in several 
colleges of Texas and recommended in her report the provision of a fund by the 
clubs for the maintenance of the beneficiaries of these scholarships when unable 
to pay board and lodging. She has held offices of trust in the Daughters of the 
Republic of Texas, and as first vice-president has served as acting president at their 
convention. Although Mrs. Stone loves the cause represented by the Daughters 
of the Confederacy and as guiding hand for it gave her best efforts of pen and 
brain, she is moreover an enthusiastic Colonial Dame and patriotic member of the 
Daughters of the American Revolution and is known prominently among the 
womanhood of her state as a Daughter of the Republic of Texas. It was largely 
through Mrs. Stone's efforts that the name of Jefferson Davis was restored to the 
tablet on Cabin John's Bridge, near Washington — this great historic arch having 
been erected while Davis was secretary of war. 

While Mrs. Stone was serving as president-general of the Daughters of the 
Confederacy, affliction laid a heavy hand upon her, through the loss of her only 
son, Doctor Harry D. Stone, a brilliant and most promising physician, who after 
the death of her husband had become the very. soul and joy of her life. But this 
did not embitter the strong woman. With her sorrow still upon her heart she 
took up her work with renewed zeal. When her term of office expired she was 
known and loved by each of her sixty thousand daughters, and as a token of their 
appreciation of her sterling worth she was presented with many beautiful and 
valuable badges, each inscribed with a legend of the esteem and honor in which 
she was held by the daughters. 



A Wayside Home at Millen. 

Only a few of the present inhabitants of Millen know that 
it was once famous as the location of a Confederate Wayside 
Home, where, during the Civil War, the soldiers were fed and 
cared for. The home was built by public subscription and 
proved a veritable boon to the soldiers, as many veterans now 
living can testify. 

The location of the town has been changed slightly since 
the 6o's, for in those days the car sheds were several hundred 
yards farther up the Macon track, and were situated where the 



Women of the Confederacy 495 



railroad crossing is now. The hotel owned and run by Mr. 
Gray was first opposite the depot, and the location is still marked 
by mock-orange trees and shrubbery. 

The Wayside Home was on the west side of the railroad 
crossing and was opposite the house built in the railroad by 
Major Wilkins and familiarly known here as the Barrien 
House. The old well still marks the spot. The home was 
weather-boarded with rough planks running straight up and 
down. It had four large rooms to the front, conveniently fur- 
nished with cots, etc., for the accommodation of any soldiers 
who were sick or wounded and unable to continue their journey. 
A nurse was always on hand to attend to the wants of the 
sick. Back of these rooms was a large dining hall and kitchen, 
where the weary and hungry boys in gray could minister to 
the wants of the inner man, and right royally they performed 
this pleasant duty, for the table was always bountifully sup- 
plied with good things, donated by the patriotic women of 
Burke County, who gladly emptied hearts and home upon the 
altar of country. This work was entirely under the auspices of 
the women of Burke. Mrs. Judge Jones, of Waynesboro, was 
the first president of the home. She was succeeded by Mrs. 
Ransom Lewis, who was second and last. She was quite an 
active factor in the work, and it is largely due to her efforts that 
the home attained the prominence that it did among similar 
institutions. Miss Annie Bailey, daughter of Captain Bailey, 
of Savannah, was matron of the home. She was assisted in 
the work by committees of three ladies, who, each in turn, spent 
several days at the home. 

This home was to the weary and hungry Confederate 
soldier as an oasis in the desert, for here he found rest and 
plenty beneath its shelter. The social feature was not its 
least attraction, for when a bevy of blooming girls from our 
bonny Southland would visit the home, and midst feast and 



496 Part Taken by Women in American History 

jest spur the boys on to renewed vigor in the cause of the 
South, they felt amidst such inspirations it would be worthy to 
die, but more glorious to live for such a land of charming 
women. One of our matrons with her sweet old face softened 
into a dreamy smile by happy reminiscences of those days of 
toil, care, and sorrow, where happy thoughts and pleasantries 
of the past crowded in and made little rifts of sunshine through 
the war clouds, remarked : "But with all the gloom and suffer- 
ing, we girls used to have such fun with the soldiers at the 
home, and at such times we could even forget that our beloved 
South was in the throes of the most terrible war in the history 
of any country !" 

The home was operated for two years or more and often 
whole regiments of soldiers came to it, and all that could be 
accommodated were taken in and cared for. It was destroyed 
by Sherman's army on their march to the sea. The car shed, 
depot, hotel and home all disappeared before the torch of the 
destroyer and only the memory, the well, and the trees remain 
to mark the historic spot where the heroic efforts of our Burke 
County women sustained the Wayside Home through two 
long years of the struggle. 

Mrs. Amos Whitehead and others who have "crossed the 
river" were prominently connected with this work; in fact, 
every one lent a helping hand, for it was truly a labor of love, 
and was our Southern women's tribute to patriotism and 
heroism. 

OCTAVIA COHEN. 

Mrs. Cohen was ninety-three years old on May 30, 191 1. During the four 
years of the war she remained in Savannah, making it her duty to look after the 
needs of the Southern soldiers, who had been exchanged, and attended them in 
sickness, and in every way ministered to their comfort. 

When Captain Cuyler, who was then ordnance officer, did not have sufficient 
bullets, she took the leaden weights from her windows, putting wood in their place 
to support the windows, and with those weights Captain Cuyler made five hundred 
bullets. She, with her two daughters, Fanny (Mrs. Henry Taylor) and Georgina 



Women of the Confederacy 497 

(Mrs. Clavius Phillips) made in their home two kegs of gunpowder. She also 
made and collected clothes, which she sent to Jekyl Island to Captain Charles 
Lamar, for his men. 

Mrs. Philip Phillips was in Washington with her husband, Judge Phillips, 
at the breaking out of the war. She was sent, under flag of truce, with two grown 
daughters and younger children to Fortress Monroe, from which place they returned 
to their home in New Orleans. Later Mrs. Phillips was imprisoned by Ben 
Butler on Ship Island in the Gulf of Mexico for many months. She devoted time 
and money to the cause, giving her jewels, even selling them when she had no other 
money to give. 

Her daughters, Fannie, now Mrs. Charles Hill, of Pittsburgh, Pa., and 
Caroline, now Mrs. Frederic Myers, of Savannah, Georgia, though very young, 
helped in the care of the sick and wounded. 

Miss Martha Levy gave the same support to the cause as did all the loyal 
women of the South. 

Mrs. P. Y. Pember, eighty odd years old, residing at Pittsburgh, Pa., was 
at the head of the Chimborazo Hospital, Richmond, Va., and did wonderful work 
with little money, few necessities and volunteer nurses. 

These four ladies were all daughters of Mrs. S. Y. Levy, who worked 
earnestly for her adopted Southland, being an Englishwoman never in America 
until after her marriage. She lived to be ninety-four years old, and died in Phila- 
delphia, Pennsylvania. 

The following names are of women who loved the cause and who fought 
the battles with their men, whose hearts were torn with the bullets that mowed 
down the flower and chivalry of the South : Mrs. Isaac Minis, Mrs. Abram Minis, 
Mrs. Yates Levy, Mrs. Mordecai Myers, Mrs. Levy Myers, Mrs. Solomon Cohen, 
the Misses Rebecca, Fanny and Cecelia Minis, and Mrs. Theodore Minis. 

LETITIA DOWDELL ROSS. 

Mrs. Letitia Dowdell Ross, the newly elected president of the Alabama 
Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, is the daughter of the late 
William Crawford Dowdell, of Auburn, Alabama. Her mother was Elizabeth 
Thomas Dowdell, a woman prominent and influential in the foreign missionary 
work of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South and for thirty years president of 
the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of Alabama. Mrs. Ross is a niece of the 
late Colonel James F. Dowdell, who commanded the Thirty-seventh Regiment, Con- 
federate States of America, and for several years before the war was a member 
of Congress from the East Alabama district. She is also a first cousin of Chief 
Justice Dowdell, of the Supreme Court, and of the late Governor William J. Sam- 
ford, of Alabama. Mrs. Ross was given the best educational advantages at home 
and abroad, having spent some time in Germany as a student, later becoming the 
wife of B. B. Ross, professor of chemistry in the Alabama Polytechnic Institute 
and chemist for the state of Alabama. Her husband's work has brought Mrs. Ross 
into close connection with educational work. She has always taken an active inter- 
est in all movements looking to the benefit of the young men of the institutions 

32 



498 Part Taken by Women in American History 

with which her husband is connected. She enters with interest and enthusiasm 
into the literary and social life of her home town and is greatly admired for her 
intelligence and her many amiable and womanly qualities. Mrs. Ross has been 
prominently associated with the United Daughters of the Confederacy work since 
the organization of the Admiral Semmes Chapter, of Auburn, and was for several 
terms its president. She has also held the positions of recording secretary and 
first vice-president in the state division and frequently has been a delegate to the 
general convention, United Daughters of the Confederacy. Mrs. Ross is also an 
active member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. 

ADALINE GARDNER. 

Mrs. Gardner was born near Bingen in Germany. She emigrated to Georgia 
in 1849 and removed to Florida in 1853. At the commencement of the war she 
lived at Fernandina and shortly before its occupation by the Federals removed to 
Waldo, Florida. While residing at Waldo she did all she could to feed the hungry 
and relieve the sick and furloughed boys passing her door. In the summer of 
1864 the family removed to Savannah, Georgia, where she is still living and is in 
her ninetieth year. 

BERTHA GARDNER. 

The daughter of Mrs. Adaline Gardner aided and assisted her mother during 
the war, from i860 to 1865, to the best of her ability, although but a young girl at 
the time, by feeding the hungry and nursing the sick. 

SADIE CURRY AND "CLARA FISHER." 

In the later years of the war a great many of the wounded soldiers were 
brought from east and west to Augusta, Georgia. Immediately the people from the 
country on both sides of the Savannah River came in and took hundreds of the poor 
fellows to their homes and nursed them with every possible kindness. Ten miles up 
the river, on the Carolina side, was the happy little village of Curryton, named for 
Mr. Joel Curry and his father, the venerable Lewis Curry. Here many a poor 
fellow from distant states was taken in most cordially and every home was a tem- 
porary hospital. Among those nursed at Mr. Curry's, whose house was always 
a home for the preacher, the poor man and the soldier, was Major Crowder, who 
suffered long from a painful and fatal wound, and a stripling boy soldier from 
Kentucky, Elijah Ballard, whose hip wound made him a cripple for life. 

Miss Sadie Curry nursed both, night and day, as she did others, when 
necessary, like a sister. Her zeal never flagged, and her strength never gave way. 
After young Ballard, who was totally without education, became strong enough, 
she taught him to read and write, and when the war ended he went home prepared 
to be a bookkeeper. Others received like kindnesses. 

But this noble girl' had from the beginning of the war made it her daily 
business to look after the families of the poorer soldiers in the neighborhood. She 
mounted her horse daily and made her round of angel visits. If she found any- 



Women of the Confederacy 499 

body sick she reported to the kind and patriotic Dr. Hugh Shaw. If any of the 
families lacked meal or other provisions, it was reported to her father, who would 
send meal from his mill or bacon from his smoke-house. 

In appreciation of her heroic work, her father and her gallant brother-in- 
law, Major Robert Meriwether, who was in the Virginia army, now living in Brazil, 
bought a beautiful Tennessee riding horse and gave it to her. She named it "Clara 
Fisher," and many poor hearts in old Edgefield were made sad and many tears 
shed in the fall of 1864, when Sadie Curry and "Clara Fisher" moved to southwest 
Georgia. 

Bless God, there were many Sadie Currys all over the South, wherever 
there was a call and opportunity. Miss Sadie married Dr. H. D. Hudson and 
later in life Rev. Dr. Rogers, of Augusta, where she died a few years ago. 

VIRGINIA FAULKNER McSHERRY. 

The subject of this sketch is a woman of strong and attractive personality. 
She is a member, on both sides, of distinguished families that gave lustre to the 
society of the Old Dominion, in its palmiest days. Her father was the late Hon. 
Charles James Faulkner, Sr., who filled many positions of honor and trust, not 
only in his own state, but under the government of the United States. He repre- 
sented his country as minister to the court of St. Cloud, with distinguished ability, 
just prior to the Civil War, coming home at the commencement of the troublous 
times of 1861, and casting his fortunes with the South. Mrs. McSherry was born 
in Martinsburg, Virginia, now West Virginia, and spent the greater part of her 
young life, with the exception of the years she lived with her father's family, in 
Paris, at her ancestral home "Bodyville," until her marriage to Dr. J. Whann 
McSherry. Mrs. McSherry's heart was bound up in the Southern Confederacy, in 
the service of which, her father, her husband, her brothers, and many friends, 
displayed unswerving fidelity, and immediately after the cessation of hostilities, 
she devoted her energies to the care of the gallant soldiers, who fought so nobly 
for the cause they believed to be right and just. Mrs. McSherry organized a 
chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy in her county of Berkeley, 
which by her energy and exceptional executive ability became a model of efficiency, 
in caring for the living and keeping bright the memories of the dead. When the 
West Virginia Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy was organized, 
Mrs. McSherry was elected its president, which office she filled with marked 
ability, until called higher, and at Houston, Texas, in 1009, she was elevated to the 
highest office in the gift of the organization, that of president-general of the noble 
band of women, who compose the National Association of the United Daughters 
of the Confederacy, and was re-elected, at Little Rock, Arkansas, at the succeeding 
election. Her administration of that exalted office has been eminently acceptable, 
impartial and just. Her conscientious discharge of her duties has won for her the 
enviable reputation of having been one of the very best presiding officers that this 
organization has ever had. She will go down in the history of the United Daugh- 
ters of the Confederacy, with the plaudit, "Well done, good and faithful servant," 



: ,<h> |'\ki Iakin v.x Women in American Histor\ 



Md in.mv .ii<- ili«- ..I.I snhliers <>l lli«- ( ..nl. .1. i |l v who n-'.' up .iii.I call hei Mr.-. .1 
|i, m,|, ■. hruiK •' ralims* iiirmliri .>i the Unitcil D.uiKlitris ..I lite C'onlctleracy, Mrs. 
McSheiiv i.'. •» I. .i.l> i in .ill K'""l woiks hi lu-i iiuiiiiiiiiiilN. .ui.l is iiK.iuU.1 as a 
iimsl valuable iiu-inbei i>l •.'. let) 

i AURA MAR i in ROSE 

Mri ROM ll I Mttvi r«nneiM0*n Shi Wtl Miss I aura Martin. bom at 

Pultikii i < ■mil' •■•■' <•. m ill-' yeai i'"'. diughtei oi William M Martin ind Lli li 

Gorill Otlti ll.i grandfather, Mi I Ii.mu.i-. Maitiu, was |>orn in Albemarle I ounty, 

\ Irginia, In I pp, and ->i the age oi tan years moved with his father, aim .mi Martini 
to Sninn. i County ( rennessee, in tin- yaai 1S...1. whan thai countrj was - - 1 1 1 1 the 
happy hunting ground oi the Red Man Hla aneaiton wers oi Welsh origin) 
emigrating to Virginia In the earl) dayi Mi Martin ai merchant plantei and 
bsnkci Impronsod hitnseli up. mi the hiitorj oi Giles Countyi i'> mm issee, and left 
1 name rovereii i>> nil lie was a mm ..1 strong intellect, public ipirited and noted 
foi hit uprightness and charity rhrough hei mother, i beautiful and brilliant 
woman, Mri Rom clalmi I ranch descent 1 1 » * - Gorlm wen deicendanti of the 
Huguenoti oi France, two brothers emigrating to tins countiv ami settling in 
Maryland fohn Gorin, hei great great grandfather, was .1 revolutionary soKlier, 
moving to Barron County, Kentucky, In > Ho Mis K'.-.- was m.iuw.i in iSHi 
to Solon B F Rose, oi Pulaski, rennessee, ion oi Colonel Solon E Rose, en 

.mm, -in rennessee lawvei I'his union I nought tOgethei tWO "I I '■•mi. ..'■ mOSt 

prominent families She is the mothei oi three children, 1 daughtei and two 

BOni ll> 1 daughter, I 1 le Otis ROSC, >li>>l some years ae.o. ll.i sons, Martin 

and Solon Clifton, live with theii parents .11 West Point, Mississippi 

Mrs Ross •»' the present time enjoys the distinguished honoi oi being tin- 
president oi the Mississippi division, United Daughters oi iii>- Confederacy Prior 
i,. hei election to this high position, she was historian oi the division foi two 

years She did fOOd Work alont; historical lines Slie has written several papers 

oi Interest end value, namely, "The United Daughters oi the Confederacy, lis 

ObjeCtl and Missions/ 1 "Arlington, Its Past ami Present," "The Ku KluJt Kl.in." 

giving authentit history oi the origin oi that famous "klan." Hei public work 
has been along United Daughters oi the Confederal lines, and she has thrown Into 
n .iii the love and enthusiasm oi hei nature foi hei beloved Southland Shs has 
St...., 1 i.m the truth oi history, believing that "Historj li the life oi 1 nation," and 
has been untiring In hei efforts to present In hei work the truths oi the history oi 

the Southern I '.Mil, -.hi a. v. that "Si.m in . 1 a, II,-. I \ation" ih.it l.ll 

VNN1K 1 1 IUVO( K 

Annie ii Bocock, the Mcond wife oi rhomas S Bobcock, the ills 
tinguished Virginia atetesman, was I worth) companion during the lattei part 
oi in-- distinguished careei She was the daughtei oi Charles fames Fkulkner, 
«h,> was minister from the United States to Paris at the outbreak of the war. 



Women oi i kb f oni bdbraj - 7>r 

i-i ll/'- molli'-r ',f tiir«<- f|jiMr»-ii. W I' Wr: I'homtl '.im/ FohtMOfl 

and Mrs Sallie U Reynold* Mi<- mak«-i h< i Iiomm ;il Richmond, Virginia ; if M 

iti the Daughteri oi the Confederacy Md In ill patriotic and 

philanthro{,i< work of i 

MOUJk K M. 1"/. !.. •;!:!. f< V 

Mrs. Mollf \' fcftCfill Rov "!''' '/, r 'f f /:>lv< Ion, 'I«/;r., i- prominent in 
tlir worl- of tin I j.iii;;lit< i ;•, of !li< < .onf<'l< -ra< / ari'l a (didantliroiiK.t of not- in 
] i km and other »tatci. 

MRJ PERCY v PENNYBACKER, 

Mm. Percy V. Pennybacker, oi Textf, ii oi '' • Tcxai Pedci 

oi v. thoi oi "•' Hietory oi Texts," which >-■ 

■ r"i in i)/' :- Mi' ichooli oi thai itat* Shi if -i woman oi ftne attainment! 

/, r ' -1'Jy IpCSicei MiC It alio a meml,< r oi tJll United daughter! of Uir 

ConiedefK y 

MRS, GRANT. 

Among othet women who nav 'ion- fonipKiJoun work In the United 

oi ti)« Confedt - mentioti Ifi I rho ii oi ;i diiting 

nia family, thai oi Lcwi». : - oi Chief / mi oi the 

I of Ififfouri 81 plcndid worli in h«r 

■>\ lines. 

KATIE DAFFAJf, 
Mi-. tee ftatc m oi the Daughter! oi 11m Cor 

II ill Hlitory," '"I !.<■ Woman on thr 
••':, J ' /•; . J:'' ."- 

wr, 

n wa§ a native of Charltffc WSJ % 

-.tate» be</ ; = fOttl 

I the »ick u d re 
Carolina, At th« 
d the Id Con- 

i <■>]•■ rat'- ; ,' thr 

| HonN from 
at the w. Of 4 in ;'/,-; 

ALICE BAXTER 

Bnsfc Williarr. 



502 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Wesleyan Female College, Macon, Georgia, which is the oldest chartered woman's 
college in the world. Miss Baxter's public work has been almost entirely with 
the Daughters of the Confederacy of Georgia. She is also a daughter of the 
American Revolution. 

The United Daughters of the Confederacy holds a unique place in history. 
It is a memorial to the storm-cradled Southern Confederacy, which although 
a lost cause this organization is notwithstanding a strong and growing one. Its 
objects are historical, memorial, benevolent, social and educational. Much is 
accomplished on all these lines, and Miss Baxter in her work for the organization 
has endeavored to foster all its aims, but her greatest interest has been for the 
educational uplift of the Georgia people. Miss Baxter has served the organization 
in various capacities for more than fifteen years, a portion of the time as recording 
secretary, vice-president, and president of the Atlanta Chapter, at other times 
as corresponding secretary, vice-president and president of the state. She has 
for the past four years served the state as president, her term expiring with 
the State Convention, October 24, 191 1. Miss Baxter has builded on the good 
foundation of her predecessors. There is a handsome $25,000 girls' dormitory 
attached to the State Normal School, at Athens, which was undertaken during 
the presidency of Mrs. James A. Rounsaville, continued during that of Miss 
Mildred Rutherford, and completed after Mrs. A. B. Hull was made state 
president. 

During Mrs. Hull's administration a three-thousand-dollar fund was 
gathered toward the erection of a girls' dormitory in the Georgia Mountains in 
honor of Francis Bartow, in connection with the Rabun Gap Industrial School. 
During Miss Baxter's administration the plans were changed and the fund made 
the nucleus for a ten-thousand-dollar educational endowment fund, as a memorial 
to Francis Bartow. This fund is to remain in the hands of the Georgia Division, 
United Daughters of Confederacy, the interest to be used for education. It has 
now reached over seven thousand dollars. 

It is rare that a woman brings to the duties of a high executive office, so 
clear a conscientiousness and such absolute devotion to the best that is in the 
work, as Miss Baxter, the present state president, United Daughters of the Con- 
federacy, of Georgia. The work has developed and grown under her adminis- 
tration, and the part that will last, — the educational part, — has received an impetus 
and an encouragement, that cannot fail to be productive of results that will 
continue as long as the division lasts. 

A Sketch of the Life of Mrs. Joseph B. Dibrell. 
By Hon. A. A. Terrell. 

Ella Peyton Dancy was born in the Reconstruction Days 
and reared on the banks of the Colorado at La Grange, Texas, 
the plantation where her father settled in 1836, and which is 



Women of the Confederacy 503 

still owned by this youngest child of the Dancy family. She was 
married in her sixteenth year and has two daughters born of 
this marriage. Her mother inherited the homestead of her 
father which was built in Austin, in 1847, in the primitive days 
of the capital, built by the hands of her grandfather's servants. 
While yet a very young woman, she and her little daughters 
removed with her mother, Mrs. Dancy, to Austin where she 
then entered the University, taking special courses in literature 
under Mark Harvey Liddell, the noted Shakespearian scholar, 
who is now editing his Shakespeare under the auspices of 
Princeton University. She was married to Joseph B. Dibrell, 
member of the state senate in October, 1899, and is now the 
mother of John Winfield Dancy Dibrell, born four years after 
the marriage, now a lad of eight. She lived at Seguin, Texas, 
Mr. Dibrell's lifelong home until his recent appointment to the 
Supreme Bench of Texas, when she has again returned to the 
state capital at Austin, the home of her grandfather and dis- 
tinguished father who was a member of Congress of the 
Republic of Texas. 

Ella Dancy Dibrell comes of old revolutionary stock. 
Through her mother's line she descended from Anne Robinson 
Cockrell, who received distinction in the early days as a leader 
in establishing the church work in the French Lick where Nash- 
ville, Tennessee, is now located. Her father was John Winfield 
Dancy who descended from the Turners, Dancys and Colonel 
Masons, in Virginia, and was a direct kinsman of General Win- 
field Scott, for whom he was named. Being of a romantic 
nature, soon after leaving his home in Virginia, going to 
Alabama, he cast his fortune in the Golden West, then the New 
Republic of Texas. 

Mrs. Dibrell is one of the charter members of the Ameri- 
can History Club at Austin ; member of the Altar Society of St. 
Davis* Church at Austin; first president of the Shakespeare 



504 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Club of Austin, which consists of the University circle almost 
entirely; organizer of the History Club of San Antonio, the 
Shakespeare and Civic Improvement Club of Seguin; state 
president of the Texas Federation of Women's Clubs; state 
president of the Texas Division of the United Daughters of the 
Confederacy, during which time the Confederate Woman's 
Home was begun and completed. She is now Texas regent 
of the Confederate Museum of Richmond, Va., and Texas 
director of the Arlington Monument Committee to be erected at 
Arlington, in Washington, D. C. At one time chairman of 
the Civic Committee of the General Federation of Woman's 
Clubs. One of the directors of the Daughters of the Republic of 
Texas. Mrs. Dibrell secured the first appropriation for a memo- 
rial to Stephen F. Austin, and General Sam Houston, by placing 
statues of these heroes in the national Capitol at Washington 
and replicas in the state Capitol of Texas, the works of the 
noted European artist Elizabeth Ney, a grandniece of Mar- 
shall Ney, who died in the city of Austin, June 29, 1907. Two 
years after this artist's death, Mrs. Dibrell purchased her studio 
and the grounds, on the condition that the valuable property 
of the artist, the works contained therein would be given to 
the University of Texas, in accordance with the artist's desire. 
A debt of many thousand dollars upon the studio prevented 
the gift being made direct, by this artist friend in whom Mrs. 
Dibrell has become deeply interested, after her exile from 
Europe. This is now the uppermost work of Mrs. Dibrell, hav- 
ing formed a Fine Arts Association for the state of Texas, 
which will have in charge the management of this collection 
in connection with the board of regents of the University of 
Texas, and the Fine Arts Association is always to have its 
home in this building, and this association is given the right 
to develop a Fine Arts Museum without charge, as a tribute to 
Texas and her friend, Elizabeth Ney. It was solely through the 



Women of the Confederacy 505 



efforts of Mrs. Dibrell that the works of Elizabeth Ney were 
brought into prominence in the United States. 

The officers of the Fine Arts Association are : Mr. James 
H. McClendon, president, friend and legal counselor of the 
artist; vice-presidents, S. E. Mezes, president of the University 
of Texas, and ex-Governor Joseph D. Sayers; secretary, Mrs. 
Mary Mitchell; treasurer, Miss Julia Pease, daughter of ex- 
Governor Pease. Mrs. Dibrell is chairman of the board of 
directors of this institution and Judge A. W. Terrell, ex-Minis- 
ter to Turkey (prominent from a political, judiciary and 
educational standpoint, submitted the legal transfers of the 
statuary for Mrs. Dibrell to the regents of the University, while 
he was a member of that body.) During a former adminis- 
tration, the Library Commission bill, which has been conceived 
and fostered by Mrs. J. C. Terrell, of Fort Worth, Texas, was 
passed by the legislature, while Mrs. Dibrell as president of 
the Federation rendered active support and assistance in the 
passage of the bill which had failed for eight years — four 
legislatures. Mrs. Terrell was justly accredited the honor of 
being made the first lady appointed in the Library Commission. 

Governor Oscar B. Colquitt of the present administration 
has appointed Mrs. Joseph B. Dibrell and Mrs. Sayers, wife 
of ex-Governor Sayers, as the lady members of the State 
Library Commission. Mrs. Dibrell not only holds this office, 
but is the Texas regent of Confederate Museum, chairman of 
the Fine Arts Association Board of Directors, director of the 
Daughters of the Republic of Texas, Texas regent of Con- 
federate Museum in Richmond, Va., and state secretary of the 
General Federation of Woman's Clubs. She was elected a 
member of the University of Texas "Alumni Association" for 
the splendid services she had rendered to the woman's work of 
the state and the university. She is one of the directors of the 
United Charities, has an interest in all humanitarian and 



506 Part Taken by Women in American History 

philanthropic propositions, as well as an advocator of civic and 
moral beauty and cleanliness. March ioth has been established 
in Texas through her influence, while chairman of the General 
Federation of Woman's Clubs Civic Committee, as clean-up 
day for this state, and ordered annually by the state health 
officer. This generally observed day has been adopted by many 
states. 

Mrs. Dibrell stands in the front rank of the women of her 
state who have achieved the best for Texas, humanity, progress 
and mankind. She has made a distinct impression upon her 
race and time, attained by few in any country, and among the 
"immortals" in her great state, no name will ever reach a 
higher plane. 



Women in the Missionary Field. 

Many of these entered upon their work before the modern 
woman's societies were inaugurated, and had not the inspiration 
of associates, but were upheld solely by their Christian faith 
which led them to undertake the work in far distant and 
heathen lands. Patiently they endured the toil, danger, and 
loneliness with fortitude and Christian forbearance, dwelling 
almost universally in unhealthy climates, and frequently in 
contact with all forms of debasing heathenism. 

MRS. ANNE H. JUDSON. 

Was born in Bradford, Massachusetts, December 7, 1789, 
and educated at the Bradford Academy. In her early youth, 
she was full of pleasure and was of a restless and roving 
disposition, but the impression made upon her by Bunyan's 
"Pilgrim's Progress" brought to her the resolution to follow 
Christian's example, and try to lead a Christian life, and at 
the age of sixteen an entire change came over her, and she 
from that time devoted her life to Christian work. She first took 
up teaching in Salem, Haverhill, and Newberry. At a meeting 
of one of the associations of the American Board of Foreign 
Missions in 1810, at Bradford, she met for the first time the 
young missionary Judson. This resulted in their marriage and 
their going into the foreign missionary field. They sailed for 
India the nineteenth of February, 181 2, arriving in Calcutta, 
June 16. Trouble ensuing between the English government 
and the English missionaries, both Judson and Newall were 
ordered to return to America. They went to the Isle of 

(507) 



508 Part Taken by Women in American History 

France, and here labored until June ist, when they left for 
Madras, where they found ample opportunity for their work 
among the Burmese. At Ringon, their son was born, the first 
white child ever seen by the Burmese. Mr. Judson translated 
a portion of the Bible and other religious books into the Bur- 
mese language. In 1819, Mrs. Judson removed to Bengal, 
without any decided improvement in her condition, finally being 
forced to return to England, and ultimately to America, arriv- 
ing in New York, September, 1822. Here she aroused great 
interest in the missionary work among her friends in the vari- 
ous cities which she visited. Her health improving, she 
returned to Rangoon, December 3, 1823. Mrs. Judson was 
taken prisoner, owing to the feeling incited against foreigners, 
but ultimately her husband was released, after she had passed 
through the great hardships, a scourge of smallpox and the dir- 
est privations, the family were reunited. Mr. Judson was later 
rearrested, but the English officers found him such a valuable 
assistant that they did everything they could for his comfort, 
and when peace was concluded Mr. Judson's property was 
restored to him, and the mission placed under the British pro- 
tection. On October 24, 1826, Mrs. Judson died, beloved and 
lamented by both the English and natives of that country. 

HARRIET NEWELL. 

Harriet Atwood was born at Haverhill, Massachusetts, the ioth of October, 
1793. At the age of thirteen, when a student at the academy in Bradford, 
Massachusetts, she became strongly imbued with religious thought and took up 
religious readings and the study of the Bible during her leisure time, and in 1809 
made an open confession of Christianity. In 181 1 she met Mr. Newell who was 
preparing for missionary service in India. The following year they were married, 
and in February, 1812, sailed with Mr. and Mrs. Judson for India. Owing to 
trouble between the United States and England they were not permitted to remain 
in Calcutta, so sought residence in the Isle of France. Here their little daughter 
was born, but lived but a short time, and was soon followed by her mother. 
She was then but nineteen years of age. 



Women in the Missionary Field 509 

martia l. davis berry. 

Mrs. Berry was born in Portland, Michigan, the 22nd of January, 1844. Her 
father being of Irish and Italian descent, was naturally a firm believer in human 
rights and her mother was an ardent anti-slavery woman and strong prohibitionist. 
Her mother was a woman of great advancement and of thought decidedly above 
the women of her day. After her marriage, Mrs. Berry removed to Kansas and 
here she organized the first Woman's Foreign Missionary Society west of the 
Missouri River and was the originator of the woman's club. Was elected to the 
office of state treasurer of the Kansas Equal Suffrage Association and also placed 
at the head of the Sixth District of the Kansas Woman's Temperance Union. 

ANN LEE. 

Founder in America of the sect known as the Shaking Quakers. Was born 
in Manchester, England, about 1736. Her father was a blacksmith and she was 
taught the trade of cutting fur for hatters. She was married when quite young 
and four children were born to her, but all died in infancy. When but twenty-two 
years of age she was converted to the doctrine of James Wardley, a Quaker who 
preached against marriage and whose followers, because of the great agitation 
of their bodies when wrought with religious excitement v/ere called Shakers. She 
became a teacher of the faith, but in 1770 was imprisoned as a fanatic. While 
in prison she claimed to have a revelation and declared that in her dwelt the 
"word" and her followers say, "The man who was called Jesus and the woman 
who was called Ann are verily two great pillars of the church," and she was acknowl- 
edged as a spiritual mother in Israel and is known among her followers as 
Mother Ann. In 1774 she came to New York with a few of her followers and in 
the spring of 1776 they settled in Muskayuna, now Watervliet, opposite Troy, 
where the sect flourishes. With the superstition of those times of course Ann Lee 
was charged with witchcraft and the Whigs accused her of secret correspondence 
with the British, her countrymen, because she preached against war. The charge 
of high treason was preferred against her and in 1776 she was imprisoned in Albany, 
and later sent to Poughkeepsie with the intention of placing her within the British 
lines in New York, but she remained a prisoner in Poughkeepsie until 1777, when 
she was released by Governor Clinton. She returned to her home and the 
greatest sympathy was awakened for her, which greatly increased her followers. 
Such a movement of revival followed that the converts came into the sect by 
thousands. She declared that she judged the dead and no favor could be found 
except through confession of their sins to her, in fact she became a second Pope 
Joan; those coming under her spell threw aside all worldly things, pouring their 
jewels, money and valuables into her hands. She declared she would not die 
but would be translated into Heaven like Enoch and Elijah, but contrary to this 
announcement, on the 8th of September, 1784, she did die, but many believed it 
was not real death. 

BARBARA HECK. 

The family of Barbara Rukle were driven from their homes on the 
Rhine by Louis XIV, and sought refuge in Ireland, and there Barbara Rukle 



510 Part Taken by Women in American History 

was born. When but a young girl of eighteen, she joined the Methodist "Society" 
which had been established by John Wesley on one of his religious tours some 
years before. Barbara Rukle was early recognized among her associates as a 
woman of deep religious thought, a good counsellor, and her greatest treasure 
was her old German Bible, which she clung to all through her long eventful life. 
In 1760 she married Paul Heck and they emigrated to the new world and settled 
in New York. At the house of Philip Embury, a cousin of Barbara, she 
gathered a few religious people and begged that Philip Embury should preach 
to them, and this was the germ of the Methodist Episcopal Church in America. 
Embury proved to be a very devout man and earnest preacher. As the congregation 
increased Barbara Heck began to entertain the idea of building a church. Captain 
Webb, a military officer, was one of Wesley's local preachers and had aroused 
the people by his zeal. Barbara succeeded in interesting him in her project and 
in 1770 the site for a church on John Street was purchased and the subscription 
started, Captain Webb subscribing thirty pounds. This list bears the names of 
the Livingstons, Duanes, Delancys, Leights, Stuyvesants, Lispenards, and the 
clergy of the day, Auchmuty, Ogilvie, and Englis, and this is supposed to be the 
first church of the Methodist denomination in America. Embury worked with his 
own hands on the building and Barbara Heck helped to whitewash the walls. 
Within a year there were a thousand members in this congregation. During 
the Revolutionary War, the Heck family emigrated to lower Canada, where they 
lived near Montreal, finally removing to Augusta, upper Canada, where Barbara 
Heck died at the age of seventy. She was found sitting in her chair dead with 
her much-loved Bible in her lap. 

ANN ELIOT. 

One of the women who took her part in the missionary field was Mrs. 
Ann Eliot, the wife of Rev. John Eliot who was surnamed "the apostle." His 
work was among the Indian tribes of New England in the early days of the colonies. 
Mrs. Eliot not only was an able assistant to her husband in his religious work but 
she worked as a humanitarian among these savage people. Her skill and 
experience as a doctor brought her great reputation among these people. She 
dispensed large charity and salutary medicines. To her is ascribed no small share 
of her husband's success. 

JEMIMA BINGHAM. 

Another woman who deserves mention in the missionary work among the 
Indians during the colonial period was Jemima Bingham, the niece of Eleazar 
Wheelock, D.D., an eminent missionary among the Indians. In 1769 she married 
the Rev. Samuel Kirkland who had taken up the missionary work among the 
Oneida Indians in that section of country where Rome, New York, is now situated. 
She taught the women and children and by her example and patient work brought 
about a changed condition among these people. In 1787 the Ohio Company was 
organized in Boston and built a stockade fort at Marietta, Ohio, called Campus 



Women in the Missionary Field 511 

Martius, and Rev. Daniel Story was sent out as a chaplain. He was probably 
the first Protestant minister to go into the vast wilderness west of the Ohio 
River. In this garrison at Marietta was formed one of the first Sunday schools 
in the United States and its first superintendent and teacher was Mrs. Andrew 
Lake 

SARAH L. SMITH. 

Another name worthy of mention is Sarah L. Smith, whose maiden name 
was Huntingdon. She was born in 1802, and married the Reverend Eli Smith, in 
July, 1833, going with him to Palestine where her work as a foreign missionary 
was undertaken. Later she entered the home missionary field and worked among 
the Mohegan Indians. Through her correspondence with Lewis Cass, secretary 
of war, she secured the aid of that department in 1832, and a grant of nine hundred 
dollars was made from the fund appropriated to the Indian department. Five 
hundred was given for the erection of missionary buildings and before her 
labors were closed in this field she had the pleasure of seeing a chapel, parsonage, 
and schoolhouse stand on what she had found a barren waste of land. 

The Moravian Missions are well known. The character of the Moravian 
women seemed peculiarly fitted for missionary work. The enthusiasm of the 
Slavs was blended with the steadfastness, energy, and patience of the Germans. 
It was before the middle of the last century that these pious women commenced 
their work among the North American Indians. The first field of their labors 
was in Pennsylvania, Bethlehem and Nazareth being the seats of their missionary 
homes. From here they worked all through Pennsylvania. It is said that the 
Moravians in their various settlements were surrounded literally with circles of 
blood and flame, and in November, 1755, the Indians fell upon these poor mis- 
sionaries and almost entirely destroyed them. Some splendid work was done by 
the missionaries in Oregon. In 1834 this part of our country was a vast wilder- 
ness and here roamed more than thirty different Indian tribes, the only settlements 
being a few scattered posts of the Hudson Bay Company. Dr. Marcus Whitman 
and his wife, and Mr. and Mrs. Spaulding were among the first to go into this 
wilderness and take up the missionary work among them. Mrs. Whitman and 
Mrs. Spaulding were the first white women to cross the Rocky Mountains. They 
were followed by Mr. and Mrs. Grey, Mr. and Mrs. Clark, Mr. and Mrs. Littlejohn, 
Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Mr. and Mrs. Griffin, and Mr. and Mrs. Munger. Those to 
go later were Mrs. White, Mrs. Beers, Miss Downing, Miss Johnson, and Mrs. 
Pittman. Dr. and Mrs. White offered their services to the Board of Missions 
when a call was made in 1836 for volunteers to go into this new field, and they 
reached their destination from Boston via the Sandwich Islands. They established 
mission schools for the children and taught them the domestic arts. Later they 
were joined by others until their party was sixty, all zealously working in this field. 

MARY LYON. 

Born in Buckland, Franklin County, Massachusetts, February 28, 1797, and 
died March 5, 1849. She grew up as a simple country girl of that time, learning 



512 Part Taken by Women in American History 

the household arts of spinning, weaving, netting and embroidery, her school 
advantages being the most limited, but at the age of twenty she entered Sander- 
son Academy, at Ashfield, as a pupil. Being imbued with a deep religious spirit, 
she worked among the pupils for their conversion. Her work spread among the 
people of Ashfield, Buckland and Derry. Ipswich was the scene of her earliest 
labors. Until 1700 girls were not admitted to the public schools of Boston, and 
from 1790 to 1792 they were allowed to attend only in the summer months. There 
were more than one hundred colleges for young men in the state of Massachusetts, 
when in 1836 she was granted the first charter for "a school for the systematic 
higher education of women," Mount Holyoke Seminary. She raised the thirty 
thousand dollars deemed requisite to obtain this charter. Her purpose was as 
philanthropic as her impulses were religious, and she sought to increase the 
usefulness of women as well as to bring them to Christ. During the first six years 
of her presidency of the seminary, not a graduate or a pupil left the school without 
a deep religious faith. 

Her intense consecration to the spiritual work made her essentially a mis- 
sionary, and it was her desire to spread the words of Christ through the far dis- 
tant lands. She organized the first missionary society in Buckland in her early 
years. She never would consent to receive any salary as president of the seminary, 
but consecrated all the moneys received, except two hundred and fifty dollars a 
year, to the missionary work. Hardly a class went out of the seminary which 
did not have among its number one or two, or even more, missionaries ready for 
the field. Her monument stands to-day in the grounds of the Mount Holyoke 
Seminary, and her works live after her. She stands as one of the earliest pioneers 
for the higher education for women. 

MRS. T. C. DOREMUS. 

Born in New York, but her parents moved to Elizabeth, New Jersey. She 
spent her early childhood in that city; in 1821 married a merchant of the city of 
New York, and returned there to live. Though a communicant of the Reformed 
Dutch Church, she was a woman of broad religious ideas, and of strong and 
independent mind. She became an enthusiastic worker in the missionary field. 
Organizations were formed and had their meetings in her house. In those days 
there were no facilities for procuring ready-made things to be sent out to the 
missionary fields, so she organized societies for making garments to be sent to 
those in the far ends of the earth. She did a great deal of work among the Greeks 
and Turks, also taking an interest in the missions on the frontier in Canada. In 
1859, the Woman's Union Missionary Society was formed, embracing all denomina- 
tions of Christian women, and working independently of all boards, its direct 
object being an agency to send out teachers and missionaries to redeem the women 
of Persia and the East from the degradation in which our missionaries had found 
them. She worked with untiring energy, giving her time, money and interest to 
the work, but though devoting her thought and time to this work, she never for 
one moment neglected her family. She did not allow her work to interfere with 
her duty to her family of nine children, to whom she was all that a mother could 



Women in the Missionary Field 513 

be. Her death in January, 1877, caused widespread sorrow, not only to friends in 
this land, but to the missionary fields all over the world. Her name has been 
perpetuated by the Woman's Union Missionary Society in Calcutta, India, by 
calling their home the Doremus Home. 

FIDELIA FISKE. 

Born in Shelbourne, Massachusetts, in 1816. She was a graduate of Mount 
Holyoke Seminary, and a missionary to Persia. She was the first unmarried 
woman to enter that field. Her work in Oroomia, where the women were fear- 
fully degraded (and it was considered a disgrace for a woman to learn to read) 
was most earnest and valuable. The poverty and intense prejudice of the people 
made her task a trying one, but her efforts were crowned with great success. Her 
work spread in the smaller places of the mountains, and the school which has been 
established there is a monument to her energy and fearless Christian faith. She 
returned to America in 1847, and was president of Mount Holyoke Seminary for 
a brief time, but her health failing, she died July 26, 1864, in her forty-eighth year. 

MRS. R. B. LYTH. 

She we*nt with her husband, Rev. R. B. Lyth, M. D., to the South Sea mis- 
sions in 1836, living among the cannibals of the Fiji and Polynesian Islands, and 
suffering the most frightful experiences and sickening sights among the cannibal 
tribes of these islands. Nothing but a deep sense of duty and a strong determina- 
tion to perform it, added to her religious faith, could have made a woman of 
refinement endure the experiences she was called upon to witness. The incident 
is told of how she saved the lives of six women out of thirteen, who were killed 
for a feast of one of these tribes. Braving every danger, she appeared before this 
cannibal king to beg for mercy and he listened to her pleadings and spared their 
lives. She lived to see a great work accomplished, the islands Christianized, the 
Sabbath observed. On September 18, 1890, Mrs. Lyth died. 

ANNE WILKINS. 

Her work as a missionary was among the people of Liberia, Africa. She 
was born in 1806 in New York State, of Methodist parents. She sailed for Liberia, 
June 15, 1837, the first time. She made many trips back and forth on account of 
her health, dying November, 1857. 

MELINDA RANKIN. 

Her work among the Mexicans forms a thrilling missionary story. Born in 
181 1, dying at her home in Bloomington, Illinois, December 7, 1888, she had great 
faith in the power and ability of women. In 1840 a call came for missionary 
teachers to go to the Mississippi valley, foreign immigration having brought in a 
great many Roman Catholics to that portion of the country. Miss Rankin responded 

33 



514 Part Taken by Women in American History 

to that call, and went to that country, established schools, and gradually pushed 
her way up the Mississippi. At the close of the Mexican War, through officers 
and soldiers returning home, she learned a great deal of the condition in Mexico. 
Her sympathies became so aroused, that she tried to awaken an interest among 
the people by writing articles on the subject, but gaining no response, she deter- 
mined to go herself to Mexico and see if she could not do something to help 
these poor ignorant people. She opened a school for Mexican girls at Browns- 
ville, Texas, on the American side of the Rio Grande, opposite Matamoras, Mexico, 
there being a large Mexican population in this town. As she was successful she 
found opportunities for sending hundreds of Bibles and tracts into Mexico through 
her scholars and their friends. When the Civil War came, she was driven out 
of her home as she was not in sympathy with the people about her; thus she found 
shelter in Matamoras, and commenced her direct missionary labors for the Mexican 
people. Her work took her later to Monterey, one of the largest Catholic cities, 
and there she established a Protestant mission. As a result of her work, Protestant 
schools and churches were built, ultimately assuming such proportions that they 
required regularly ordained ministers. Her health failing in 1872, she returned 
home and died in 1888. 

LYDIA MARY FAY. 

She is most affectionately remembered for her work in China. Miss Fay 
was a native of Essex County, Virginia, but entered the missionary field from 
Albany, New York, sailing for China, November 8, 1850, the first single woman 
sent there by the missionary society. She was a remarkable woman, with a most 
sympathetic heart and well-trained mind, and had a peculiar fitness for the work 
in that country. She established in her own house in Shanghai a boarding school 
for boys, and from this she educated teachers and preachers to carry on the work. 
She taught in the school, attended to all the domestic course, provided the clothing, 
managed the finances, and at the same time devoted much of her time to the 
study of the Chinese language. At the close of her twenty-fifth year, she passed 
this school over to the Episcopal Board. Her efforts developed from this very 
small beginning into the Doane Hall and Theological School, with president, 
professors, ten Chinese teachers, and some of her pupils in the Christian ministry. 
She was always known as "Lady Fay" to her pupils, who were impressed by the 
purity and simplicity of her Christian life and devotion to their interests After 
twenty-eight years of hard work, her health failed, and she died October 5, 1878. 

MARY BRISCOE BALDWIN. 

Born in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, May 20, 181 1, and died June 
21, 1877. Her mother was the niece of James Madison, the fourth president of 
the United States. She received her education from private tutors. She was a 
disciple of Bishop Meade of the Protestant Episcopal Church, who greatly influenced 
her in her religious life. The death of her parents breaking up her home when 
but twenty years of age, she went to Stanton, Pennsylvania to live. Wearying of 



Women in the Missionary Field 515 

fashionable life, she decided to engage in some Christian work. First she became 
a teacher in a young ladies' seminary, then the call came for her to enter the mis- 
sionary field, through Mrs. Hill of Athens and the Protestant Episcopal Society. 
Being a friend of Mrs. Hill, she decided to accept this call, and went into the 
work in Greece. Dr. and Mrs. Hill were American missionaries who had estab- 
lished a school, and Miss Baldwin joined them as an assistant in this work. She 
took entire charge of the domestic department, teaching fine sewing and other use- 
ful arts. She became so beloved that she was known among her scholars and the 
people as "Good Lady Mary." Not only did she train these young Greek girls in 
the domestic arts, but she Christianized them and taught them to be good daugh- 
ters, wives and mothers. In 1866 when the Christians of Crete revolted against the 
Turkish government, many impoverished and destitute Cretans fled to Athens. 
Among these poor people, Miss Baldwin labored with great success. She opened 
day schools and Sunday schools, feeding them and providing the women and girls 
with work. For forty-two years she labored among these people. She was buried 
on a bluff overlooking the Jordan Valley, and these loving people placed over her 
a tombstone of Greek marble. 

MARY REED. 

Born in Crooked Tree, Noble County, Ohio, at the age of sixteen years, she 
entered the missionary field, offering her service to the Foreign Missionary Society 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church. This was accepted, and she was sent to 
India by the Cincinnati Branch. On her arrival in India, she was sent to the 
work in Cawnpore. After four years of successful labor in this field, she was sent 
to the girls' boarding school in Gonda, but here her health completely broke down, 
and she was obliged to return home. While convalescing, she noticed a peculiar 
spot on her cheek, and insisted on having medical books brought to her wherein 
she could study up her case, and became convinced that she was a victim of 
leprosy. She insisted on returning to India, and that her mother should not be 
told of her fatal malady. She hastened to the mission among the lepers in India. 
At Chandag, she was put in charge of one of the leper asylums, and here she has 
worked diligently and faithfully among these outcasts, receiving treatment her- 
self. The life she lives among these poor isolated creatures emphasizes the sweet 
faith she teaches. 

EMMA V. DAY. 

Mrs. Day was born June 10, 1853, m Philadelphia, and died August 10, 1804, 
near Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Her mother died when she was quite an infant, 
and she was reared by an aunt. In 1874, she was married to Rev. D. A. Day of the 
Lutheran Mission of Africa for the Evangelical Lutheran Church. On the estab- 
lishment of their home in Africa, she took upon herself, as her part of her hus- 
band's work, the training of the children, and in a short time many of these naked 
little heathens were transformed into civilized creatures able to take part in the 
household duties of a Christian home. Being of a peculiarly cheerful and happy 
disposition, Mrs. Day met with great success in her work among these little 



516 Part Taken by Women in American History 

people. Two of Mrs. Day's own children were born in this far away land. In 
1894. Mrs. Day's health became so precarious she returned to America, and in 
August passed away. 

ELIZA AGNEW. 

Born in New York City, she did not enter the missionary field until she was 
over thirty years of age. Was then sent by the Board of Foreign Missions to 
Ceylon to work in the Oodooville Boarding School. Miss Agnew was the first 
unmarried missionary to arrive in Ceylon, and caused great consternation among 
the natives. She never returned to America, but gave her whole life to work 
among the people of India, and died an old lady in 1883. 

MURILLA BAKER INGALLS. 

Married at her home in Eastport, Wisconsin, in 1850, and sailed with her 
husband, a missionary, for Burma, July 10, 1851. Her husband lived only two 
years after they were married. After a visit to America to leave her husband's 
daughter to be educated, she returned to the work in Burma in 1859. She had a 
wonderful power and great influence among the Buddhist priests in spreading the 
truth of Christianity. She established Bible societies, distributing tracts in their 
own language to the French, English, Burmese, Shans, Hindus and Karens. She 
opened a library for the benefit of the employees of the railway, and established 
branch libraries on these lines. Her work was most valuable among the men 
who went out into these countries to work for the syndicates building railroads, 
and also among the native workers. She and her associates gave lectures, and in 
every way tried to better the conditions and life of these men. The various 
governments represented appreciated her work, and often assisted her. 

BEULAH WOOLSTON. 

Was born in Vincenttown, New Jersey, August 3, 1828, and died at Mount 
Holly, New Jersey, October 24, 1886. She was educated at the Wesleyan Female 
College in Wilmington, Delaware, where she was graduated with honor in both the 
English and classic departments. She taught for some years in this college, and 
while engaged in this occupation, she took up missionary work, going as a teacher 
to one of the Chinese missions. Her sister accompanied her to this field, and their 
work consisted in organizing and superintending a boarding school for Chinese 
girls under the Chinese Female Missionary Society of Baltimore. After twenty- 
five years of faithful work, she returned to this country in 1883 and died October 
24, 1886. 

JERUSHA BINGHAM KIRKLAND. 

Jerusha Bingham, as a niece of the Rev. Doctor Wheelock, who was deeply 
interested in missionary work, had her attention early called to the needs of Chris- 
tian teaching among the Indians. Later she married Doctor Kirkland, the well- 
known missionary, and she and her husband had the distinction of being recom- 



Women in the Missionary Field 517 

mended by the Continental Congress as adapted to labor among the Indians, and 
as alone able to preserve their neutrality toward the war. During the period when 
the early wars threatened the destruction of the new nation by the aboriginal 
inhabitants, she worked faithfully with her husband in that arduous and respon- 
sible work of pacification. She was the mother of John Thornton Kirkland, who 
was born at Little Falls, New York, August 17, 1790. When this son had achieved 
national prominence his biographer wrote, "It was from a mother of distinguished 
public spirit, energy, wisdom and devotedness that he received the rudiments of 
his high intellectual and manly resolutions." 

MARY ELIZABETH WILLSON. 

Born May 1, 1842, in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania. Her father Mr. 
Bliss, was a very religious man. Her mother Lydia Bliss, a Christian woman. 
Her only brother was the noted evangelist singer and hymn writer, P. P. Bliss. 
While Mary Bliss was quite young the family removed to Tioga County, Penn- 
sylvania. When she was fifteen years of age she accompanied her brother into 
Bradford County, where her brother taught a select school. They made their 
home with a family named Young, who were very musical, and the daughter of 
this family gave P. P. Bliss his first lessons in singing, and eventually became 
his wife. In 1858 Mary Bliss began teaching, and taught until i860, when she 
married Clark Willson of Towanda, Pennsylvania. Her brother will be remem- 
bered not only through his evangelical work but as the author of "Hold the Fort." 
He and his wife lost their lives in the terrible railway wreck of Ashtabula Bridge 
on December 29, 1876. Mr. and Mrs. Willson were urged by a friend, Major 
Whittle, to assist him in his evangelistic work in Chicago and they accepted this 
call. Their work as Gospel singers was so successful that they made this their 
life work. In 1878 Francis Murphy, the apostle of temperance, invited them to 
aid him in what was known as the Red Ribbon Crusade. They visited the 
principal cities of the Northern and Southern states and everywhere met with 
great success. Mrs. Willson was known as the Jenny Lind of sacred melody. In 
1882 Mr. and Mrs. Willson spent several months in Great Britain in the Gospel 
Temperance work and Mrs. Willson's voice was as much admired in England as 
in her home country. She has written several hymns and sacred songs. Among 
the most popular are: "Glad Tidings," "My Mother's Hands" and "Papa Come 
This Way." She was also the author of two volumes of Gospel Hymns and 
songs entitled "Great Joys" and "Sacred Gems." She contributed words and 
music to most of the Gospel song books for a number of years. 

ALICE BLANCHARD MERRIAM COLEMAN. 

Born in Boston, May 7, 1858. All Mrs. Coleman's life has been spent in the 
old South End ofBoston, where she still resides. She was graduated from the 
Everett Grammar School in 1873 and immediately went abroad with her parents 
for nine months, spending a large part of the time in London and Paris, and 
absorbing with great eagerness all that fitted on to the studies of the grammar 



518 Part Taken by Women in American History 

school, especially the history of England. In September, 1874, she entered Brad- 
ford Academy, in Bradford, Mass., the oldest academy in New England for young 
women, where she had the privilege of being trained by Miss Annie E. Johnson, 
one of the best-known educators of that time. The four years of boarding school 
life were marked by the awakening of the missionary spirit and by the resolve to 
herself to become a foreign missionary. She graduated in 1878, with the expecta- 
tion of spending one year in the further study of Latin and Greek in order to 
fit herself for Smith College, but her eyes, already a source of trouble and anxiety, 
again gave out and all thought of further study or of any life work which would 
involve language study had to be abandoned. 

In the fall of 1879, the Woman's Home Missionary Association (Congrega- 
tional) was organized in Boston under the leadership of her former principal, Miss 
Annie E. Johnson. The purpose of the association was the prosecution of educa- 
tional and missionary work among the women and children of our own land, 
especially among the alien races and religions. This opened the door for her 
entrance into the work of home missions which has from that day to this been 
the main work of her life. At the request of the directors of the association, she 
visited all its fields of work in 1884 in order to prepare herself to speak of the 
work among the churches. The trip covered the country as far west as Utah and 
as far south as Texas, including the work among the Negroes, Indians, Mormons, 
and pioneer settlements. The next year was spent in visiting the churches and 
marked the beginning of her platform work. 

In 1886, she transferred her denominational relationship to a Baptist 
church, and at once became a member of the board of directors of the 
Woman's American Baptist Home Mission Society, thus continuing her activity 
in home mission work and as a speaker among the churches. Various lines of 
church work also claimed a considerable share of her time and strength. 

On June 30, 1891, Miss Merriam was married to George W. Coleman of 
Boston. They have had no children and so she has continued in the lines of 
activity already referred to. In 1891 she became president of the Woman's Amer- 
ican Baptist Home Mission Society and held that position until April, 191 1, when 
by the consolidation of the Woman's American Baptist Home Mission Society, 
headquarters in Boston, and the Woman's Baptist Home Mission Society, head- 
quarters in Chicago, a new national organization was formed having the name of 
the Boston organization but with headquarters in Chicago. Mrs. Coleman is now 
the first vice-president of the new organization and president of the New England 
Branch of the Woman's American Baptist Home Mission Society, the branch 
being a local organization whose purpose is the holding of inspirational meetings 
and otherwise fostering the work of the Woman's American Baptist Home Mission 
Society. 

In December, 1006, the Interdenominational Committee of Women for Home 
Mission Conferences for the East was formed to provide for and to conduct a 
summer conference in Northfield, Mass. For the first three years, she served the 
committee as its president, and is still a member of the governing body. 

As a result of the formation of similar committees in different parts of the 
country, the Council of Women for Home Missions was organized in November, 
1908, and Mrs. Coleman has served as president of the council from its beginning. 



Women in the Missionary Field 519 

The Home Mission work has brought Mrs. Coleman into a close relation- 
ship to the schools and colleges provided for the colored people of the South and 
she is a trustee of Hartshorn Memorial College, Richmond, Virginia, and of 
Spelman Seminary, Atlanta, Georgia. 

Mrs. Coleman's activities during the last five years in connection with the 
Ford Hall meetings in Boston and the Sagamore Sociological Conference, which 
meets each summer at their summer home, have her warmest sympathy and sup- 
port though she has no official connection with them. Mrs. Coleman has, how- 
ever, been for several years one of the non-resident workers of the Denison House, 
a settlement house for women in a district largely populated by Syrians and 
Italians. 

SARAH PLATT HAINES. 

Among the names prominent in New York City is that of Sarah Piatt 
Haines, wife of Thomas C. Doremus, who for fifty years was called the "Mother 
of Missions." She stands as a representative of woman's efforts in missionary 
labors. She was born in August, 1842. Her father was Elias Haines, and her 
mother was Mary Ogden. Her grandparents, Robert Ogden and Sarah Piatt, had 
also devoted their lives to missions. 

AMELIA ELMORE HUNTLEY. 

Mrs. Amelia Elmore Huntley, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. R. T. Elmore, was 
born in Esopus New York, in February, 1844. Her mother died when she was 
nine years old. Her father, early in life, moved to Milwaukee, where he became 
an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, occupying many positions 
of trust including that of delegate to the general conference. He was a success- 
ful business man and gave his children every advantage of education, travel, etc. 

Mrs. Huntley was educated in a Female College of Wisconsin and was 
graduated from a Woman's College, at Lima, N. Y. She was married to Rev. E. D. 
Huntley, in 1867, he being actively engaged in the ministry of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church. Mrs. Huntley has great genius for organization and is very success- 
ful with young people. Having lost her only child in infancy, her arms were empty 
to aid more fully other lambs of the fold. 

For years Dr. Huntley was president of the Lawrence College, Appleton, 
Wisconsin, and many bright students were led by this devoted couple into lives 
of Christian consecration and usefulness. She was an active member of the 
Women's Christian Temperance Union of Wisconsin, where she did fine preventive 
work and was instrumental in forming reading rooms, night schools, etc. She was 
a member of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society from its inception, serving 
in various official capacities. She has fine executive ability and is a stirring and 
sympathetic speaker. Her intelligent enthusiasm has inspired many an indifferent 
and even careless woman into active and valuable membership. When Dr. Huntley 
was appointed pastor of the Metropolitan Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church 
in Washington, Mrs. Huntley brought her zeal and inspiration on missionary lines 
into active service there, and to this may be attributed much of the intelligent 
interest in missions which is shown in that church at the present day. 



520 Part Taken by Women in American History 

She served as secretary of the Washington District Association, from which 
she was called to take the responsible position of the Baltimore branch as corres- 
ponding secretary of that society. When the saddest trial of her life came — the 
sudden death of her gifted husband — she bravely kept on with her work. She was 
sent a delegate to Edinburgh to the International Conference on Missions in 
May, 1910. 

BELLE CALDWELL CULBERTSON. 

Mrs. Belle Caldwell Culbertson, wife of Rev. John Newton Culbertson, of 
Washington, D. C, was born in 1857, in Wheeling, West Virginia, of Scotch-Irish 
and English Quaker descent. Her ancestor, James Caldwell, a Scotch Presby- 
terian, came to America from Ulster, Tyrone County, Ireland, in 1769. He was 
a defender of Fort Henry (now Wheeling), in which defense, out of 44 men in 
the fort, 24 were killed and 5 wounded. 

She is also a descendant of Honorable Francis Yarnall who emigrated from 
Worcestershire, England, in 1684, settled in Chester County, Pennsylvania, and 
in 171 1 represented Chester County in its Provincial legislature. 

John Jolliff Yarnall, a relative of Mrs. Culbertson, was Perry's first lieu- 
tenant in the battle of Lake Erie, and for distinguished gallantry on that occasion 
he was voted a sword by the legislatures of Pennsylvania and Virginia. 

Mrs. Culbertson was graduated from the State Normal School of West Vir- 
ginia, in 1876. Was valedictorian of her class from the Wheeling Female 
College in 1877; sailed for Indo-China as a missionary of the Presbyterian Board 
in 1879, and for two years she was principal of the Harriet House School for 
Girls in Bangkok, Siam. 

In January, 1880, Miss Caldwell married Rev. John Newton Culbertson of 
the same Board of Missions, and in 1881 returned to America. From 1881 to 
1887 Rev. and Mrs. Culbertson served as home missionaries at their own charges 
in South Dakota, building up a flourishing church in that far western field. From 
1887 to the present date Mrs. Culbertson has resided with her family in Washing- 
ton, D. C, active in every good work for the betterment of humanity. From 1897 
to 1905, Mrs. Culbertson served as the efficient president of the Woman's Foreign 
Missionary Society of the Presbytery of Washington City. She personally organ- 
ized many societies throughout the large field and under her leadership the society 
raised an extra gift of $5,000.00 for "The Washington City Memorial Hall," Tokyo, 
Japan. 

In 1906 Mrs. Culbertson was chosen president of the Woman's Interdenom- 
inational Missionary Union of the District of Columbia, which honored position 
she now fills. Mrs. Culbertson has for two years been a correspondent for the 
religious press and a translator of German, her latest translation "Sunnyheart's 
Trial" was published December, 1910, in the Southern Observer. 

Rev. and Mrs. Culbertson have three children living, a son and two 
daughters. 

CARRIE FRANCES JUDD MONTGOMERY. 

Church worker and poet. Was born April 8, 1858. in Buffalo, New York. 
Her father was Orvan Kellogg Judd, and her mother was Emily Sweetland. Her 



Women in the Missionary Field 521 

first literary effort appeared in Demorest's, Young America and the Buffalo 
Courier. At eighteen she published a small volume of poems. She was imbued 
with a deep Christian faith and most of her writings are of a religious character. 
She established a Faith Rest and Home, where sick and weary ones may stay a 
brief time free of charge. This is sustained by voluntary contributions. She 
married George Simpson Montgomery, of San Francisco, California, and both she 
and her husband entered the Salvation Army in 1891. 

LILLIE RESLER KEISTER. 

Mrs. Lillie Resler Keister was born in May, 185 1, in Mount Pleasant, 
Pennsylvania. Her father was the Rev. J. B. Resler. Her husband was the Rev. 
George Keister, Professor of Hebrew in the Union Biblical Seminary of Dayton, 
Ohio. An active worker in the Missionary Association of her church, the United 
Brethren in Christ. Is a woman of marked executive ability and has delivered 
lectures for the Women's Missionary Society. In 1880 she was one of the two 
delegates sent by the Woman's Missionary Association to the World's Missionary 
Conference in London, England. 

MRS. ANGELA F. NEWMAN. 

Born December 4, 1837, in Montpelier, Vermont. She taught school at 
the age of fourteen in the city of her birth. In 1856 she married Frank Kilgour, 
of Madison, who died within a year. Afterwards she became the wife of D. New- 
man, a merchant of Beaverdam, Wisconsin. In 1871 they removed to Lincoln, 
Nebraska. She has held the position of Western secretary of the Woman's For- 
eign Missionary Society, and lectured on missions throughout the West. In 
1883, at the request of Bishop Wiley, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, her 
attention having been drawn to the condition of the Mormon women, she went 
to Cincinnati, Ohio, and presented the Mormon problem to the National Home 
Missionary Society, and a Mormon Bureau was created to push missionary work 
in Utah, of which she was made secretary. She acted also as chairman of a 
committee appointed to consider a plan for founding a home for Mormon women 
who wished to escape from polygamy, to be sustained by the society. The Gen- 
tiles of Utah formed a home association, and on Mrs. Newman's recovery from 
a serious accident she was sent as an unsalaried philanthropist to Washington to 
represent the interests of the Utah Gentiles in the Forty-ninth, Fiftieth and Fifty- 
first Congresses, and delivered an elaborate argument before the congressional 
committees. Two other arguments which she had prepared were introduced 
by Senator Edmonds in the United States Senate, and thousands of copies of 
these were issued. Mrs. Newman secured appropriations of $80,000 for this 
association, and a splendid structure in Salt Lake City was the result of her 
efforts. She has spoken from pulpits and platforms on temperance, Mormon- 
ism and social purity; has long been a contributor to the religious and secular 
journals ; has been commissioned by several governors as delegate to the National 
Conference of Charities and Corrections. In 1888 she was elected a delegate to 



522 Part Taken by Women in American History 



the quadrennial General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the 
first woman ever elected to a seat in that august body. 

MRS. WILLIAM BUTLER. 

Mrs. Butler, known as "The Mother of Missions," was the wife of Rev. 
William Butler, who was commissioned in 1856 to open the mission work for 
the Methodist Episcopal Church. After passing through the great Sepoy rebel- 
lion, in 1857, their headquarters were made at Bareilly, India. After eight years 
in India, Dr. Butler returned to the United States, and was then sent by his 
church to the missionary field in Mexico. Mrs. Butler has reached the advanced 
age of ninety years. She makes her home at Newton Center, Massachusetts. 

Mrs. William J. Schieffelin, Miss Grace Dodge, Mrs. Henry W. Peabody, 
of Boston, chairman of the central committee of the United States for women's 
foreign misssions; Mrs. Helen Barrett Montgomery, Miss Jennie V. Hughes, of 
China; Dr. Mary Riggs Noble, Mrs. Joseph H. Knowles, who is chairman of the 
committee of prayer circles, and secretary of the Methodist Women's Foreign 
Missionary Society, are all women actively engaged in missionary work. Mrs. 
Wilfred Grenfell, whose husband is superintendent of the Labrador Medical Mis- 
sion, was Miss Anna McClanahan, of Chicago, Illinois, and since her marriage has 
been an able assistant of her husband in his work among these far northern 
people. 



Women as Philanthropists. 

DOROTHEA LYNDE DIX (1805-1887.) 

In all past ages the weak, the lame, the blind and the 
insane were supposed to be beyond cure or even help. Only 
within recent years have the strong strived to help the condi- 
tion of those they often pitied but more often despised. The 
insane particularly were often judged as under the control of 
Satan, and any effort to lessen their sufferings or to improve 
their condition seemed the same as helping the evil one. In 
1730 the first asylum for the humane treatment of these unfor- 
tunates was established in England, and in 1750 Benjamin 
Franklin and others in the New World added a department for 
demented people in the Pennsylvania Hospital. But little was 
done for the benefit of the insane, either in this country or fn 
Europe until Dorothea Dix with strong and unyielding pur- 
pose began her heroic work in their behalf. She was eminently 
fitted for the work because she herself had seen only the hard 
side of life. Her home with her grandparents in Boston was 
a gloomy, joyless one, and she herself said later in life, "I never 
knew childhood." Yet, the very hardness of this experience 
fitted her for her life work. After years of teaching, her mind 
was opened to the neglect and suffering of weak-minded and 
insane. It is hard to believe the shocking conditions which 
existed at that day in the treatment of the insane, the patients 
being confined in cells with no floor but the earth, no windows, 
consequently no ventilation. The straw on which they slept 
was changed once a week, at which time the occupants were 
given their only exercise. Such were the conditions Miss Dix 

(5 2 3) 



524 Part Taken by Women in American History 

found when she visited the prisons, hospitals and retreats in 
every state this side of the Rocky Mountains. As she gazed 
at the appalling sight of human beings in cages, closets and cel- 
lars, many of them naked, most of them chained, and all of them 
thrashed into obedience, she realized that a radical and imme- 
diate change was necessary. In Providence at last was found a 
small asylum that gave its patients wise and kind treatment, 
but it was much overcrowded, and Miss Dix at once resolved 
to gather the means for enlargement and make the institution 
an object lesson. She went to the richest man in the city, 
who was also notoriously close-fisted, and to him she related 
with her wonderful power of feeling and eloquence the pathos 
and tragedy of the condition of these benighted souls. To the 
surprise of everyone the wealthy man listened spellbound, and 
at length exclaimed: "Miss Dix, what do you want me to do?" 
"Sir, I want you to give $50,000 toward the enlargement of the 
insane hospital in your city," replied Miss Dix. "Madame, I 
will do it," said the rich man, with perhaps the first desire of his 
life to help suffering humanity, inspired by this young woman. 
This was the beginning which has changed the whole condi- 
tions of the institutions of our country, and started work along 
the right line for the insane and criminals. 

In the Civil War Dorothea Dix offered her services to the 
Secretary of War as a nurse, and under her direction much was 
done to improve the hospitals and so relieve the suffering of 
those sick and wounded. At length, when four-score years old, 
well worn out with her work, she was invited to make her home 
in the asylum in Trenton, N. J., one of the many institutions 
founded by her. Here she was visited by a multitude of 
friends, while a continual flow of letters from all over the coun- 
try brought to her the grateful expressions of the many she had 
aided. She died July 19, 1887, and one of the many prominent 
men who passed judgment on her work at this time said, "Thus 



Women as Philanthropists 525 

has died and been laid at rest in the most quiet and unostenta- 
tious way the most useful and distinguished woman America 
has yet produced.'* 

CAROLINE MARIA SEVERANCE. 

Philanthropist. Mrs. Severance was the daughter of 
Orson and Caroline M. Seamore.- Was born in Canandaigua, 
N. Y., January 12, 1820. She was the valedictorian of her 
class in 1835, when she graduated from the Female Seminary 
at Geneva, N. Y. In 1840 she married Theodoric C. Sever- 
ance, a banker of Cleveland, where she resided until 1855, then 
in Boston, and later in Los Angeles, Cal. She was the founder 
and first president of the New England Woman's College, of 
Boston, which antedated the well-known Sorosis Club, of New 
York, by only a few weeks, and Mrs. Severance is frequently 
called the mother of women's clubs in the United States. She 
has always been an active worker in woman's suffrage work, 
having lectured in various states. Has written several memo- 
rials and appeals on this subject, which have been read before 
the Woman's Congress. Has founded clubs in Los Angeles 
and Santa Barbara; is trustee of the Unitarian Library and 
president of the Los Angeles Free Kindergarten Association, 
and is one of the most progressive women of the present day 
in America. She is now spending the evening of her life in Los 
Angeles, Cal. 

MARY TILESTON HEMENWAY. 

Mary Tileston Hemenway, philanthropist, was born in 
New York City, in 1822; daughter of Thomas Tileston, a 
wealthy New York merchant. Her husband, a Boston business 
man, the owner of extensive silver mines in South America; 



526 Part Taken by Women in American History 

acquired a large fortune, and after his death she came into pos- 
session of about $15,000,000, thus becoming the richest woman 
in Boston. During her long life Mrs. Hemenway bestowed 
much thought and money upon charitable and educational insti- 
tutions. She gave the sum of $100,000 to found the Tileston 
Normal School, Wilmington, N. C. In 1876, when the exist- 
ence of the Old South Meeting House, Boston, was threatened, 
she gave one-half of the $200,000 necessary to save the historic 
edifice from being torn down. In 1878 the series of free lec- 
tures for children was started at her suggestion in the Old 
South Church, which continued informally until 1883, when the 
regular free course of historical lectures for young people was 
inaugurated. In 1881 she established four annual prizes for 
High School pupils for the best essays on scientific topics and 
American history. She also established kitchen gardens, sew- 
ing schools, cooking schools and the Boston Normal School of 
Gymnastics; contributed duly to the support of archaeological 
expeditions and explorations in the Southwest and to the funds 
of the American Archaeological Institute ; was the patroness of 
the "Journal of American Ethnology and Archaeology," and 
gave generously to the Boston Teachers' Mutual Benefit Asso- 
ciation. After her death the trustees of her estate conveyed to 
the state board of education the "Boston Normal School of 
Household Arts," established by her, and which was subse- 
quently transferred to Farmingham, Mass. She died in Bos- 
ton, Mass., March 6, 1894. 

MARTHA REED MITCHELL. 

Was born March, 1818, in Westford, Mass. Her par- 
ents were Seth and Rhoda Reed. She was educated at Miss 
Fiske's School, Keene, N. H., and Mrs. Emma Willard's Semi- 
nary, in Troy, N. Y. In 1838 her family removed to what was 



Women as Philanthropists 527 

then the wilds of Wisconsin. They traveled down the Erie 
Canal and by the chain of Great Lakes, the journey comprising 
three weeks before they reached their destination, the city of 
Milwaukee, Wis. Wisconsin was then a territory, and Mil- 
waukee a village of only five hundred inhabitants. In 1841 
Martha Reed married Alexander Mitchell, one of the sturdy 
pioneers of this Western country, and later one of the most 
prominent men in the state of Wisconsin. Mr. Mitchell 
amassed great wealth, but neither prosperity nor popularity 
deprived Mrs. Mitchell of her simple manner and her love and 
interest in the cause of the less fortunate. Mrs. Mitchell was 
ever ready with her means and personal efforts in all charitable 
work of her home city. She organized what is now known as 
the Protestant Orphan Asylum, and was its first treasurer, and 
for years she supported a mission kindergarten, where daily 
nearly one hundred children from the lowest grades of society 
were taught to be self-respecting and self-sustaining men and 
women. Art and artists are indebted to her for her liberal 
patronge. After the Civil War she established a winter home 
near Jacksonville, Fla., where she brought to great perfection 
tropical fruit-bearing trees, and many of the rare trees of for- 
eign lands, among them the camphor and cinnamon from Cey- 
lon, the tea plant from China, and some of the sacred trees of 
India. While here she became interested in the charities of this 
state, and St. Luke's Hospital stands among her monuments to 
her charitable work in Florida. Mrs. Mitchell will long be 
remembered as one of the moving spirits and able women of the 
early pioneer days in the West. She was one of the vice- 
regents of the Mt. Vernon Association. 

CYNTHIA H. VAN NAME LEONARD. 

Was born February 28, 1828, in Buffalo, N. Y. Was a 
pioneer in many fields of labor which have been invaded by 



528 Part Taken by Women in American History 

women in this century. She was the first woman to stand behind 
a counter as a saleswoman, and was a member of the first 
Woman's Social and Literary Club organized in her city. In 
1852 she married Charles E. Leonard, connected with the Buf- 
falo Express, and later with the Commercial Advertiser of 
Detroit, Michigan. In 1856 Mr. and Mrs. Leonard moved to 
Clinton, Iowa, where he published the Herald. Mrs. Leonard 
was active in establishing schools and churches in this little fron- 
tier city, and when the war broke out she was foremost in all 
sanitary work, and assisted in opening the first soldiers' home in 
Iowa. In 1863 Mr. Leonard moved to Chicago, 111., where 
Mrs. Leonard at once became prominent in the fair for the 
Freedmen's Aid Commission. She organized and was presi- 
dent of the Women's Club of that city, which later was called 
the Sorosis. Mrs. Leonard and Mrs. Waterman published a 
weekly paper in the interest of this club. Mrs. Leonard has 
been very active in shelter work for the unfortunate women of 
her own city, and through her efforts succeeded in establishing 
the Good Samaritan Society and the opening of a shelter for the 
unfortunate class of society. After the Chicago fire she worked 
constantly for the protection and assistance of these poor 
women. Mrs. Leonard is the mother of Lillian Russell, the well- 
known actress, whose name was Helen Leonard. She organ- 
ized in New York the Science of Life Club. All Mrs. Leonard's 
daughters are well known and more or less prominent in the 
musical and theatrical world. 

AMANDA L. AIKENS. 

Editor and philanthropist. Mrs. Aikens was born in North Adams, Massa- 
chusetts, the 12th day of May, 1833. She received her education at Maplewood 
Institute, Pittsfield, Massachusetts. She married Andrew Jackson Aikens, and 
moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In 1887 she began to edit the Woman's World, 
a department in her husband's paper, the Evening Wisconsin. During the 
Civil War she was one of the noted women workers of our country, and it was 
through her public appeals that the question of the national soldiers' homes was 



Women as Philanthropists 529 

agitated. She raised money in Wisconsin for the Johns Hopkins Medical School 
in Baltimore, for the purpose of having women admitted on equal terms with 
men. She took an active interest in all charity and educational work in her 
state, and must be included among the prominent women up-builders of our 
country. Mrs. Aikens died in Milwaukee, the 20th of May, 1892. 

ELIZABETH DICKSON JONES. 

Born in Chicago October 6, 1862. Daughter of William Wallace and 
Fidelia Hill Norton Dickson. In 1884 married Joseph H. Jones, who has since 
died. Active in musical work; secretary of the Iowa Humane Society, and in 
1904, James Callonan, former president, left the Iowa Humane Society $70,000 
conditioned upon her being made secretary for life; was vice-president of the 
American Humane Society. 

JUDITH WALKER ANDREWS. 

Philanthropist. Mrs. Andrews was born in Fryeburg, Maine, April 26, 
1826, and was educated at the academy in her home town. Her brother, Dr. Clem- 
ent A. Walker, was appointed in charge of the hospital for the insane in Boston, 
and Mrs. Walker joined him there to assist in the work in which she was deeply 
interested. Her work in this line has been of great value. Since 1889, she has 
been very much interested in the child-widows of India and formed an asso- 
ciation to carry out the plans of Pundita Ramabai. Mrs. Andrews and her 
co-workers are carrying on the management of a school at Puna, India. 

HANNAH J. BAILEY. 

Philanthropist and reformer. Mrs. Bailey was born in Cornwall-on-Hudson, 
New York, July 5, 1839. In her early youth she taught school. She became very 
much interested in the work among the criminal institutions of New England. Her 
father had been a member of the Society of Friends, and she attended the yearly 
meeting of this sect. While attending one of these she met Moses Bailey, to 
whom she was married in October, 1868. In 1882 his death left her with one son, 
twelve years of age, and her own health very much impaired. She took up her 
husband's business, an oilcloth manufactory, and also a retail carpet store in Port- 
land, Maine, and carried these on with success, selling them in 1889 most profit- 
ably. She is a woman prominently connected with all the missionary societies and 
the work of her religious faith, the Friends ; is a strong advocate for peace, and 
in 1888 she was made the superintendent of that line of work for the World's 
Woman's Christian Temperance Union, and has carried on the publishing of 
two monthly papers, the Pacific Banner and the Acorn, besides the distribution of 
a great deal of literature on this subject. She has worked diligently in the inter- 
est of a reformatory prison for women in her own state, and her name is found 
among the first in all philanthropic work for the church and schools and for young 
men and women who are trying to earn an education. 



530 Part Taken by Women in American History 



PHOEBE APPERSON HEARST. 

Philanthropist. The wife of Senator George Hearst, of 
California, was the daughter of R. W. Apperson, and was born 
December 3, 1842. She was married to George Hearst, June 
15, 1862, and their only child is William Randolph Hearst, 
editor of the New York American and the San Francisco Exam- 
iner, and a syndicate of papers published in the principal cities 
in the United States. Mrs. 'Hearst, since her husband's death, 
has been very active in philanthropic work. She established 
and maintained in San Francisco free kindergarten classes and 
working girls' clubs for several years, and also classes for train- 
ing kindergarten teachers in Washington City. The latter were 
maintained by her for almost ten years, and from these classes 
came the first kindergarten teachers in the public schools of 
Washington, D. C. In Lead, S. D., where she owns much 
mining interests, she has established a kindergarten for about 
three hundred children. She gave two hundred and fifty thou- 
sand dollars to build the National Cathedral School for girls in 
Washington, D. C. She paid the cost for the plans submitted 
by the architects of Europe and America for enlarging the Uni- 
versity of California, and erected and equipped in connection 
with that university the Mining Building as a memorial to her 
husband; has given free libraries to the city of Lead, S. D., and 
also to Anaconda, Mont. ; was the first president of the Century 
Club of San Francisco; vice-president of the Golden Gate Kin- 
dergarten Association; regent of the University of California, 
and vice-regent for California of the Mount Vernon Associa- 
tion. Mrs. Hearst is a woman of great ability, and has done 
much for the progress and educational improvement and advan- 
tages for education, not only in her own state of California, but 
in many places of the United States. She has helped and is 
helping to-day in many ways the less fortunate. She is one of 



Women as Philanthropists 531 

the conspicuous women of America, and one to whom her coun- 
try is greatly indebted. 

ANNA ELIZA SEAMANS NAVE, 

Well-known hospital worker in the Spanish-American War, and author 
of religious writings; was born at Defiance, Ohio, June 4, 1848; was the daughter 
of William and Mary Seamans; her husband, Orville J. Nave, was an army chap- 
lain. 

MRS. WILLIAM ZIEGLER. 

The work done by Mrs. Ziegler for the blind deserves especial mention. 
Mrs. William Ziegler, of New York, founded and maintained, at an expense of 
twenty thousand dollars a year the Matilda Ziegler Magazine for the Blind. When 
she established this magazine she expressed the wish that it should never make 
public the name of the donor, but it was found necessary, to further its benefits, 
to allow her name to appear. This magazine has a printing plant of double the 
capacity of any other printing plant for the blind in the world. Five hundred 
thousand pages a month are printed. Ten blind girls work in the office, earning 
a dollar and a quarter a day, assembling the sheets for the magazine, which they 
do as correctly as those who can see. One of these girls is deaf and blind. The 
proof reader for the magazine is a blind man, a graduate of Columbia College. 

GEORGIA TRADER. 

Another woman who is doing splendid work for the blind is Miss Georgia 
Trader, of Avondale, Cincinnati, Ohio, who lost her sight very early in life. The 
Misses Florence and Georgia Trader, after finishing school, took up this work. 
They succeeded in establishing classes for the blind in the public schools of Cin- 
cinnati, and ultimately established a library with nearly two thousand volumes, 
from which the books in raised type are loaned to the blind all over the country, 
and as the government takes books for the blind free through the mails there 
is no knowing the good this work is doing. Miss Georgia Trader's greatest work 
has been the establishing of a working home for the blind girls, where she main- 
tains thirteen destitute girls, for whom she furnishes employment in weaving rugs 
and other artistic work, which finds ready sale. They have purchased the girl- 
hood home of Alice and Phoebe Carey, with twenty-six acres of land, in the sub- 
urbs of Cincinnati, and through the co-operation of the Misses Trader's friends they 
have now established this home on a firm foundation, and will go on with this 
splendid work. 

RUTH HINSHAW SPRAY. 

Born in Mooresville, Indiana, February 16, 1848. The wife of Samuel J. 
Spray, of Indianapolis. Prominent as a teacher in the public schools and work 
for the protection of children and animals; also of the child labor organizations 



532 Part Taken by Women in American History 

and in the international peace cause, Woman's Christian Temperance Union, 
Retail Clerks' Association and other associations for public welfare; is a resident 
of Salida, Colorado. 

KATE WALLER BARRETT. 

Born at Clifton, Stafford County, Virginia, January 24, 1858; is the daugh- 
ter of Withers and Ann Eliza Stribling Waller; graduated in a course of nursing 
at the Florence Nightingale Training School and the St. Thomas Hospital of 
London; married Rev. Robert South Barrett in 1876; has long been an active 
worker in philanthropic work. Is the vice-president and general superintendent 
of the National Florence Crittenton Mission, of Washington, D. C, and now 
president of that institution; was a delegate to the convention for the discussion 
of the care of delinquent children in 1909, vice-president-at-large of the National 
Council of Women, member of the Mothers' Congress, League of Social Service, 
Daughters of the American Revolution, National Geographical Society, and is 
to-day a public speaker and one of the most prominent workers in the philanthropic 
work of the United States. 

HELEN CULVER. 

Born at Little Valley, New York, March 23, 1832; was a school teacher in 
her youth. In 1863 she was matron of the military hospital at Murfreesboro, Ten- 
nessee. In 1868 she entered into partnership with her cousin, Charles J. Hull, 
in the real estate business in Chicago, and dealt largely in properties of that 
city and of the West. After his death she built and endowed the four Hull 
biological laboratories for the University of Chicago ; was trustee of the Hull 
House Association from its organization in 1895, and is one of the noted philan- 
thropists of the United States. 

ELLA MARTIN HENROTIN. 

Born in Portland, Maine, July, 1847; was the daughter of Edward Byam 
and Sarah Ellen Norris Martin; was educated in Europe, and in 1869 married 
Charles Henrotin, of Illinois; one of the leading spirits of the women's depart- 
ment of the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893; president of the 
General Federation of Women's Clubs in 1894; was decorated by the Sultan of 
Turkey in 1893, and also made an "officier de l'Academie" by the French Republic 
in 1899, and decorated by Leopold II, in 1904; one of the foremost women 
in public and charitable work in Chicago. 

MOTHER MARY ALPHONSA. 

Was the daughter of Nathaniel Hawthorne, and in 1871 married George 
Parsons Lathrop. Both Mr. and Mrs. Lathrop were converts to the Catholic 
faith. Mrs Lathrop became greatly interested in the cause of those unfortunate 



Women as Philanthropists 533 

people afflicted with cancer, and took up a course of study of this disease and its 
treatment at the Bellevue Hospital, New York. She worked among the poor 
and labored assiduously in their homes and in the hospitals. On the death of 
her husband she established in a house on Cherry street, New York City, a small 
hospital for these poor unfortunate creatures, who were turned out of other hos- 
pitals as incurable, or because they were too poor to pay for treatment. In addi- 
tion to this, she established a home at Hawthorne, in Westchester County, and 
an order was formed to aid her in her work under a rule of the Third Order of 
St. Dominic. This charity is for those who are pronounced incurable, and is 
known as St. Rose's Free Cancer Hospital, with the country house in Westchester 
County. To this work Mrs. Lathrop consecrated her life, and entered the order 
and became its head, under the name of Mother Alphonsa. She has written some 
poems under the title "Along the Shore," and, with her husband, was the 
author of "Memories of Hawthorne" and "A Story of Courage." 

MRS. GEORGE BLISS. 

Is the daughter of Henry H. Casey and Anais Blanchet Casey. She mar- 
ried Mr. George Bliss, a distinguished Catholic lawyer, who was legal adviser of 
the late Archbishop Corrigan. He was knighted by Pope Leo XIII. In 1897 
Mr. Bliss died. Mrs. Bliss* greatest work has been the establishment with other 
interested persons of the Free Day School and Creche for French children, 
located at 69 Washington Square, New York. This school is entirely dependent 
on the voluntary contributions, receiving no aid from the city treasury. She is 
vice-president of this association, and is president of the Tabernacle Society, 
whose headquarters is in the Convent of Perpetual Adoration, in Washington, 
D. C. 

HARRIET L. CRAMER. 

Was born in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, in 1848; is president and 
publisher of the Evening Wisconsin, which was founded by her hsuband, Hon. 
William E. Cramer, and of which he was editor until his death. She is the 
donor of the granite columns in the interior of the Church of Gesu, in Milwaukee, 
said to be the only columns of this kind in the country, and were placed there 
at a cost of $20,000. She, with her husband, gave forty acres of ground in 
Milwaukee County, upon which the house and school of the Good Shepherd are 
situated. To this institution Mr. Cramer left a large sum of money at his death, 
and Mrs. Cramer has been constantly adding to this. She is one of the most philan- 
thropic, generous women in the charitable world of America. 

MARY L. GILMAN. 

Was born in Boston, Massachusetts. Her father, William Lynch, was a 
wealthy man of North End. In 1870 she married John E. Gilman, a prominent 
member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and at one time department com- 
mander of Massachusetts. Mrs. Gilman is prominent in women's relief corps 



534 P ART Taken by Women in American History 

work and the Ladies' Aid Association of the Soldiers' Home of Chelsea, and the 
home for destitute Catholic children. She was for some time organist of a church 
musical society. 

FLORENCE MAGRUDER GILMORE. 

Was born February 13, 1881, in Columbus, Ohio. Her father was James 
Gillespie, and her mother Florence Magruder Gilmore. Through her father Mrs. Gil- 
more is connected with the prominent families of Blaine, Ewing and Sherman, in 
this country, and, through her mother, with some of the well-known families of 
Scotland. She is engaged in doing settlement work under Catholic organiza- 
tions in St. Louis; is a contributor to the America, Extension, Benzinger's, Mes- 
senger of the Sacred Heart, Rosary and Leader magazines. 

MRS. RICHARD H. KEITH. 
Is the founder of St. Anthony's Infant Home, Kansas City, Missouri. 

KATHERINE BARDOL LAUTZ. 

Was born in Rochester, New York, in 1842; is the daughter of Joseph 
Bardol and Mary Reinagle Bardol. Her husband is J. Adam Lautz, of Ger- 
many, at the head of the Lautz Soap Manufacturing Company, of Buffalo. She 
has been president of the St. Elizabeth's Hospital Association for many years; 
is director of the Working Boys' Home, Women's Educational and Industrial 
Union, St. James' Mission and Angel Guardian Mission. 

MARGARET BISCHELL McFADDEN. 

Was born in St. Louis, Missouri, but removed when a child to Winona, 
Minnesota. Their father was an extensive ship builder of St. Louis. In 1800 she 
married M. J. McFadden, one of the prominent business men of St. Paul, Minne- 
sota. She has been twice elected president of the Guild of Catholic Women, one 
of the leading and most powerful religious organizations in the Northwest. She 
is active in all charitable work, and especially are her interests enlisted in the 
cause of young girls who are brought before the Juvenile Court, many of whom 
she has been able to save. Mrs. McFadden is greatly beloved, and is consid- 
ered one of the prominent women of the Northwest. 

SARAH McGILL. 

Was born in New York City; is the daughter of James and Ellen McGill. 
She is a noted linguist, and has made quite a number of translations from the 
French, Spanish, Italian and German. During her residence in Mobile, Alabama, 
she was known on account of her splendid charitable work as the "Mother of the 
Orphans." She and her sister, Mary A. McGill, who is also an author, and active 



Women as Philanthropists 535 

in all charitable work, were instrumental, with their brothers, in founding McGill 
Institute, in Mobile, and also the McGill Burse, in the American College in Rome, 
a fund for the education of students for the priesthood, in the Mobile diocese, and 
a fund for the building of churches. Associated with them in this splendid charity 
was their brother, Felix McGill. The McGill crypt, beneath the Chapel of the 
Visitation Convent, is a work of art. 

AGNES McSHANE. 

One of the founders of the Visiting Nurses' Association, a charitable organ- 
ization, which works among the poor sick of Omaha. She is the wife of Felix 
J. McShane, a nephew of the distinguished philanthropist, Count Creighton, the 
benefactor of Creighton University. 

KATHERINE KELLY MEAGHER. 

Is president of the graduate chapter of the Visitation Convent Alumnae Asso- 
ciation, treasurer of the Catholic Guild of Women, and prominently identified 
with the charitable and social clubs of St. Paul, Minnesota. She is the daughter 
of the late P. H. Kelly, and in 1907 married John B. Meagher. 

MARY VIRGINIA MERRICK. 

Is the daughter of Richard T. Merrick, a prominent lawyer of Washing- 
ton, D. C, whose father, William Duhurst Merrick, was a member of the Mary- 
land state legislature, and United States Senator from Maryland from 1838 to 
1845. Miss Merrick was the founder of the Christ Child Society of Washington. 
She began her work by interesting her friends in the preparation of infants' out- 
fits, to be given to the poor on Christmas Day, and in 1900 this little circle was 
formed into a society. Sewing classes, children's libraries, Sunday school classes 
were gradually added to the work of relief among the destitute children of Wash- 
ington City. Articles of incorporation were taken out for the society, and to-day 
there is a membership of over six hundred of the prominent Catholic women of 
Washington, which includes many from official and diplomatic circles and the 
army and navy. There are to-day branches of this society in New York City, 
Omaha, Worcester, Massachusetts ; Chicago, Illinois ; Ellicott City, Maryland, and 
Davenport, Iowa. Miss Merrick is the author of a life of Christ (for children) 
and translator of Mme. de Segur's life of Christ, also for children. 

MARY RICHARDS. 

Daughter of Henry L. and Cynthia Cowles Richards; was born in Jersey 
City, New Jersey, in 1855 ; charter member and director of the Winchester, Massa- 
chusetts, Visiting Nurses' Association, and active in charitable matters of her 
home city. 



536 Part Taken by Women in American History 

MRS. THOMAS F. RYAN. 

Was the daughter of Captain Barry, who was the owner of a line of vessels 
plying between Baltimore and the West Indies. She married Thomas F. Ryan. 
She and her husband have been generous contributors to many of the charitable 
institutions and philanthropic work of the church, especially in Virginia. They 
furnished the interior of the Sacred Heart Cathedral of Richmond, which had 
been given to the city by her husband, at a cost of $500,000; built the Sacred Heart 
Church, Washington Ward, and Sacred Heart Cathedral School at Richmond; 
church and convent at Falls Church, Virginia; contributed to churches at Hot 
Springs and Harrisburg, Virginia, and Keyser, West Virginia; the chapel at Suf- 
fern, New York, where their summer home is located, and together gave Ryan 
Hall and a wing to Georgetown University, Georgetown, D. C. She was decorated 
with the Cross of St. Gregory and made a countess by Pope Pius X for her 
philanthropic work. 

MYRA E. KNOX SEMMES. 

Was the daughter of William Knox, a prominent banker and planter of 
Montgomery, Alabama, and Annie O. Lewis Knox, whose family was related 
to the Fairfaxes, Washingtons, and other families of Virginia. Her husband was 
Thomas J. Semmes, a distinguished jurist, prominent in the political affairs of 
Louisiana, and was a member of the convention in 1861 which passed the articles 
of secession in the state of Louisiana. Since her husband's death Mrs. Semmes 
has devoted her life to charity and benevolence, and has erected a magnificent 
chapel in the Jesuit Church, in New Orleans, in memory of her husband. 

ANNE SPALDING. 

Was a descendant of the distinguished Spalding family of Morganfield, 
Kentucky, from which two archbishops have been made. Active in charitable 
work in Atlanta, Georgia, where her husband, Dr. Robert Spalding, is well known. 

SISTER M. IMELDA TERESA (SUSIE TERESA FORREST SWIFT, 0. P.) 

Was the daughter of George Henry and Pamelia Forrest Paine; was born 
in 1862; a graduate of Vassar College. Her first philanthropic work was with 
the Salvation Army. She trained the officers for the organization at the Interna- 
tional Training Home, London; established a home for waif boys in London, 
England, and suggested to General Booth the outline of his work, "Darkest Eng- 
land's Social Scheme"; was the author of many stories and poems written for 
Salvation Army publications. In 1896 she became a convert to Catholicism, and 
since has served as assistant editor of the Catholic World Magazine and editor 
of the Young Catholic. In 1897 she entered a religious order, and was for a time 
directress of an orphanage in Havana, Cuba, and directress of the Dominican 
College of Havana. Since October, 1004, she has served as novice mistress of the 
Dominican congregation of St. Catherine di Ricci, of Albany, New York. 



Women as Philanthropists 537 

caroline earle white. 

Was born in Philadelphia in 1833. Her father and mother were active 
opponents of slavery, and he wrote the (new) Constitution of Pennsylvania, and 
was a candidate for the Vice-Presidency in 1840 on the Anti-Slavery ticket. Mrs. 
White has devoted nearly her whole life to children and animals. She was one 
of the women who ably assisted Henry Bergh in the establishment of the Humane 
Society in New York, and was the founder of the Pennsylvania Society for the 
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals; also of the Society for the Prevention of 
Cruelty to Children, of that state; author of "Love in the Tropics," "A Modern 
Agrippa," "Letters from Spain and Norway," "An Ocean Mystery," and contribu- 
tor to Harper's Magazine and the Forum; member of the Society of Colonial 
Dames. 

HELEN MILLER GOULD. 

Miss Gould was born in New York, June 20, 1868, daughter of the late Jay 
and Helen Day Gould; sister of George Jay, Edwin, Howard and Frank Jay 
Gould. She has been identified with philanthropic work for many years; has made 
many notable gifts, including: Library building, costing $310,000 to University City of 
New York, $100,000 to United States Government for war purposes, $10,000 to 
Rutgers College, $10,000 to Engineering School, University City of New York, 
$50,000 to the naval branch of the Brooklyn Young Men's Christian Association, 
and numerous other donations for educational and charitable purposes. 

Miss Gould is indeed a unique figure — a wealthy woman, born into the 
New York smart set, she is yet puritanical, conscientious, modest, loyal, conserva- 
tive, charitable and utterly indifferent to that phase of society which means a 
laborious career and a heart-burning competition. 

Annually she gives in charity tens of thousands of dollars, and with her 
liberal inclination in this direction it is well that she is a trained business woman 
(she has had a good course in law) for each year demands come to her for over 
two million dollars. She has received requests for everything, from her autograph 
on a blank slip, to her signature on a thousand dollar check. In one week alone 
she had 1,303 appeals, amounting to $1,500,000. 

One of her sweetest charities is the home for poor children at Lyndehurst, 
and another at Woodycrest, three miles out of Tarrytown, New York, where she 
cares for twenty-five little ones. To all these benefactions has she given greatly, 
and then the half has not been told. 

MILDRED A. BONHAM. 

Mrs. Bonham was born in Magnolia, Illinois, August, 1840. In 1847 her 
parents removed to Qregon, and in 1858 she married Judge B. F. Bonham, of 
Salem, Oregon. In 1885 Judge Bonham was made consul-general to British India, 
and the family removed to Calcutta. Her letters, under the pen name of "Miz- 
pah," had wide circulation in the Oregon and California papers. She did some 



538 Part Taken by Women in American History 

splendid work among the women of India, and succeeded in raising $1,000 to 
found a scholarship for these women in one of the schools of this country. 

KATHARINE BEMENT DAVIS. 

Katharine Bement Davis was born in Buffalo, New York. Her parents 
were Oscar B. Davis and Frances Bement. They moved to Dunkirk, New York, 
when she was two years old. She was educated in the Dunkirk public schools, 
but moved to Rochester, New York, while she was in the high school, and gradu- 
ated from the Rochester Free Academy. She returned to Dunkirk, New York, 
as a teacher of chemistry and physics in the high school, and taught there several 
years before she entered Vassar College, where she graduated in 1892. The 
year following her graduation she went to New York, where she taught sciences 
in the Brooklyn Heights Seminary in the morning, and studied chemistry at Colum- 
bia University afternoons and Saturdays. 

In the spring, summer and fall of 1893 she conducted an experiment under 
the auspices of the New York State commission for the World's Fair, called "A 
Workingman's Model Home." The house was built and furnished to illustrate 
what a workingman could do in New York State, outside of New York City, who 
was earning $600 a year. Here she had a real family living, and gave demonstra- 
tions of the bill of fare which such a family could have. 

In the fall of 1893 she went to Philadelphia as head worker in the College 
Settlement. After four years there she went to the University of Chicago as a 
fellow in the Department of Political Economy. In 1888-1889 she held the Euro- 
pean fellowship of the New England Women's Educational Association, studying 
in Berlin and Vienna. Returning to this country, she took her doctor's degree 
at the University of Chicago in the Departments of Political Economy and Soci- 
ology in the spring of 1900. 

At this time the New York State Reformatory had been incorporated, and 
was in process of construction. The board of managers, of whom Mrs. Josephine 
Shaw Lowell, of New York, was one, and whose president is, and was, Mr. James 
Wood, of Mt. Kisco, were on the lookout for someone to accept the superintend- 
ency. They wanted someone who would conduct the institution along new 
lines, and not one who was institution trained. Through Mrs. Lowell Mrs. Davis 
became interested in the plan, and in the fall of 1900 accepted the superintend- 
ency, and has been in that position ever since. 

Mrs. Davis has been a lecturer on penology, particularly as concerns 
women in the New York School of Philanthropy, since its organization. Hap- 
pening to be in Sicily on a six-months' leave in the winter of 1908-1909, at the 
time of the Messina earthquake, she acted as agent for the American Red Cross 
in Syracuse, Sicily, helping to organize relief work. She received medals, both 
from the American and Italian Red Cross for this service. At the International 
Prison Congress, held in Washington in 1910, she was elected to preside over the 
section on children. It is not customary to elect women to these positions, but it 
was done on this occasion as a recognition of the important part that American 
women take in matters of penology. 



Women as Philanthropists 539 



MARTHA BERRY. 

Miss Martha Berry is one of the most prominent women to-day in the 
philanthropic work in the South, and one who deserves conspicuous mention 
for her personal efforts and what she has accomplished in her splendid work for 
the benefit of the children of the mountaineers of Georgia, who are so isolated 
and so shut out from every opportunity of education. The beginning of the 
Martha Berry Industrial School, to which only the poor are eligible, was the 
result of Miss Berry's efforts to interest a few of the mountain children who 
strayed into a simple cottage which she had built on the mountain side, near her 
father's home. The Bible stories and tales from Grimm which she told them 
brought them frequently together. A year later four mountain day schools were 
established. Through them Miss Berry realized that the only salvation of these 
mountain children lay in training them in a home school, where strict discipline 
and industrial training would go hand in hand with book learning. So she built 
her own school, a ten-room building. Her first two scholars were boys whom she 
had found in a cabin far out in the hills, boarding themselves and paying two dol- 
lars a month tuition to an old broken down schoolmaster who was teaching them 
the Greek alphabet, though they couldn't read or write. She took these boys 
under her charge, promising them a literary and industrial education at fifty dol- 
lars a year, including their board, with the privilege of working their way through 
school. This was in January, 1902. The school opened with one building and 
five pupils, two teachers and about thirty acres of forest land. Their industrial 
equipment consisted of an old horse, one small plough, two hoes, a rake, two 
axes and a mallet. To-day Miss Berry's buildings and equipments represent an 
investment of two hundred thousand dollars. More than a thousand boys have 
come to this school and gone back to the mountains to help reclaim their people 
from the ignorance and superstition into which they had fallen. A girls' school 
has also been established in connection with this, and there are in it fifty girls. 
Miss Berry has raised thirty-five thousand dollars every year to keep the work 
going. Hundreds of boys and girls of the mountain districts of Georgia, 
Tennessee, Alabama and Virginia are pleading to enter this school. Nothing but 
the lack of a generous support prevents Miss Berry from extending her work in 
this much-needed field. 

ELECTA AMANDA JOHNSON. 

Mrs. Electa Amanda Johnson was born in Wayne County, New York, in 
November, 1838. She was descended from a distinguished Revolutionary family 
on her father's side, and an old Knickerbocker family on her mother's side. 
In i860 she married A. H. Johnson, a lawyer of Prairie du Chien. She was one 
of the founders of the Wisconsin Industrial School for Girls, and has been selected 
by the governor of Wisconsin several times to represent the state on the questions 
of charity and reform. 

IRMA THEODA JONES. 

Mrs. Irma Theoda Jones was born March II, 1845, in Victory, New York. 
Mrs. Jones' maiden name was Andrews, and her family were among the early 



54-o Part Taken by Women in American History 



pioneers of western New York, who later removed to Rockford, Illinois. Her 
work is among women's clubs and the temperance union; she is also a contrib- 
utor to various newspapers. In 1865 she married Nelson B. Jones, a prominent 
citizen of Lansing, Michigan. In 1892 she became editor of the Literary Club 
Department of the Mid-Continent, a monthly magazine published in Lansing. 

CORA SCOTT POND. 

Was born March 2, 1856, in Cheboygan, Wisconsin. Her father was born 
in Maine, and her mother in New Brunswick. She was a second cousin, on her 
father's side, of General Winfield Scott. Her father was a successful inventor 
of machinery and booms for milling and logging purposes, and one of the early 
pioneers in Wisconsin. After her graduation from the state university she taught 
music, and at this time became interested in the woman's suffrage and temperance 
movements, and was invited by Mrs. Lucy Stone to help organize the state for 
woman's suffrage. Although intending to teach, she took upon herself this work, 
and organized eighty-seven woman's leagues in Massachusetts, speaking in pub- 
lic and raising money to carry on the work in that state for over six years. 
In 1887 she organized a woman's suffrage bazaar, and raised over six thousand 
dollars. While teaching in the Conservatory of Music in Boston she contributed 
sketches of Shakespeare, Dickens and other authors. She originated a dramatic 
entertainment called the National Pageant, which she gave with great success for 
the benefit of the various societies of women in Massachusetts. She was inti- 
mately associated with Mary A. Livermore, and aided and assisted her in her 
Boston work. Mrs. Pope traveled through the country, giving the National 
Pageant for local societies, and raised many thousands of dollars for charitable 
purposes. In Chicago, in one night's performance, given in the Auditorium, sixty 
thousand dollars were cleared. While here she met and married John T. Pope, 
who assisted her in her work. 

MARGARET CHANLER. 

The philanthropy of Miss Chanler has been almost equal to that of Miss 
Gould, and she has strewn with a lavish hand many blessings upon the poor and 
needy. During the Cuban War she volunteered as a nurse to the soldiers, serving 
faithfully in that inhospitable climate. She has been very modest in the manner 
in which she has disbursed many thousands of dollars for the comfort and salva- 
tion of the indigent of New York City and elsewhere. Her charity is broad and 
enters many avenues. 

ELIZA GARRETT. 

The name of Eliza Garrett will ever be remembered with gratitude by 
Biblical students and the Methodist Church throughout the world. Her original 
name was Eliza Clark, and she was born near Newburg, New York, March 5, 1805. 
In 1825 she married Augustus Garrett. Their early married life was filled with 
frequent change, they having made their home in New York City, Cincinnati, 



Women as Philanthropists 541 

New Orleans and Mississippi. While on their voyage down the Mississippi River 
they lost a daughter with cholera; later, they lost a son, their only surviving child. 

In 1834 Mr. Garrett moved to Chicago, and became one of the prominent 
men and early pioneers of that city. After Chicago became a city Mr. Garrrett 
was elected mayor. In December, 1848, his death occurred. Mrs. Garrett became 
possessed of one-half the entire estate. Of a strong religious faith, her influence 
was always exerted for a Christian life and Christian principles. She was always 
benevolent, and now decided to carry out her desires to aid in some educational 
enterprise. She believed the future of the church and country demanded a thor- 
ough intellectual training for the young under the auspices of Christianity. She 
realized that ministerial education was by no means receiving a corresponding share 
of attention, and that for various reasons it was not likely soon to be provided 
for in the ordinary way. To this, therefore, she directed her thoughts. She saw 
in her own church (Methodist) a growing denomination of Christians, then num- 
bering seven hundred thousand communicants, and requiring for its ordinary 
pastoral care not less than five thousand ministers, while the claims made upon it 
for missionaries throughout the United States and distant lands were unlimited. 
Besides, it was lamentably true that many who were engaged in ministerial work 
left it prematurely, unable, with an imperfect preparation, to bear up under its 
weighty responsibilities. The want of an institution which should provide for 
ministerial students ample libraries and all appropriate apparatus of thorough 
and extended study, in which teachers of ability and experience would be ever 
ready to welcome, guide and instruct those desiring to profit for such opportuni- 
ties, was badly felt. After due reflection and investigation, Mrs. Garrett decided 
to found such an institution. Her will, executed December, 1853, gave, after some 
personal legacies, more than one-third of her estate — "all the rest and residue — 
that is to say, the rents, issues, profits and proceeds thereof," to the erection, fur- 
nishing and endowment of a "theological institution for the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, to be called the Garrett Biblical Institute." Said institution was to be 
located in or near Chicago, and was to be perpetually under the guardianship of 
the church. 

This will, also, with a wise reference to the distant future, contained this 
proviso : "In case at any time the said trust property, the rents, issues and pro- 
ceeds thereof, shall exceed the amount necessary to build, fit, furnish, endow and 
support said Biblical institute as aforesaid, I direct and devote the surplus to accu- 
mulate, or otherwise to be invested for accumulation, for the erection within the 
city of Chicago, or its* vicinity, of a female college, as soon as my said executors, 
the survivors or survivor of them, or the trustees of said trust property, as herein 
provided, shall deem the same adequate therefor; the said female college to be under 
the same control and government, and the trustees to be elected in the same man- 
ner, and to possess the same qualifications as are provided for said Biblical institute." 

At the time when Mrs. Garrett's will was executed, it was not supposed by 
herself or her friends that the benevolent designs she contemplated could be 
accomplished from the avails of her estate for some years to come. Her prop- 
erty had been rendered, by fires, mostly unproductive, while it was to some extent 
incumbered with debts. At this point a fact should be stated most honorable to 



54-2 Part Taken by Women in American History 

her name and highly illustrative of her Christian self-denial. So anxious was Mrs. 
Garrett to disincumber her estate of its liabilities at the earliest possible period 
and make it available to carry out her pious and benevolent designs that, for 
several years, she would only accept four hundred dollars per annum for her 
support, and nearly half of that she devoted to religious uses. There are probably 
few who would have been as self-denying under such circumstances. The provi- 
dence of God did not allow designs so wise and so essential to the welfare of His 
Church to remain long undeveloped. The friends of the Church became interested 
to have the measure proposed carried into operation at the earliest moment pos- 
sible. A beautiful site had just been selected for the Northwestern University 
on the shore of Lake Michigan, twelve miles north of Chicago, and it was resolved 
to erect at the same place a temporary building for the Biblical institute. Through 
the agency of the Rev. P. Judson, the building was promptly constructed; so that 
in January, 1855, a temporary organization of the institute was effected, under 
charge of the Rev. Dr. Dempster. It was arranged that this organization should 
be supported independent of the estate for a period of five years. Meantime, a 
charter for the permanent institution was secured from the legislature of the state 
:n full accordance with Mrs. Garrett's wishes. 

In the autumn of 1855, from a state of perfect health, Mrs. Garrett was 
stricken down with mortal disease, and after a few days of suffering was called to 
her reward on high. On Sunday evening, the 18th of November, she was in her 
place at church, and on Thursday, the 22d, she died. 

"Only a few years have passed away since the death of Mrs. Garrrett, and 
already the seed planted by her hand is producing fruit — an earnest of a glorious 
and endless harvest. The institution which her liberality endowed, and which, it 
was feared, might have to struggle for a time with opposition and prejudice, was 
only a few months after her decease formally accepted and sanctioned by the 
general conference, the highest judicatory of the Church. The Bishops, the high- 
est officers of the Church, were apppointed a board of council for the institution, 
and under their advice it has been permanently organized. It is now in efficient 
operation, and has already given the earnest of widespread and continued usefulness 
in the Church." 

MME. SLAVKO GROUITCH. 

Mme. Grouitch, wife of the Servian Charge d'Affaires at the Court of St. 
James, London, England, was formerly Miss Mabel Gordon Dunlop of West 
Virginia, whose father was a prominent railroad man of the early days in Vir- 
ginia and later in Chicago, Illinois. Mme. Grouitch when quite a young girl 
became interested in the study of archaeology and ethnology, to which her father 
was greatly devoted. After studying at the Chicago University for several years, 
she went to Athens to revel in the ruins and collections of Greece. While a stu- 
dent in Athens she met her husband, a member of a distinguished family of Servia, 
who was at that time Attache of the Servian Legation in Paris, where their mar- 
riage occurred. Since her marriage Mme. Grouitch has devoted herself to the 
work of up-lifting the women of Servia. The University at Belgrade admits girls, 
but in Servia a girl may not go away from home or into the street unchaperoned, 



Women as Philanthropists 543 

and it is for these girls and to teach the girls of the people scientific culture and 
domestic arts that Mme. Grouitch and certain noble women of Belgrade deter- 
mined to found a boarding school in the city of Belgrade. The wives of the 
representatives of the Servian Government at the various courts of Europe are 
helping Mme. Grouitch to raise the money for this work. Mme. Grouitch's niece 
was educated in Belgrade and went from that University to England and took 
high rank in mathematics, met the senior wrangler at Oxford and vanquished him. 
Mme. Grouitch is particularly anxious to establish an agricultural course for girls 
in connection with the University of Belgrade, for the reason, as she says, often 
where a son cannot be spared to go and study agriculture, because the sons must 
enter the army, a daughter could be spared and then return to her home and 
teach the family what she had learned. Among the Servian peasants the women 
work with the men in the fields. Servian land has great possibilities. Tobacco, 
for instance, is so fine that Egypt takes Servia's entire output but the farming 
methods are very primitive. Another thing which these women plan to do is to 
re-awaken interest in the national needle work. Everybody knows the wonder- 
ful embroidery for which Servian women have always been noted, but in the 
last thirty years Servia has been flooded with cheap things from other countries 
and art has declined. Mme. Grouitch says the Servians are the cleanest people 
she has ever known; nothing can be taught them as to housework and sanitation. 
Eighty girls from the provinces are now studying in Belgrade and boarding at 
this home established by Mme. Grouitch and her associates. The Servian Govern- 
ment has given the land for the school and the building is under construction. 
Mme. Grouitch has raised a large sum of money from her friends in this country. 
She is a gifted, cultured and charming woman, one in which America can feel a 
pride at having her represent her country in the various parts of Europe to which 
her husband's official positions may call him. 

JANE LATHROP STANFORD. 
Philanthropist and Social Leader. 

Mrs. Jane Lathrop Stanford was born in Albany, New York, August 25, 
1825. Mrs. Stanford is well known as the wife of Leland Stanford, of California. 
During the early years of Mr. Stanford's struggle and varying fortunes, she proved 
herself a worthy helpmeet and is one of the type of American women produced 
by the early days of California's mining history. Mrs. Stanford's public career 
commenced when Mr. Stanford was elected governor of California in 1861. Mr. 
Stanford occupied different positions of prominence and was finally elected United 
States Senator from his state, California. After the death of their only child, 
Leland Stanford, Jr., Mrs. Stanford and her husband erected to the memory of 
this boy the university which bears his name. The "Leland Stanford, Jr., Uni- 
versity" — at Palo Alto, their country seat, situated about thirty miles from San 
Francisco. Not a building of this great university was erected without Mrs. 
Stanford's advice and wishes being consulted. She erected at her own individual 
expense a museum which contained works of art and a most valuable collection 



544 Part Taken by Women in American History 

of curios gathered during their tours in foreign lands. Much of this was lost 
at the time of the great earthquake a few years ago. 

The entire estate of Mr. Stanford and that of his wife at her death were 
left to endow this great university. Mrs. Stanford was a generous friend to the 
many charitable institutions of San Francisco. Though a woman of such strong 
personality, she had one of the tenderest hearts and the deepest sympathy for those 
in trouble. To such women the Pacific coast owes much of its development and 
growth. Mrs. Stanford's death occurred in 1905. 

MRS. M. A. HUNTER. 

Mrs. M. A. Hunter, widow of Commodore Hunter of the navy, founded 
the first home for orphans in the state of Louisiana, and perhaps in the South. 
In 1817 a vessel loaded with emigrants arrived at New Orleans, who were father- 
less and motherless owing to the loss of their parents by cholera during the voyage. 
Mrs. Hunter was then a prominent social leader, but a most charitable, sympathetic 
woman. She gathered these poor little orphans into her own home until a place 
could be found for them. A wealthy merchant and planter offered a temporary 
home and took upon himself the work of erecting a suitable building as an asylum 
for orphan children, but it was through the interest aroused by Mrs. Hunter and 
her efforts in this work that the institution exists to-day. 

D. A. MILIKEN. 

Mrs. D. A. Miliken, of New Orleans, founded a memorial hospital for white 
children at the cost of $150,000, in memory of her husband, and left it hand- 
somely endowed. 

WILLIE FRANKLIN PRUIT. 

Born in Tennessee in 1865. Her parents' name was Franklin, and they 
moved to Texas at the close of the Civil War. She is prominent in the city of 
Fort Worth, Texas. Most of her poems have been published under the pen name 
of "Aylmer Ney." In 1887 she married Drew Pruit, a lawyer of Fort Worth ; has 
been engaged in many public and charitable enterprises for civic betterment. Vice- 
president of the Woman's Humane Association of Fort Worth and through her 
efforts a number of handsome drinking fountains were placed about the city for 
the benefit of man and beast. 

MARY ELIZABETH BLANCHARD LYNDE. 

Was born December 4, 1819, in Truxton, New York. Her father was 
Azariel Blanchard, and her mother, Elizabeth Babcock. She was the widow of the 
eminent lawyer, Hon. William P. Lynde. Governor Lucius Fairchild appointed 
her a member of the Wisconsin Board of Charities and Reforms when he was 
governor of that state. She was active in the work for the advancement of 
women and a member of this association and greatly interested in the Girls' 
Industrial School of Milwaukee. 



Women as Philanthropists 545 

sarah ann mather. 

Was born March 20, 1820, in Chester, Massachusetts. She was the wife of 
Rev. James Mather, and of Puritan ancestry. She was at one time principal of the 
Ladies' Department and professor of modern languages in Western University, 
Leoni, Michigan. After the close of the war and before the United States troops 
were withdrawn from the South, she went among the freedmen as a missionary 
and brought to bear all her powers upon this work, sacrificing her health and 
investing all of her available means in the work of establishing a normal and 
training school for the colored youth in Camden, South Carolina. Her interest in 
this work brought about the necessity of her becoming a public speaker in order 
to arouse the interest of others. She organized the Woman's Home Missionary 
Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and through her efforts a model home 
and training school was established in Camden, South Carolina, and the school 
is sustained by this society. She is the author of several works, among them 
"Young Life," "A Hidden Treasure" and "Little Jack Fee!" 

MRS. RUSSELL SAGE. 

Mrs. Sage, before her marriage to Russell Sage, on Novem- 
ber 24, 1869, at Watervliet, New York, was Miss Margaret 
Olivia Slocum. She was born in Syracuse, N. Y., September 
8, 1828, and was the daughter of Joseph and Margaret Pier- 
son Jermain Slocum. Mrs. Sage has always devoted her life 
and means to charity. She has never had any inclination or 
taken any part in the social life of New York, preferring to do 
her part toward the cause of humanity. She was president of 
the Emma Willard Association ; is a member of the Society of 
Mayflower descendants and Colonial Dames. Since the death 
of her husband, in 1906, she has given one million dollars to 
the Emma Willard Seminary, of Troy, N. Y. ; one million to 
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; $115,000 to a public school at 
Sag Harbor, L. I. ; ten millions to be known as the Sage Foun- 
dation for Social Betterment; $350,000 to the Y. M. C. A. of 
New York; $150,000 to American Seamen's Friend Society; 
$150,000 to Northfield (Massachusetts) Seminary; $300,000 
to Sage Institute of Pathology of City Hospital on Blackwell's 
Isand; $250,000 to a home for Indigent Women; $100,000 to 

35 



546 Part Taken by Women in American History 



Syracuse University. These represent only her public gifts, 
while her private and individual charities and gifts to relatives 
and friends are manifold. 

The purposes of the Sage Foundation Fund are broad and 
generous and will be of lasting benefit to the men and women 
of to-day and to those of the future in the work of uplifting the 
unfortunate and aiding helpful men and women to do their part 
in the work of the human race in the building of our nation. 
The Russell Sage Foundation was incorporated under the laws 
of the slate of New York in the month of April, 1907. The 
endowment consists of the sum of $10,000 donated by Mrs. 
Russell Sage. The purpose of the Foundation, as stated in its 
charter, is "the improvement of social and living conditions in 
the United States of America." The charter further provides 
that "It shall be within the purpose of said corporation to use 
any means which, from time to time, shall seem expedient to its 
members or trustees, including research, publication, education, 
the establishment and maintenance of charitable and benevolent 
activities, agencies and institutions, and the aid of any such 
activities, agencies or institutions already established.' , 

In a letter addressed to the trustees in April, 1907, Mrs. 
Sage further defines the scope of the Foundation and its limita- 
tions as follows: "The scope of the Foundation is not only 
national, but it is broad. It should, however, preferably, not 
undertake to do that which is now being done or is likely to be 
effectively done by other individuals or other agencies. It 
should be its aim to take up the larger, more difficult problems, 
and to take them up so far as possible in such a manner as to 
secure co-operation and aid in their solution." 

Among the other activities to which the Russell Sage 
Foundation has contributed financial aid are the National Red 
Cross, the President's Homes Commission and the Child-Saving 
Congress in Washington. Some idea of the scope of the Foun- 



Women as Philanthropists 547 

dation's activities may be gained from the following titles of a 
few of its publications : 

The Standard of Living Among Workingmen's Families 
in New York City. 

Medical Inspection of Schools. 

Laggards in Our Schools. 

Correction and Prevention. Four volumes. 

Juvenile Court Laws in the United States : Summarized. 

The Pittsburgh Survey. Six volumes. 

Llousing Reform. 

A Model Tenement House Law. 

Among School Gardens. 

Workingmen's Insurance in Europe. 

The Campaign Against Tuberculosis in the United States. 

Report on the Desirability of Establishing an Employment 
Bureau in the city of New York. 

Wider Use of the School Plant. 

The above statement of some of the activities of the Foun- 
dation is not inclusive or complete, nor is it intended to be. It 
is only illustrative. The Foundation has never published a 
complete report of all of its activities. 

GEORGIA MARQUIS NEVINS. 

Miss Nevins, the superintendent of the Garfield Memorial Hospital and presi- 
dent of the Graduate Nurses' Association, District of Columbia, was born in 
Bangor, Maine. She was reared in Massachusetts, and educated in public and 
private schools. In 1889, she entered the Johns Hopkins Training School for 
Nurses, and was a member of the first class graduated from that school. She 
served one year as the first head nurse appointed. Miss Nevins became superin- 
tendent of nurses in the Garfield Memorial Hospital School, Washington, D. C, 
in 1894. She was appointed superintendent of the hospital in 1908. She is an 
active member of the National and International Nursing Societies, of the Red 
Cross Nursing Service, of the American Hospital Association, and for years 
president of the Graduate Nurses Association of the District of Columbia. 



Woman Suffrage. 

Introduction by Mrs. John A. Logan. 

In preparing sketches of the heroic women who have 
fought the battles and won the victories of the woman suffra- 
gists of the United States one is deeply impressed by the simi- 
larity in heroism, steadfastness of purpose, indefatigable indus- 
try, conscientious convictions and determination of these noble 
women and the women of the Revolution of 1776. The women 
of those trying days were sustained by their convictions on the 
subject of human rights, and with the suffragists the movement 
was started as a revolt against what they considered cruel injus- 
tice toward the supposed weaker sex, and because women had 
not equal rights under the laws of which men were the authors 
and administrators. From the early days of the Republic and 
the persecution and cruel decisions of judges and jurors, Ameri- 
can women have kept alive a righteous resentment over the dis- 
crimination against them in a Republic that pretended to be 
founded upon principles of equal justice for all mankind before 
the law. The smouldering fires of indignation were fanned into 
a flame by such courageous women as Lucy Stone, Elizabeth 
Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Caroline M. Seymour Sever- 
ance and a host of remarkable women who have enlisted in the 
cause of equal rights for women. It would take volumes to list 
their achievements by causing the enactment of laws in every 
state in the Union, lightening the burdens of women an'd in 
securing protection for them against all forms of injustice. 
Mrs. C. E. Lucky, president of the Knoxville, Ky., Equal Suf- 
frage League, has recently summed up some of the work of 

(548) 



Woman Suffrage 549 



the woman suffragists in so graphic a form that it is herewith 
submitted : 

"Woman suffrage is a very live issue in the world at pres- 
ent, and though voted down in many places it refuses to remain 
quiescent. In five states in our country — Wyoming, Utah, 
Idaho, Colorado and Washington — the entire franchise 
is granted to women. School suffrage for women prevails in 
twenty-nine states and territories. In Australia, New Zealand, 
Iceland, Finland and the Isle of Man, women have been granted 
equal political rights. All suffrage except the right of vote for 
members of Parliament has been granted in England, Ireland, 
Scotland, Wales, Denmark and Sweden. Norway has granted 
equal political rights to women, with the exception of a slight 
property qualification. In Canada the same privileges have 
been bestowed on unmarried women and widows, while nearly 
all the Canadian provinces grant municipal suffrage to women. 
Now, what are the resulting benefits of equal suffrage? In 
America the states having full or partial school suffrage for 
women have less than one per cent, of illiteracy. (Tennessee, 
by the way, has 14.2 per cent.) In Colorado and some other 
equal suffrage states, since women have been voting, there 
have been established : A state industrial school for girls, par- 
ents' and truant schools, compulsory education, compulsory 
examination of eyes, ears, teeth and breathing capacity of chil- 
dren, a law giving teachers equal pay for equal work, and a law 
pensioning teachers after a certain number of years. All these 
good results have come because mothers and teachers have had 
the ballot. Equal suffrage has helped the home life, since there 
is not a department of the home that is not touched by politics. 
It has widened all forms of charity and philanthropy, increasing 
their efficiency a hundred-fold. Colorado and the other suffrage 
states have established a splendid pure food law, a law raising 
the age of consent to eighteen, the indeterminate sentence for 



550 Part Taken by Women in American History 



persons convicted of crime, compulsory factory inspection, the 
making of fathers and mothers joint heirs of deceased children, 
a reform in the registration laws and passing of the referendum, 
initiative and recall, state traveling libraries and the local option 
laws, thus enabling many towns and counties to go dry. 
Instead of thinking less of their homes and children, women who 
vote consider them more, and work harder for them. Let us 
turn again to the question of education. The per capita for 
school expenditure in Massachusetts is $4.96; Pennsylvania, 
$3-5 2 ; Virginia, $1.07; North Carolina, sixty-six cents; Geor- 
gia, ninety-seven cents; Colorado, $5.08. Equal suffrage 
wherever tried has given the best laws for the protection and 
rescuing of young girls, boys and children. It has improved 
the legal condition of women, giving them just control over 
their property, and mothers equal rights over their children 
(in many states the mother is not regarded as the parent of the 
child, which can be willed away from her even before it is born.) 
The ballot has benefited the working women, cutting down their 
hours of hard, brutal labor and providing more sanitary sur- 
roundings in their places of employment. Women have won- 
derfully improved political life, which has become higher and 
cleaner because they vote. Women support reforms and can- 
didates, and public officers are looking more carefully to their 
record and moral standing. The fate of the mayor and chief 
of police of Seattle is a fine instance of the way women will vote 
against moral and official corruption. We need not expect 
the millennium to come because of equal suffrage, but through it 
already changes for the better have been made in legislation and 
in public ideals, and the same subtle feminine influence that is 
felt in the home makes the home exert itself in the political life, 
rendering moral considerations superior to mere partisanship. 
'The women of Denver have elected me, and made possible the 
juvenile court/ said Judge Lindsay, and we know that Demo- 
crats and Republicans united in his cause — the cause of chil- 



Woman Suffrage 551 



dren. But there is another and, what we might term, the indi- 
rect benefit resulting from equal suffrage. This is the influence 
of public life and its great responsibilities upon women them- 
selves. In exercising the rights and duties of citizenship they 
read and discuss questions of real importance. Their lives widen 
out, they have enlarged sympathies and higher standards of life 
for themselves and their country. They acquire an intense wish 
to be of real use in the world, and they now know how to work, 
and are at last given the power to work with individual freedom 
and independence. The testimony of the most distinguished 
men and women is that the results of equal suffrage are good. 
Norway says : 'Nothing but good, nothing but purity has come 
from suffrage.' New Zealand says: Tf again brought to the 
question, not two men would be found to oppose.' The same 
witness comes from all the lands beyond the seas, while in our 
country the distinguished Judge Ben Lindsay says : 'We have in 
Colorado the most advanced laws of any state in the Union for 
the care and protection of the home and the children. I believe 
I voice the general impression when I say we owe this condi- 
tion more to woman suffrage than to any other cause. The 
results of woman suffrage have been so altogether satisfactory 
that it is hard to understand how it encounters opposition in 
other states. I never heard a criticism directed against woman 
suffrage that ever worked out in practice, or, if it did, was not 
equally applicable to male suffrage.' As briefly as may be I 
would like to base on these facts an appeal for votes for women. 
I say nothing of the right to vote. That is a self-evident truth. 
One writer says : 'All powers of government are either delegated 
or assumed, and all assumed powers are usurpations.' Since 
women never gave men such powers they are usurpations ; they 
are tyranny. Taxation without representation is another form 
of oppression. Why is it tyranny for men and not for women? 
Why should women, the mothers who bear and care for and 
train the children, teachers who give education and noble pur- 



552 Part Taken by Women in American History 

pose in life, business women who work hard to support them- 
selves and others dependent on them, why should these find 
themselves legal nonentities ? Women are under the laws, gov- 
erned and punished by them, let them have a voice in the legis- 
lation. The ballot will take them out of the company of idiots 
and convicts, and make them the equals of husbands and sons. 
It will bring equal pay for equal work, give the women the 
power to work for the conservation of children, the best asset 
of the state. These are vital questions, with which women are 
peculiarly fitted to deal. Men lose, the world loses, if opposition 
to equal suffrage prevents the intelligent co-operation of the 
sexes. Lincoln says : 'No man is good enough to govern another 
without the other's consent.' Certainly no man or body of 
men is good enough to arbitrarily make laws that, without their 
consent, control the other class of human beings known as 
women. Roosevelt says : 'Our nation is that one among all the 
nations of the earth, which holds in its hand the fate of the com- 
ing years.' Oh, men, for sixty-two years we have sought from 
you our right to stand by your side in helping to make our coun- 
try the greatest, the best governed in the world. We have 
asked for bread, and you have given us a stone. We have asked 
for justice, and you prate of chivalry and generosity. Cease to 
praise us like angels and disfranchise us like idiots. Oh, 
women! let us combine our forces and join the great move- 
ment that alone will give us real power, that will bind all 
women into one solid phalanx, and make it one of the most 
impressive and irresistible forces of the present day." 

History of Woman's Suffrage Organization. 

Harriet Taylor Upton. 

It is seldom that there is a time when a single reform ques- 
tion alone is before the people. There are often many, and it is 



Woman Suffrage 553 



not until the agitation is over and the question settled that we 
realize they were all a part of a great whole. 

Women, as well as men, were interested in the questions 
which led up to the war. Northern women took part in the agi- 
tation for the abolition of slavery and were among the best 
and most convincing speakers. 

The name of Abby Kelly Foster was known throughout the 
North, as was that of Lucretia Mott. It was but natural when 
the World's Abolition Convention was called in London in 1840 
that women should be elected delegates to that body. Lucretia 
Mott, a Quaker preacher of refinement, culture, brain power 
and influence, was one of these delegates. Henry Stanton, 
another delegate, had brought with him his bride, Elizabeth 
Cady, and as these two, with the other women, repaired to the 
gallery, and there listened to the debates on the question in 
which they were so vitally interested, they grew more and more 
incensed each day. 

William Lloyd Garrison, probably the most powerful man 
of the Abolition movement, was delayed in transit, and when 
he arrived and found that the women delegates had been denied 
seats he refused to take his place on the floor. He knew the 
part they had played in the abolition cause, and he believed in 
justice and equality for all human beings, women as well as 
slaves. 

The action of the men delegates showed clearly to Mrs. 
Mott and Mrs. Stanton the place the world set apart for them, 
and they resolved that, upon their return to America, they would 
make a public demand for the proper recognition of women. 

There were then no such easy ways of traveling or com- 
munication as there are now. Mrs. Mott's attention was still 
on the slave, and Mrs. Stanton's on her little family, whose 
members came close together, and it was not till eight years 
later, in 1848, that they carried out their determination and 



554 Part Taken by Women in American History 

called the first woman's rights convention at Seneca Falls, Mrs. 
Stanton's home. This convention, as is generally supposed, 
was not called for the consideration of political rights. In 
fact, at that time it was the least thought of, personal rights, 
property rights, religious rights were demanded. In fact, there 
was much opposition to including political rights, and but for 
Elizabeth Cady Stanton that clause would have been left out. 

The storm of ridicule which burst forth as soon as these 
reports were issued by the press frightened many of the women, 
but a few held fast. To their bravery, foresight and conviction 
is due the fact that to-day women vote in Wyoming, Colorado, 
Utah, Idaho and Washington upon exactly the same terms as 
men vote. They vote for all officers, from the lowest to the 
president, and can hold any office to which they can be elected. 

Susan B. Anthony did not attend that convention; in fact, 
she rather doubted the wisdom of calling it. However, she 
seldom missed another throughout her long life, her last being 
at Baltimore in 1906. During all those years she gave her life 
to the political enfranchisement of women. In the early days, 
Mrs. Stanton not being able to leave her family, Miss Anthony 
would go to her home, help with the work and the care of her 
babies, while she wrote an argument suitable for the legislators, 
and then, armed with this, Miss Anthony would appear before 
that legislature and make her demands. In this way these two 
women caused to be changed most of the old New York laws 
under which women were not much more than chattels. 

The friendship between Mrs. Stanton and Miss Anthony 
was one of the most beautiful, strongest and purest of which 
history writes. Together they worked for a great cause with 
perfect love and understanding for nearly fifty years. They 
supplemented each other, and their joint work was powerful. 

A little later than the 1848 convention Lucy Stone, a gentle, 
strong, able, conscientious woman, who had completed a course 



Woman Suffrage 555 



of study at Oberlin, began to agitate the question of woman's 
rights, and it was under her direction that a convention was 
called in March, 1850. Lucy Stone was not at all like Mrs. 
Stanton in character, except they were both radicals, but Lucy 
Stone exercised more influence among progressive women of 
New England than any woman of her time. Their memory 
is still greatly cherished. These two women, together with 
Miss Anthony, were the real leaders of the women suffragists, 
and this trinity is the one which married women should remem- 
ber, since through them they procured their property rights. 
To these women should the 6,000,000 working women turn with 
thankful hearts, since they were the first to demand equal -pay 
for equal work. 

Susan B. Anthony was the best known of the three; in 
fact, she was the figure of her century. Born of well-to-do par- 
ents, well educated, capable, loving and charitable to a fault, 
optimistic and generous, self-effacing, of undoubted will, she 
saw only a sex in a position in which it could not develop itself, 
and she fought for its freedom. No one woman had as many 
friends as she had, because no one woman had ever loved so 
many people as she had. She was not an orator in its com- 
mon sense, and yet probably she, in her lifetime, addressed more 
people than any other American woman. She was at ease with 
the lowest and the highest, and worked for fifty years without 
salary, that the women of the United States might have a 
weapon to fight their own battle. She was the greatest woman 
of them all. 

Delegates to the World's Abolition Convention in 1840: 
Lucretia Mott Mary Grew 

Sarah Pugh Ann Green Phillips 

Abby Kimber Emily Winslow 

Elizabeth Neal Abby Southwick 



556 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Prominent Suffragists. 

The biography of every officer, great or small, in the 
nation's army would be a prodigious task, but hardly less is 
that of giving in detail the work of every American woman 
actively interested in reform movements. It would take vol- 
umes to give at length the work of all the women now inter- 
ested in the enfranchisement of women and in the temperance 
field. There was a time in our history when the question of 
women's suffrage, unless it threatened the immediate com- 
munity in which we lived, was a matter to which the majority of 
us in America, whether men or women, were, if not indifferent, 
still somewhat neutral. Now, I think it would be safe to say 
the majority have the most ardent convictions pro et contra. 
It is, therefore, with such deep regret that I find it possible 
to offer at length only the biographies of the pronounced lead- 
ers in suffrage and temperance, that I have appended merely a 
roll-call of notable names. Even this, I fear, can only approxi- 
mate the number of women dedicating their lives to the work of 
their sex. 

Among those who have done distinguished work for suf- 
frage we find such names as these: 

Mrs. Jean Brooks Greenleaf, successor to Lillie Devereux 
Blake as president of the New York State Woman Suffrage 
Association. 

Mrs. Elizabeth Boynton Barbert, who succeeded in induc- 
ing the Republicans of Iowa to put into their state platform a 
purely women's plank, thus being the first woman to design a 
women's plank and secure its adoption by a great political party 
in a great state. 

Mrs. Rebecca N. Hazard, who, as early as 1867, formed the 
Woman Suffrage Association of Missouri. 

Mrs. Eliza Trask Hill, one of the active leaders in the 



Woman Suffrage 557 



battle for school suffrage for women in Massachusetts, and 
later editor of a paper, which is cared for by a stock company 
of women. 

Mrs. Mary Emma Holmes, the earnest and brilliant worker 
who represented the National American Suffrage Association 
in the World's Fair at Chicago in 1893. 

Mrs. Mary Seymour Howell, who has lectured in behalf 
of women's suffrage in many of the towns and cities of the 
North and West, as well as repeatedly pleaded the cause of 
woman before committees of state legislatures and of Congress. 

Mrs. Josephine Kirby Williamson Henry, who has lec- 
tured and labored and stood for office in a state where the popu- 
lar prejudice is against "Women's Rights." 

Mrs. Sarah Gibson Humphreys, of Louisiana and Ken- 
tucky, who has served on a board of road directors, a unique 
position for a woman in the South, and has worked all her pub- 
lic life to secure the vote for women. 

Mrs. Jane Amy McKinney, who, as president of the Cook 
County Equal Suffrage Association, effectively furthered the 
cause in Illinois. 

Mrs. Theresa A. Jenkins, daughter of one of the pioneers 
of Wisconsin, herself became a pioneer as a champion of suf- 
frage in the literary field over that portion of the country, and 
even farther West. In April, 1889, she contributed to the 
"Popular Science Monthly" a striking paper, entitled "The Men- 
tal Force of Women." She became Wyoming correspondent of 
the Women's Tribune, the Union Signal and the Omaha Central 
West. She was a recognized power in Wyoming in bringing 
about the absolute recognition of the equality of the sexes 
before the law. 

Mrs. Laura M. Johns, of Kansas, was six times president 
of the State Suffrage Association in that state, and her great 
work was the arrangement of thirty conventions beginning in 



558 Pakt Taken by Women in American History 

Kansas City in February, 1892, and held in various other impor- 
tant cities of the state, and for these meetings she secured such 
speakers as Rev. Anna H. Shaw, Mrs. Clara H. Hoffman, etc. 

Mrs. Cora Scott Pond Pope was invited by Mrs. Lucy 
Stone to help organize the state of Massachusetts for women 
suffrage, and continued the work, organizing eighty-seven 
women suffrage leagues, arranging lectures, speaking in the 
meeting, and raising the money to carry on the state work for 
six years. In 1887 she organized a Woman Suffrage Bazaar, 
which was held in the Music Hall in Boston for one week, and 
which cleared over six thousand dollars. In 1889 she origi- 
nated the National Pageant, a dramatic arrangement of his- 
toric events, to raise more money for state work for suffrage. 
This pageant, given in Hollis Street Theatre, May 9, 1889, 
played to a crowded house, at two dollars a ticket, and over one 
thousand dollars was cleared at a single matinee performance. 
Afterwards it was produced in other large cities of the coun- 
try with equal success. In the Chicago Auditorium, at the 
time of the Exposition, in one night six thousand, two hundred 
and fifty dollars was cleared. 

Mrs. Lizzie B. Read dedicated her marked ability as a jour- 
nalist to the suffrage cause, becoming publisher of a semi- 
monthly journal called the "Mayflower, " and devoted to tem- 
perance and equal rights. She worked up for this paper a sub- 
scription list reaching into all the states and territories. Later, 
when her marriage to Dr. Read had taken her to Algeria, Iowa, 
she published the paper Upper Dcs Moines, into which she 
infused much of women's rights. She also published a series of 
articles on the status of women in the Methodist Church, and 
later became associate editor of the Women's Standard, of Des 
Moines. While residing in Indiana she was vice-president of 
the State Women's Suffrage Society and president of the Iowa 
State Society. 



Woman Suffrage 559 



Mrs. Marrilla M. Ricker's success at the bar and as a politi- 
cal writer has demonstrated so conclusively the intellectual qual- 
ity of women that her advocacy of female suffrage has influ- 
enced as only a concrete object lesson can. 

Mrs. Martha Parmelee Rose's writings on the sewing 
women and on other laboring questions brought to light the 
frauds and extortions practised upon her sex without the vote. 

Mrs. Elizabeth Lyle Saxon, of New Orleans, has literally 
spent her lifetime carrying out a promise made to her father on 
his deathbed, "Never to cease working for unfortunate women 
so long as her life should last." For years she has been in 
demand as a lecturer on universal suffrage, temperance, social 
purity and kindred subjects. Her keen, logical and yet impas- 
sioned style of oratory fairly takes her audiences by storm, and 
has won for her a national reputation as a public speaker. Her 
great work, however, has always been for the most degraded 
and downtrodden of her sex. 

Mrs. Rosa L. Segur, though born in Hesse, Germany, came 
to the United States when a child, and when quite young began 
contributing stories and sketches to the Toledo Blade, always 
expressing herself a staunch supporter of movements in favor 
of women's suffrage. To her belongs much of the credit for 
obtaining the repeal of obnoxious laws in regard to the status 
of women in the state of Ohio. 

Mrs. Mary Barr Clay is the daughter of Cassius M. Clay, 
a noted advocate for freedom and the emancipation of the 
slave in a slave state. Through her sympathy with his views, 
his daughter gained the independence of thought and action nec- 
essary to espouse the cause of women's political and civic free- 
dom in that same conservative community. 

Mrs. Estelle Terrell Smith's famous "Mothers' Mass Meet- 
ings," held in the large city hall in Des Moines, have accom- 
plished much good, especially in banishing from her city disrep- 



560 Part Taken by Women in American History 

utable posters, cigarettes, cards and other evils. Through 
those meetings a bill regulating the property rights of women 
was drafted and presented to the state legislature. 

Mrs. Cornelia Dean Shaw is a woman alert in all the 
movements of the enfranchisement of women, and a tower of 
strength to the Woman Suffrage Association in Ohio and Illi- 
nois. 

Miss Mary Crew has preached the rights and equality of 
women from her pulpit in the Unitarian Church, since in that 
church there is no distinction based on sex. 

Mrs. Adeline Morrison Swain, of Iowa, was, for her prom- 
inence in the women's suffrage cause in 1883, unanimously 
nominated by the Iowa State Convention of the Greenback 
party for the office of superintendent of public instruction. 
Being one of the first women so named on an Iowa state ticket, 
she received the full vote of the party. In 1884 she was 
appointed a delegate, and attended the national convention of 
the same party, held in Indianapolis, Ind., to nominate candi- 
dates for president and vice-president. Mrs. Swain was, more- 
over, for many years editor of the Woman's Tribune. 

Mrs. Minnie Terrell Todd is one of Nebraska's staunchest 
woman suffragists, is also a member of the State Board of Char- 
ities, and prominent in every reformative and progressive move- 
ment. 

Mrs. Anna C. Wait is editor of the Beacon, a reform 
paper started by her in Lincoln, Kan., in 1880, and every page 
is devoted to prohibition, woman's suffrage and anti-monopoly. 
To her more than to any other person does the cause of wom- 
an's enfranchisement owe its planting and growth in Kansas. 

Mrs. Caroline McCullough Everhard is a public-spirited 
daughter of Ohio, who proved herself well equipped for the 
office of president of the Ohio Women's Suffrage Association. 
She had the honor of organizing the Equal Rights Association 



Woman Suffrage 561 



of Canton, Ohio, the home of the martyred President 
McKinley. 

Mrs. Ellen Sulley Fray is an adopted daughter of the 
United States who, after marriage had brought her to America, 
formed suffrage clubs in several different states and in Canada, 
and became one of the district presidents of the Ohio Women's 
Suffrage Association. 

Mrs. Miriam Howard Du Boise wrote brilliant arguments 
arguing for the cause while vice-president for the Georgia 
Women's Suffrage Association. 

Mrs. Martha E. Sewell Curtis, descended from Chief Jus- 
tice Samuel Sewell, of witchcraft fame and, on the mother's 
side, from Henry Dunster, first president of Harvard College, 
has delivered brilliant lectures at the meetings of the Women's 
National Suffrage Association in Boston, proving her worthy 
of her distinguished ancestors. For years she edited a weekly 
woman's column in the News, of Woburn, Mass., and was 
president of the Woburn Equal Suffrage League. 

Mrs. Emma Smith Devoe distinguished herself in a brave 
fight for suffrage in South Dakota, making her home in Huron 
headquarters of the workers throughout the state. 

Mrs. Priscilla Holmes Drake, a lifelong friend of Lucretia 
Mott, worked with Robert Dale Owen during the Indiana Con- 
stitutional Convention of 1850-57 to remove the legal disabili- 
ties of women, and before the sections of this instrument, which 
worked such benefit to women, were presented to the Assembly, 
they were discussed line by line in Mrs. Drake's parlor. 

Mrs. Eleanore Munroe Babcock is well known throughout 
the East for her work in organizing in New York State. 

Mrs. Emma Curtis Bascom, descendant of Miles Standish, 
is a charter member of the association for the advancement of 
women in Massachusetts, and for many years was one of its 
board of officers. When her husband, a professor at Williams 

£6 



562 Part Taken by Women in American History 

College, was deprived of the use of his eyes during a long 
period, she shared his studies and rendered him every assistance 
in reading and writing. This training she has found of great 
advantage in her work for women suffrage in her state. 

Mrs. Emma Beckwith was a candidate for the mayoralty of 
Brooklyn. The campaign, of ten days' duration, resulted in her 
receiving fifty votes, regularly counted, and many more thrown 
out among the scattering, before the New York Tribune made 
a demand for the statement of her vote. Mrs. Beckwith after- 
wards compiled many incidents relating to that novel cam- 
paign in a lecture, which she used with telling effect from the 
suffrage platform. 

Mrs. Marietta Bones, daughter of the noted Abolitionist, 
succeeded in making the social question of temperance a political 
question in Dakota. 

A further roll-call of noted women suffragists includes the 
names of Mrs. Adelaide Avery Clafflin, Mrs. Electa Noble Lin- 
coln Walton, Mrs. Frances Dana Gage and Miss Matilda 
Josslyn Gage. 

LUCY STONE. 

Of Lucy Stone, Mrs. Stanton says: "She was the first 
speaker who really stirred the nation's heart on the subject 
of woman's wrongs. Young, magnetic, eloquent, her soul filled 
with the new idea, she drew immense audiences, and was eulo- 
gized everywhere. She spoke extemporaneously." Her birth- 
place was West Brookfield, Mass., and she was born August 13, 
1818. The family came honestly by good fighting blood, her 
great-grandfather having been killed in the French and Indian 
War and her grandfather having served in the War of the Rev- 
olution and afterwards was captain of four hundred men in 
Shays' Rebellion. Her father, Frances Stone, was a prosperous 
farmer and a man of great energy, much respected by his neigh- 



Woman Suffrage 563 



bors, and not intentionally unkind or unjust, but full of that 
belief in the right of men to rule, which was general in those 
days, and ruling his own family with a strong hand. Although 
he helped his son through college, when his daughter Lucy 
wished to go he said to his wife, "Is the child crazy?" and she 
had to earn the money herself. For years she taught district 
schools, teaching and studying alternately at the low wages then 
paid to women teachers. It took her till she was twenty-five 
years of age to earn the money to take her to Oberlin, then the 
one college in the country that admitted women. In Oberlin 
she earned her way by teaching during vacations, and in the 
preparatory department of the college, and by doing housework 
in the ladies' boarding hall, at three cents an hour. Most of the 
time she cooked her food in her own room, boarding herself at 
a cost of less than fifty cents a week. At her graduation we 
have the first hint of the stand she was to take for woman's 
rights. Graduating with honors, she was appointed to write a 
commencement essay, but finding that she would not be allowed 
to read it herself, but that one of the professors would have to 
read it for her (the young women in those days not being 
allowed to read their own work in public) she declined to write 
it. After her return to New England she discovered her ability 
as a speaker, and her first woman's rights lecture was given 
from the pulpit of her brother's church, in Gardner, Mass., in 
1847. Soon after she was engaged to lecture for the Anti- 
Slavery Association. It was still a great novelty for a woman 
to speak in public, and curiosity attracted great audiences. She 
always put a great deal of woman's rights into her anti-slavery 
lectures, and finally when Powers' "Greek Slave" was on exhibi- 
tion in Boston the sight of the statue moved her so strongly that 
in her next lecture there was so much woman's rights and so 
little anti-slavery that Rev. Samuel May, who arranged her lec- 
tures, said to her, "Lucy, that was beautiful, but on the anti- 



564 Part Taken by Women in American History 

slavery platform it will not do." She answered, "I know it, but 
1 was a woman before I was an Abolitionist, and I must speak 
for the women." Accordingly, it was arranged that she should 
lecture for woman's rights on her own responsibility all the 
week and should lecture for the anti-slavery society on Satur- 
day and Sunday nights. Her adventures during the next few 
years would fill a volume. She arranged her own meetings, 
putting her own handbills up with a little package of tacks 
which she carried and a stone, picked up in the street. Of 
course, woman's rights was still considered a subject for ridi- 
cule when not the object of violent attack. One minister in 
Maiden, Mass., being asked to give a notice of her meeting, 
did so, as follows: "I am asked to give notice that a hen will 
attempt to crow like a cock in the town hall at five o'clock to-mor- 
row evening. Those who like such music will, of course, 
attend." At a meeting in Connecticut one cold night a pane 
of glass was removed from the church window and a hose 
inserted and Miss Stone was suddenly deluged from head to 
foot. She wrapped a shawl about her, however, and went on 
with her lecture. At an open air meeting in a grove on Cape 
Cod, where there were a number of speakers, the mob gathered 
with such threatening demonstration that all the speakers 
slipped away, till no one was left on the platform but Miss 
Stone and Stephen Foster. She said to him, "You had better go, 
Stephen, they are coming." 

He answered, "Who will take care of you?" At that 
moment the mob made a rush and one of the ringleaders, a 
big man with a club, sprang up on the platform. Turning to 
him without a sign of fear she remarked in her sweet voice, 
"This gentleman will take care of me." And to the utter 
astonishment of the angry throng he tucked her under one 
arm and holding his club with the other, marched her through 
the crowd. He then mounted her upon a stump and stood by her 



Woman Suffrage 565 



with his club while she addressed the mob upon the enormity 
of their attack. They finally became so ashamed that, at her 
suggestion, they took up a collection of twenty dollars to pay 
Stephen Foster for his coat, which they had rent from top to 
bottom. 

In 1855 she became the wife of Henry B. Blackwell, 
Thomas Wentworth Higginson, then the Unitarian Pastor, 
performing the ceremony. She had protested against the 
marriage, particularly the taking of the husband's name by the 
wife as a symbol of her subjection to him and of the merging 
of her individuality in his, and as Ellis Gay Loring, Samuel E. 
Sewell and other eminent lawyers told her that there was 
no law requiring a wife to take her husband's name she retained 
her own name with her husband's full approval and support. 

In 1869, with William Lloyd Garrison, George William 
Curtis, Julia Ward Howe, Mrs. Livermore and others, she 
organized the American Woman Suffrage Association and was 
chairman of its executive committee during the twenty years 
following, except during one year when she was its president. 
She took part in the campaigns in behalf of Woman Suffrage 
Amendments, submitted in Kansas in 1867, m Vermont in 
1870, in Colorado in 1877 and in Nebraska in 1882. For over 
twenty years she was editor of the Woman's Journal. The 
following eloquent appeal from her faithful, fearless pen, 
appearing in that magazine during the presidential activities 
of Centennial Year, gives a characteristic glimpse of her ardor 
for woman's rights. "Women of the United States, never 
forget that you are excluded by law from participation in the 
great question which at this moment agitates the whole country 
— a question which is not only who the next candidate for 
president will be, but what shall be the policy of the govern- 
ment under which we live for the next four years. 
But have you ever thought that the dog on your rug and the cat 



566 Part Taken by Women in American History 

in your corner has as much political power as you have ? Never 
forget it, and when the country is shaken, as it will be for 
months to come, over the issue, never forget that this law- 
making power states every interest of yours. It states your 
rules to a right in your child. You earn or inherit a dollar 
and this same power decides how much of it shall be yours 
and how much it will take or dispose of for its own use. Oh, 
woman, the only subjugated one in this great country, will 
you be the only adult people who are ruled over ! Pray for fire 
to reveal to you the humiliation of the unspeakable laws which 
come of your unequal position." Lucy Stone died in Dorchester, 
Mass., the 18th of October, 1893. 

ELIZABETH CADY STANTON. 

Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was the daughter of Judge 
Daniel Cady, and Margaret Livingston Cady, and was born 
November 12, 18 16, in Johnstown, New York, not far from 
Albany. A noted Yankee once said that his chief ambition 
was to become more noted than his native town. Whether this 
was Mrs. Stanton's ambition or not, she has lived to see her 
historic birthplace shrink into mere local repute while she 
herself has been quoted, ridiculed, abused and extolled into 
national fame. 

She took the course in the academy in Johnstown and then 
went to Mrs. Emma Willard's Seminary in Troy, New York, 
where she was graduated in 1832. In the office of her father, 
Mrs. Stanton first became acquainted with the legal disabilities 
of women under the old common law, and she early learned to 
rebel against the inequity of law, which seemed to her made 
only for men. When really a child she even went so far as to 
hunt up unjust laws with the aid of the students in her father's 
office and was preparing to cut the obnoxious clauses out of 



Woman Suffrage 567 



the books supposing that that would put an end to them, when 
she was informed that the abolition of inequitable laws could 
not be thus simply achieved. But she devoted the rest of her 
life in an effort toward the practical solution of women's rights. 
She has said that her life in this village seminary was made 
dreary in her disappointment and sorrow in not being a boy, 
and her chagrin was great when she found herself unable to 
enter Union College, where her brother was graduated just 
before his death. 

In 1837, in her twenty-fourth year, while on a visit to her 
distinguished cousin, Gerrit Smith, at Peterboro, in the central 
part of New York State, she made the acquaintance of Henry 
Brewster Stanton, a fervid young orator, who had won 
distinction in the anti-slavery movement, and in 1840 they 
were married. They immediately set sail for Europe, the voy- 
age, however, being undertaken not merely for pleasure and 
sightseeing, but that Mr. Stanton might fulfill the mission of 
delegate to the World's Anti-Slavery Convention, to be held 
in London, in 1840. 

There Mrs. Stanton met Lucretia Mott and learned that 
there were others who felt the yoke women were bearing as 
well as herself. It was with Mrs. Mott that she signed the 
first call for a woman's rights convention and when she was 
once asked, "What most impressed you in Europe?" she replied, 
"Lucretia Mott." Their friendship never waned, and they 
worked together for reform all the long years after that 
meeting. 

Mrs. Stanton and her husband removed to Seneca Falls, 
N. Y., and it was in that town, on the 19th and 20th of July, 
1848, in the Wesleyan Chapel that the first assemblage known 
to history as a woman's rights convention was held. Mrs. 
Stanton was the chief agent in calling that convention. She 
received and cared for the visitors; she wrote the resolutions 



568 Part Taken by Women in American History 

of declaration and aims, and she had the satisfaction of know- 
ing that the convention, ridiculed throughout the Union, was 
the starting point of the woman's rights movement, which is 
now no longer a subject of ridicule. Judge Cady, hearing that 
his daughter was the author of the audacious resolution, "That 
it is the duty of the women of this country to secure for them- 
selves their sacred right to the elective franchise," imagined 
that she had gone crazy, and he journeyed from Johnstown 
to Seneca Falls, to learn whether or not her brilliant mind had 
lost its balance. He tried to reason her out of her position but 
she remained unshaken in her faith that her position was right. 
The practice of going before a legislature to present the 
claim of woman's cause has become quite common, but in the 
early days of Mrs. Stanton's career it was considered unusual 
and sensational. And yet, with the single exception of Mrs. 
Lucy Stone, a noble and gifted woman, to whom her country- 
women owe affectionate gratitude, not merely for eloquence 
that charmed thousands of ears, but for her practical efforts in 
abolishing laws oppressive to her sex, I believe that Mrs. Stan- 
ton appeared oftener before state legislatures than any of her 
co-laborers. She repeatedly addressed the legislature of New 
York at Albany and on these occasions was always honored by 
the presence of a brilliant audience, and never failed to speak 
with dignity and ability. In 1854, when she first addressed the 
New York legislature on the rights of married women, she 
said, "Yes, gentlemen, we the daughters of the Revolutionary 
heroes of '76, demand at your hands the redress of our 
grievances, a revision of your state constitution and a new code 
of laws." At the close of her grand and glowing argument, a 
lawyer who had listened to it and who knew and revered Mrs. 
Stanton's father, shook hands with the orator and said, 
"Madam, it was as fine a production as if it had been made and 
pronounced by Judge Cady, himself." This, to the daughter's 
ears, was sufficiently high praise. 



Woman Suffrage 569 



In 1867 she spoke before the legislature and Constitutional 
Convention of New York, maintaining that during the 
revision of its constitution the state was resolved into its 
original elements and that citizens of both sexes therefore had 
a right to vote for members of the convention. In Kansas, in 

1867, and Michigan, in 1874, when those states were submit- 
ting the woman suffrage question to the people, she canvassed 
the state and did heroic work in the cause. From 1855 to 1865 
she served as president of the national committee of the suf- 
frage party. In 1863 she was president of the Woman's Loyal 
League. Until 1890 she was president of the National Woman's 
Suffrage Association. In 1868 she was a candidate for Con- 
gress in eighth congressional district of New York and in her 
address to the electors of the district she announced her creed 
to be: "Free speech, free press, free men and free trade." In 

1868, the Revolution was started in New York City and Mrs. 
Stanton became the editor, assisted by Parker Pillsbury. She 
is joint author with Miss Susan B. Anthony of the "History 
of Woman Suffrage." 

Religious and worshipful by temperament, she cast off in 
her later life the superstition of her earlier, but she never lost 
her childhood's faith in good, and her last work was the 
"Woman's Bible," a unique revision of the Scriptures from the 
standpoint of women's recognition. She is said to have declared 
that she would willingly give her body to be burned for the 
sake of seeing her sex enfranchised, and when this desire of her 
heart is gratified, her name will be gratefully remembered by 
those who fought for the emancipation of womankind. 

Mrs. Stanton died in New York, October 26, 1902. Her 
family consists of five sons and two daughters, all of whom 
are gifted. 



570 Part Taken by Women in American History 

SUSAN B. ANTHONY. 

Susan B. Anthony, according to Mrs. Stanton, was born 
at the foot of the Green Mountains, South Adams, Mass- 
achusetts, February 15, 1820. Her father, Daniel Anthony, 
was a stern Quaker; her mother, Lucy Read, a Baptist, but 
being liberal and progressive in their tendency they were soon 
one in their religion. In girlhood years Miss Anthony attended 
Quaker meetings with aspirations toward high-seat dignity, 
but this was modified by the severe treatment accorded the 
father, who, having been publicly reprimanded twice, the first 
time for marrying a Baptist, the second for wearing a com- 
fortable coat with a large cape, was finally expelled from 
"meeting" because he allowed the use of one of his rooms for 
the instruction of a class in dancing, in order that the youth 
might not be subjected to the temptations of a liquor-selling 
public house. 

Miss Anthony's father was a cotton manufacturer, and the 
first dollar she ever earned was in his factory, for, though a 
man of wealth, the idea of self-support was early impressed on 
all the daughters of the family. Later, after their removal to 
Rochester, she became a teacher and fifteen years of her life 
were passed in teaching school in different parts of the state 
of New York. Although superintendents gave her credit for 
the best disciplined schools and the most thoroughly taught 
scholars in the county, yet they paid her eight dollars a month, 
while men received from twenty-four to thirty dollars. After 
fifteen years of great labor and the closest economy she had 
saved but three hundred dollars. This experience taught her 
the lesson of woman's rights. She became an active member 
of the New York State Teachers' Association and in their 
conventions made many effective pleas for higher wages 
and for the recognition of the principle of equal tights for 



Woman Suffrage 571 



women in all the honors and responsibilities of the association. 
The women teachers from Maine to Oregon owe Miss Anthony 
a debt of gratitude for the improved conditions they hold to-day. 

Miss Anthony had been from a child deeply interested in 
the subject of temperance. In 1847, sne joined the Daughters 
of Temperance, and in 1852 organized the New York State 
Women's Temperance Association, the first open temperance 
organization of women. Of this Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton 
was president. As secretary, Miss Anthony for several years 
gave her earnest efforts to the temperance cause, but she soon 
saw that woman was utterly powerless to change conditions 
without the ballot and from 1852 she became one of the leading 
spirits in every women's rights convention, and was acting 
secretary and general agent for the suffrage organization for 
many years. She left others to remedy individual wrongs while 
she devoted herself to working for the weapon by which she 
believed women might be able to do away with the producing 
causes. She used to say she had "no time to dip out vice with a 
teaspoon, while the wrongly adjusted forces of society are pour- 
ing it in by the bucketful." From 1857 to 1866 Miss Anthony 
was also an agent and faithful worker in the anti-slavery cause. 
She has, moreover, been vmtiring in her efforts to secure liberal 
legislation, now enjoyed by the women in the state of New 
York. 

The most harassing, though probably the most satisfactory, 
enterprise Miss Anthony ever undertook was the publication for 
three years of a weekly paper, The Revolution. This formed an 
epoch in the woman's rights movement and roused widespread 
interest in the question. Ably edited by Elizabeth Cady Stanton 
and Parker Pillsbury, with the finest intellects of the nation 
among its contributors, and rising immediately to a recognized 
position among the papers of the nation, there was no reason 
why it should not have been a financial success, save that Miss 



572 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Anthony's duties kept her almost entirely from the lecture field. 
After three years of toil and worry, and the accumulation of a 
debt of ten thousand dollars, Miss Anthony set bravely about 
the task of earning money to pay the debt. Every cent of this 
was duly met from the earnings of her lectures. 

The most dramatic event of Miss Anthony's life was her 
arrest and trial for voting at the presidential election of 1872. 
Owing to the mistaken advice of her counsel, who was unwill- 
ing that she should be imprisoned, she gave bonds which 
prevented her taking her case to the Supreme Court, a fact she 
always regretted. When asked by the judge, "You voted as a 
woman did you not?" She replied, "No sir, I voted as a citizen 
of the United States." The date and place of trial being set, 
Miss Anthony thoroughly canvassed her county so as to make 
sure that all of the jurors were instructed in citizens' rights. 
And yet, at the trial, after the argument had been presented, 
the judge took the case out of their hands, saying, "It is a 
question of law and not of fact," and he pronounced Miss 
Anthony guilty, fining her a hundred dollars and costs. She 
said to the judge, "Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God, 
and I shall never pay a penny of this unjust claim," and she 
gloried in the fact that she never did. 

Miss Anthony was always in great demand on the platform, 
and she had probably lectured in every city that can be 
marked. She made constitutional arguments before Congres- 
sional Committees, and spoke impromptu to assemblies in all 
sorts of places. Whether it was a good word in introducing a 
speaker, or a short speech to awaken a convention, or the closing 
appeal to set people to work, or, again, the full hour address 
of argument or helpful talk at suffrage meetings she always 
said just the right thing and never wearied her audience. A 
fine sense of humor pervaded her arguments, and often by 
reductio ad absurdum she disarmed and won her opponents. 



Woman Suffrage 573 



Moreover, a wonderful memory which carried the legislative 
history of each state, the formation and progress of political 
parties, the parts played by prominent men in our national life, 
and whatever has been done the world over to ameliorate 
conditions for women, made Miss Anthony a genial and 
instructive companion while her unfailing sympathy made her 
as good a listener as talker. The change in public sentiment 
toward woman suffrage was well indicated by the change which 
came in the popular estimate of Miss Anthony. Where once it 
was the fashion of the press to ridicule and jeer it came to pass 
that the best men on the papers were sent to interview her. 
Society, too, threw open its doors, and into many distinguished 
gatherings she carried the refreshing breadth of sincerity and 
earnestness. Her seventieth birthday, celebrated by the 
National Woman's Suffrage Association, of which she was 
vice-president at large, from its formation in 1869 until its 
convention in 1892, when she was elected president, was the 
occasion of a spontaneous outburst of gratitude, which is 
without any doubt unparalleled in the history of any living 
woman. Miss Anthony is truly one of the most heroic figures 
in American History, and her death in 1906 was the occasion 
of national sorrow. 

ISABELLA BEECHER HOOKER. 

Mrs. Isabella Beecher Hooker was the first child of the 
second wife of Doctor Lyman Beecher, the illustrious preacher 
of New England, and was born February 22, 1822, at Litch- 
field, Connecticut. 

Individually and collectively, the Beecher family is con- 
sidered the most remarkable in the United States, each member 
of it having been the possessor of a commanding talent, great 
energy and force of character and great gifts of the highest 



574 Part Taken by Women in American History 

order. Isabella Beecher inherited her personal beauty from her 
mother and her great individuality came to her from her father. 
She married John Hooker, of Hartford, Connecticut, in 1841, 
and he was a descendant in the sixth generation of Thomas 
Hooker who founded the city of Hartford. He was a man of 
note in his day, a famous theologian, earnest patriot and 
an enlightened statesman. Mrs. Hooker kept pace intellectually 
with her husband, accompanying him in his theological 
researches and speculations, learning from him much of his 
profession and making a study of the phases and evolution of 
the law that governed the United States. She thus became an 
earnest and profound student of social, political, and religious 
questions, and when she adopted the idea that women should 
be allowed to vote as a fundamental right she at once, in 
characteristic style, began to do all she could to bring about 
the great reform. She considered women's suffrage the 
greatest movement in the world's history, claiming that the 
ballot would give women every social and intellectual, as well 
as political, advantage. She wrote and lectured, and studied 
and explained the doctrine of equal suffrage for women for 
thirty years. She was at the front of this and other reform 
movements, going cheerfully through the ridicule and abuse 
that fell to the lot of earnest agitators and reformers. During 
several seasons she held a series of afternoon talks in Boston, 
New York and Washington, and at these assemblages she 
discussed political economy and other topics. When well along 
in life she published a book entitled "Womanhood — Its Sanc- 
tities and Fidelities," which treated of the marriage relation and 
of the education of children to lives of purity in a courageous 
yet delicate way. It attracted wide attention and brought to her 
many earnest expressions of gratitude from intelligent mothers. 
For many years she held the office of vice-president for Con- 
necticut, in the National Women's Suffrage Association, and in 



Woman Suffrage 575 



the yearly conventions of the organization in Washington, D. 
C, she delivered a number of able addresses. In the Inter- 
national Council of Women in 1888 in the session devoted to 
political conditions, she delivered an address on the "Con- 
stitutional Rights of the Women of the United States," and 
gave an unanswerable presentation of the subject. In 1878 
she took a leading part and acted as spokesman before the 
committee of Congress upon a petition asking for legislation 
in favor of the enfranchisement of women. One of her later 
efforts in behalf of women was in the Republican National Con- 
vention in Chicago, where, in company with Miss Susan B. 
Anthony, she prepared an open letter reviewing work of women, 
claiming that they had earned recognition and ending with a 
powerful plea that the convention would include women in the 
term "citizens." 

When Mr. and Mrs. Hooker celebrated their golden wed- 
ding on August 5, 1 89 1, the celebration took place in City 
Mission Hall, in Hartford, Senator Joseph R. Hawley acting as 
master of ceremonies. The whole city turned out to honor the 
venerable couple, whose fame shed a luster on the place they 
called home. Many prominent persons attended the reception, 
the judges of the Supreme Court of Connecticut going in a 
body to tender their respects. The National American 
Women's Suffrage Association was represented by Susan B. 
Anthony, Mrs. Mary Seymour Howell, Mrs. Rachel Foster 
Avery, Miss Phebe Couzins, and many others. Mrs. Hooker's 
long life was one of zealous toil, heroic endurance of undeserved 
abuse and exalted effort. She died in 1907, but her name 
stands for one of the best known exponents of the claims of the 
women of America who desire the right to vote. 

ZERELDA GRAY WALLACE. 

A self-made woman in every sense of the word, was Mrs. Zerelda Gray 
Wallace, reformer and suffragist. She was born in Millersburg, Bourbon County, 



576 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Kentucky, August 6, 1817, the daughter of John H. Sanders and Mrs. Polly C. 
Gray Sanders. Her father was of South Carolina descent and her mother was 
of the Singleton family. She was the oldest of five daughters and received as 
good an education as could be had in the Blue Grass region schools of those early 
days. At a sale of public lands in Indianapolis, then the frontier, her father pur- 
chased his homestead and after leaving Kentucky his daughters had only limited 
opportunities for education. Mrs. Wallace, however, assisted her father in his 
practice and became interested in medicine. She educated herself by reading works 
on hygiene, mental philosophy and other subjects, and was acquainted with many 
prominent men. In 1837 she became the wife of Honorable David Wallace, 
soldier and jurist and then lieutenant-governor of Indiana. In 1837 he was elected 
governor of the state and in 1840 he went to Congress as a Whig. During his 
term Mrs. Wallace spent some time in Washington with him, ever urging him to 
vote against the Fugitive Slave Law, and she shared all his reading in law, 
politics and literature. At the time she married, Mr. Wallace was a widower 
with a family of three sons, and six children were born to them. This large family 
Mrs. Wallace reared, carefully cultivating their particular talents and developing 
all their powers in every way. All her living children have succeeded in life. Her 
husband's children by the first wife included General Lewis Wallace, the soldier, 
scholar, statesman and author of the immortal "Ben Hur," and General Wallace 
never referred to her as "stepmother," but always as mother. She was one of the 
first of the women crusaders, and joined the Women's Christian Temperance 
Union, in which she did much valuable service. She spoke before the Indiana 
legislature in advocacy of temperance, and was soon after lecturing before them 
in favor of women's suffrage. As delegate to temperance conventions she addressed 
large audiences in Boston, Saratoga Springs, St.Louis, Detroit, Washington, 
Philadelphia and other cities. She lived to a splendid old age, her physical and 
intellectual powers unimpaired, and recently died in Indianapolis surrounded by 
her children and grandchildren. 

AMELIA BLOOMER. 

The ridicule of the press has often dimmed a worthy name and such seems 
to have been the case with Mrs. Amelia Bloomer, who was born May 27, 1818. An 
insignificant myth of American history lies in the supposition that Mrs. Bloomer 
originated the garment to which her name was attached in ridicule, but which 
has become one of the commonest words in the English language. Mrs. Bloomer 
was not the originator of the style, but adopted it after seeing it worn by others 
and introduced it to the public through her paper. But, be that as it may, Mrs. 
Bloomer's life and work is no subject for the cartoonist; she should be ranked 
among the foremost workers for the betterment of her sex in America. The facts 
of her life substantiate this. It was in 1840 that she first appeared in public life 
as an advocate for temperance reform. The study of that question soon led her 
to understand the political, legal, and financial necessities and disabilities of 
women, and having seen the depth of the reform needed she was not slow to 
espouse the cause of freedom in its highest, broadest, most just sense. At that 



Woman Suffrage 577 



early day no woman's voice had yet been heard from the platform pleading the 
rights or wrongs of her sex, so Mrs. Bloomer employed her pen to say the 
thoughts she could not utter. She wrote for the press over various signatures, her 
contributions appearing in the Water Bucket, Temperance Star, Free Soil 
Union and other papers. On the first of January, 1849, a few months after the 
inauguration of the first Women's Rights Convention, she began the publication 
of the Lily, a folio sheet devoted to temperance and the interests of women. 
That journal was a novelty in the newspaper world, being the first enterprise 
of the kind ever owned, edited and controlled by a woman and published in the 
interests of woman. It was received with marked favor by the press and con- 
tinued a successful career of six years in Mrs. Bloomer's hands. In the third 
year of the publication of her journal Mrs. Bloomer's attention was called to the 
neat, convenient and comfortable, if not esthetic costume afterwards called by her 
name. The press handed the matter about and commented more or less on this 
new departure to fashion's sway until the whole country was excited over it, and 
Mrs. Bloomer was overwhelmed with letters of inquiry. Many women adopted 
the style for a time, yet under the rod of tyrant fashion and the ridicule of the 
press they soon laid it aside. Mrs. Bloomer herself finally abandoned it after 
wearing it six or eight years, but the grotesque caricature remained forever 
attached to her name. 

In 1852 Mrs. Bloomer made her debut on the platform as a lecturer, and in 
the winter of that year, in company with Susan B. Anthony, she visited and lec- 
tured in all the principal cities and towns of her native state, from New York to 
Buffalo. At the outset her subject was temperance, but temperance strongly spiced 
with the wrongs and rights of women. In 1849 Mr. Bloomer was appointed post- 
master of Seneca Falls, and on receipt of the office he at once appointed Mrs. 
Bloomer his deputy. Upholding her theory of woman's brain equality with man's 
she soon made herself thoroughly acquainted with the details of the office, and 
discharged such duties throughout the four years of the Taylor and Fillmore 
administration. In the winter of 1853 she was chairman of the committee appointed 
to go before the legislature of New York with petitions for a prohibitory liquor 
law, and she continued her work throughout the state, lecturing on both tem- 
perance and woman's rights and attending to the duties of her house and office 
until the winter of 1853-1854, when she moved to Mt. Vernon, Ohio. Here she 
continued the publication of the Lily and was also associate editor of the 
Western Home Visitor a large literary weekly paper published in that place. 
In the columns of The Visitor, as in all her writings, some phase of the woman 
question was always made her subject. At the same time that she was carrying 
on her literary work she visited and lectured in all the principal towns and cities 
of the North and West, going often where no lecturer on women's enfranchise- 
ment had preceded her. In January, 1854, she was one of the committee to 
memorialize the legislature of Ohio on a prohibitory liquor law. The rules were 
suspended and the committee received with mock respect and favor, but the same 
evening the legislature almost in a body attended a lecture given by her on women's 
right of suffrage. In the spring of 1855 Mr. and Mrs. Bloomer removed to Council 
Bluffs, Iowa, making it their permanent home. Mrs. Bloomer intended henceforth 
37 



57$ Part Taken by Women in American History 

to rest from her public labors, but this was not permitted to her. Calls for lec- 
tures were frequent, and to these she responded as far as possible, but was obliged 
to refuse to go long distances on account of there being at that day no public 
conveyance except the old stage coach. In the winter of 1856, Mrs. Bloomer, by 
invitation, addressed the legislature of Nebraska on the subject of woman's right 
to the ballot. The Territorial House of Representatives shortly afterwards passed 
a bill giving women the right to vote, and in the council it passed to a second 
reading, but was finally lost for want of time, the limited session drawing to a 
close and the last hour expiring before the bill could come up for final action. Mrs. 
Bloomer took part in organizing the Iowa State Suffrage Association, and was at 
one time its president. Poor health eventually compelled her to retire from active 
work in the cause. She died on the thirtieth of December, 1894. 

LILLIE DEVEREUX BLAKE. 

Both the parents of Mrs. Lillie Devereux Blake were descended from the 
Reverend Jonathan Edwards, D.D., so her inclination to reform might have been 
a matter of direct inheritance. But the vehicle she used for her preaching was 
much milder than the invectives of her distinguished ancestor. She was born in 
Raleigh, North Carolina, August 12, 1835, but was brought to New Haven, Con- 
necticut, by her widowed mother that she might have every advantage of educa- 
tion. She took the Yale college course with tutors at home, and continued her 
studies until after she was married in 1855 to Frank Q. Umsted. When in 1859 
he died leaving her a widow with two children she had already begun to write ; 
one of her first stories, "A Lonely House," having appeared in the Atlantic 
Monthly. A novel, "Southwold" had also achieved its success. The large fortune 
she had inherited was sadly impaired and it was necessary that the young widow 
begin to work in earnest, writing stories, sketches and letters for several leading 
periodicals. In 1862 she published a second novel "Rockford" and afterwards 
several romances. It was not until 1869, after her second marriage to Grenfill 
Blake, a young merchant of New York, that she became actively interested in the 
women's suffrage movement. In 1872 she published a novel called "Fettered for 
Life," designed to show the many disadvantages under which women labor. In 
1873, she made an application for the opening of Columbia College to young 
women, and as an argument she presented a class of qualified girl students. The 
agitation then begun by Mrs. Blake eventually led to the establishment of Barnard 
College. In 1879 she was unanimously elected president of the New York State 
Woman Suffrage Association, and she held that office for eleven years. She has 
also lectured a great deal, but being a woman of strong affection and marked 
domestic tastes, her speaking out of New York has been done almost wholly in 
the summer when her family was naturally scattered. Her lectures printed under 
the title of "Woman's Place To-Day," had a large sale. Among the many reforms 
in which she has been actively interested has been that of securing matrons to 
take charge of women detained in police stations. As early as 1871 Mrs. Blake 
spoke and wrote on this subject but it was not until 1891 that public sentiment was 
finally aroused to the point of passing a law enforcing this much-needed reform. 



Woman Suffrage 579 



The employment of women as census-takers was first urged in 1880 by Mrs. 
Blake. The bills giving seats to saleswomen, ordering the presence of a woman 
physician in every insane asylum in which women are detained and many other 
beneficent measures were presented or aided by her. In 1886 Mrs. Blake was 
elected president of the New York City Women's Suffrage League and throughout 
this office she attended conventions and made speeches in most of the states and 
territories besides addressing committees of both houses of Congress and the New 
York and Connecticut legislatures. 

A graceful and logical writer, witty and eloquent as a speaker, Mrs. Blake 
has proved herself a charming hostess, her weekly receptions through the season 
in New York having been for many years among the attractions of literary and 
reform circles. 

DOCTOR MARY E. WALKER. 

Because of her determination to wear male attire, Doctor Mary Walker has 
been made the subject of abuse and ridicule by people of narrow minds. The fact 
that she persists in wearing the attire in which she did a man's service in the 
army blinds the thoughtless to her great achievements and to her right to justice 
from our government. It should be remembered that she is the only woman in 
the world who was an assistant army surgeon; that she was the first woman 
officer ever exchanged as a prisoner of war for a man of her rank, and that she 
is the only woman who has received the Medal of Honor from Congress and a 
testimonial from the President of the United States. 

She belongs to a family of marked mental traits and was as a child dis- 
tinguished for her strength of mind and her decision of character and grew up 
an independent young woman, attending medical college in Syracuse, New York, 
and New York City. When the Civil War broke out she left her practice and 
went to the front and served the Union army in a way that in any other country 
would have caused her to be recognized as a heroine of the nation. Of all the 
women who participated in the scenes of the war, Doctor Walker was certainly 
among the most conspicuous for bravery and for self-forgetfulness. She often 
spent her own money and she often went where shot and shell were flying to aid 
the wounded soldiers. Her bravery and services in the field were rewarded by a 
medal of honor, and she draws a pension from the Goverment of exactly eight 
dollars and fifty cents a month, a half pension of her rank, in spite of the fact 
that she really deserves the highest recognition of the Government and the public 
for her patriotic services in the army. 

Doctor Walker has always been prominent and active in the women's 
suffrage and other reform movements. She was among the first women who 
attempted to vote and did vote, who went to Congress in behalf of women's suf- 
frage and who made franchise speeches in Washington. In 1866-1867 she was in 
Europe and directed and influenced ten thousand woman to vote in the fall of 
1869, but her public activities were practically ended by an injury caused by slip- 
ping and falling, and which resulted in lameness. She retired to the old family 
homestead in Oswego County, New York, her last known residence. 



580 Part Taken by Women in American History 

MAY WRIGHT SEWALL. 

Mrs. May Wright Sewall's life work has been founded on the conviction 
that all avenues of culture and usefulness should be opened to women, and that 
when that result is obtained the law of natural selection may safely be trusted to 
draw women to those employments, and only those to which they are best fitted. 
This is the theory she has striven to propagate in her educational work as well as 
on the suffrage platform. Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, May 27, 1844, she is 
descended on both sides from old New England stock and her father, Philander 
Wright, was one of the early settlers of Milwaukee. Miss Wright entered the 
Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and was graduated in 1866. She 
received the Master's Degree in 1871. After an experience of some years in the 
common schools of Michigan she accepted the position of principal of the Plain- 
well High School and later was principal of the High School in Franklin, Indiana. 
From that position she was called to the Indianapolis High School as teacher of 
German, and subsequently engaged to work in English literature. That was in 
the year 1874, and since that date she has resided in Indianapolis. In 1880 she 
resigned her position in the Indianapolis High School, receiving the unprecedented 
compliment of a special vote of thanks for her conspicuous and successful work. 
In October of the same year she became the wife of Theodore L. Sewall and 
Mr. and Mrs. Sewall opened a classical school for girls making the course identical 
with the requirements of the Harvard entrance examinations A private school 
for girls, which made Latin, Greek and mathematics through trigonometry a part 
of its regular course, was then a novelty in the West, but the immediate success 
of this girls' school showed that the public was quick to appreciate thorough work 
in the education of girls. This school established by Mr. and Mrs. Sewall now has 
an annual enrollment of several hundred pupils. In spite of all her public work 
for suffrage and civic welfare Mrs. Sewall continues to give much time to the 
details of supervising her school. The girls in the school are taught to dress 
plainly and comfortably, to which end they wear a school uniform, and above all 
they are encouraged to believe that all departments of knowledge are worthy of 
their attention and of right ought to be open to them. 

About the time of her removal to Indianapolis, Mrs. Sewall became promi- 
nent in various lines of women's work. She soon became known as a lecturer and 
as a delegate to conventions called to the interest of higher education of women and 
the promotion of the cause of women's equality before the law. She edited for 
two years a women's column in the Indianapolis Times, and she has written 
largely in the line of newspaper correspondence. She is the author of the Indiana 
chapter in the "History of Women's Suffrage," edited by Miss Anthony, Mrs. 
Stanton and Mrs. Gage, and of the "Report on Women's Industries in Indiana," 
"Work of Women in Education in the Western States" and of many slighter 
essays. Her first public appearance in the reform work outside of local letters 
was as a delegate from the Indianapolis Equal Suffrage Society to the Jubilee 
Convention in Rochester, New York, in 1878. Since that time she has been one 
of the mainstays of the cause of women's advancement and has enjoyed the fullest 
confidence and unqualified support of its leaders. She has delivered addresses 



Woman Suffrage 581 



before most of the suffrage organizations all over the country and also before 
committees of the Indiana legislature, committees of the United States Senate, 
and the National Teachers' Association. In 1889 Mrs. Sewall was the delegate 
from the National Women's Suffrage Association and from the Women's National 
Council of the United States to the International Congress of Women assembled 
in Paris by the French Government in connection with the Exposition Universelle. 
In that congress she responded for America when the roll of nations was called 
and later in the session gave one of the principal addresses, her subject being, 
"The National Women's Council of the United States." Her response for America, 
which was delivered in French, was highly praised for its aptness and eloquence, 
by M. Jules Simon, who presided over the session. 

Mrs. Sewall's writings and addresses are characterized by directness, sim- 
plicity and strength. Her extemporaneous addresses are marked by the same 
closeness of reasoning, clearness, and power as her written speeches and they dis- 
play a never-failing tact. She is conspicuously successful also as a presiding officer, 
a position in which she has had a long and varied experience. 

THE REVEREND ANNA H. SHAW. 

Mrs. Anna H. Shaw was born in New Castle-on-Tyne, England, on the 
fourteenth of February, 1847. Her descent is interesting as illustrating the force 
of heredity. Her grandmother refused to pay tithes to the Church of England 
and year after year allowed her goods to be seized and sold for taxes. She sat in 
the door knitting and denouncing the law while the sale went on in the street. 
Her granddaughter evidently inherited from that heroic ancestor her sense of the 
injustice of taxation without representation. Mrs. Shaw's parents came to America 
when she was four years old, and after living four years in Massachusetts they 
moved to the then unsettled part of Michigan where the young girl encountered 
all the hardships of pioneer life. She was, however, a child of strong individuality 
and those pioneer days were an inspiration to her. She may be said to have been 
self-educated, for her schooling consisted in making herself master of every 
book and paper that fell in her way. At fifteen years of age she began to teach, 
remaining a teacher for five years. When about twenty-four years old, despite 
her descent from a family of English Unitarians, she became a convert to 
Methodism and joined the Methodist Church. Her ability as a speaker was soon 
recognized, and in 1873 the District Conference of the Methodist Church in her 
locality voted unanimously to grant her a local preacher's license. This was 
renewed annually for eight years. In 1872 she had entered Albion College, Michi- 
gan, and in 1875 she entered the theological department of the Boston University, 
from which she graduated with honor in 1878. She worked her way through 
college and while in the theological school she was constantly worn with hard 
work, studying on weekdays and preaching on Sundays. At length when her 
health was becoming seriously impaired a philanthropic woman offered to pay 
her the price of a sermon every Sunday during the remainder of her second year 
if she would omit the preaching and take the day for rest. That help was accepted 
and afterwards when Miss Shaw was earning a salary and wished to return the 



582 Part Taken by Women in American History 

money she was bidden to pass it on to aid in the education of some other strug- 
gling girl, which she did. She often says that when she was preaching those 
Sundays while in college she never knew whether she would be paid with a 
bouquet or a greenback. After graduation she became pastor of a church in East 
Dennis, on Cape Cod, where she remained seven years. She had been asked there 
merely to supply their pulpit until they secured a regular minister, but they were 
so well satisfied that they made no further effort to obtain a pastor and for six 
years she preached twice every Sunday in her own church in the morning, and in 
the afternoon in the Congregational Church. During her pastorate in East Dennis 
she applied to the New England Methodist Episcopal Conference for ordination, 
but though she passed the best examination of any candidate that year, ordination 
was refused her on account of her sex. The case was appealed to the general 
conference in Cincinnati in 1880 and the refusal was confirmed. Miss Shaw then 
applied for ordination to the Methodist Protestant Church and received it on the 
twelfth of October, 1880, being the first woman to be ordained in that denomina- 
tion. But her remarkable mind was never satisfied, and she sought still further 
to break down the limitations sex had placed upon her, so she supplemented her 
theological course with one in medicine and receiving the degree of M.D., from 
the Boston University. But becoming more and more interested in practical 
reform she finally resigned her position in East Dennis and became a lecturer for 
the Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association. 

After entering the general lecture field and becoming widely and favorably 
known as an elegant speaker on reform topics, she was appointed national superin- 
tendent of franchise in the Women's Christian Temperance Union. Soon after, 
however, at the urgent request of leading suffragists, she resigned this office and 
accepted in place, that of national lecturer for the National American Women's 
Suffrage Association, of which, in 1892, she was elected vice-president at large. 

Her old parishioners at times have reproached her for no longer devoting 
herself to preaching the Gospel but she replies that in advocating the franchise- 
ment of women, the temperance movement and other reforms, she is teaching 
applied Christianity and that she exchanged the pulpit where she preached twice 
a week for the platform where she may preach every day and often three times on 
Sunday. 

She is indeed one of the most eloquent, witty and popular speakers in the 
lecture field. Her face is very beautiful, even in its aging lines, and she is pos- 
sessed of the most remarkable personal magnetism, a magnificent voice and great 
power of pointed argument. Much of her strength and force and thought of 
expression are believed to result from the experiences of her pioneer life in 
Michigan, and her power of moving audiences from the touch of humanity which 
came to her while practicing medicine in the city of Boston. She is believed to be 
the first woman to have the double distinction of the titles Reverend, and M.D. 
Her family were opposed to her studying for the ministry, on the ground that 
she would be a disgrace to them if she persisted in such an unheard of course, 
but it may be added that her career has effectually reconciled them to that 
"disgrace." 

Dr. Shaw has spoken before many state legislatures and several times before 



Woman Suffrage 583 



committees in both houses. Her appearance in Washington as presiding officer 
of the Woman's Suffrage Convention in 1910 made many converts to the cause 
of equal suffrage from the ranks of national legislators. In appearing before the 
joint committee of senators and representatives and in the open-air meetings, in 
which she was the moving spirit on this occasion, her splendid characteristic of 
keen humor and ready wit enabled her to carry her points where logic alone 
would have failed. 

HELEN M. GOUGAR. 

A naturally gifted woman and supported by an unflinching enthusiasm for 
the right, about the richest possession any cause can have! Such has been the 
record of Mrs. Helen M. Gougar, author and woman suffragist, born in Litch- 
field, Mich., July 18, 1843. At forty years of age her head was prematurely whit- 
ened by a bitter and hard-fought attempt to weaken her power in political circles 
by defamation, but the battle over and her enemies completely vanquished, she 
went on to contest heroically, fighting for what she believes to be the right and 
patriotic cause to a higher civilization. In this battle she decided forever the 
right of women to take an active part in political warfare without being compelled 
to endure ridicule or defamation. Her special work in reforms lies in legal and 
political lines and constitutional law, and statistics she quotes with marvelous 
familiarity when speaking in public. Mrs. Gougar is the author of the law grant- 
ing municipal suffrage to women in Kansas, and the adoption of the measure was 
wholly due to her efforts. She proved the correctness of her theory by redeeming 
Leavenworth, the largest city in the state at that time, from slum rule by the 
votes of women. The success which has attended this law in the interest of politi- 
cal honor and exaltation of public service is well known. As a writer she has 
a concise, direct and fluent style. For many years she was a contributor to the 
Chicago Inter-Ocean, and no better evidence of her ability and enthusiasm could 
be found than the high esteem in which she was held by the management of 
that old Republican organ. 

BELVA ANN LOCKWOOD. 

In the summer of 1884 Mrs. Belva Ann Lockwood was nominated for the 
presidency of the Equal Rights party in San Francisco, California, and this was 
the first step toward giving woman suffrage a similar recognition to that accorded 
the male vote. In 1888 she was renominated by the same party in Des Moines, 
Iowa, and on this occasion awakened the people of the United States as never 
before to the consideration of the right of suffrage for women. The notoriety 
given to her by these bold movements called forth much censure ; nevertheless, in a 
history of what women have done for the United States, Mrs. Lockwood's life 
should figure prominently. She was born in Royalton, Niagara County, New York, 
on the 24th of October, 1830. Her parents' name was Bennett, and they were of 
the farming class in moderate circumstances, so their daughter was educated first 
in the district school, and later in the academy of her native town. At fourteen 
years of age she taught the district school in summer and attended school in 



584 Part Taken by Women in American History 

winter, continuing that strenuous regime until she was eighteen, when she became 
the wife of a young farmer in the neighborhood, Uriah H. McNall. Her husband 
died in April, 1853, leaving one small daughter who, later in life, became Mrs. 
Lockwood's principal assistant in her law office. As Belva Ann McNall, a young 
widow, she entered Genesee College, in Lima, New York, and was graduated 
therefrom with honor on the 27th of June, 1857. She was immediately elected pre- 
ceptress of Lockport Union School, and here she ruled with efficiency and success 
for four years, leaving there to become proprietor of the McNall Seminary, in 
Oswego, New York. At the close of the Civil War Mrs. McNall came to Wash- 
ington, and for several years had charge of Union League Hall, meanwhile tak- 
ing up the study of law. On the nth of March, 1868, she became the wife of 
the Rev. Ezekiel Lockwood, a Baptist minister, who, during the war, was chaplain 
of the Second D. C. Regiment. Doctor Lockwood died in Washington, D. C, 
on the 23d of April, 1877, and three years later we find Mrs. Lockwood 
taking her second degree of A.M., in Syracuse, New York. In May, 1873, she 
had graduated from the National University Law School, of Washington, D. G, 
and after a spirited controversy about the admission of women to the bar 
she was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court, the highest court in the district. 
She at once entered into the active practice of her profession, and accomplished 
over twenty years of successful work. For about thirteen years of that time 
Mrs. Lockwood was in court every court day, and engaged in pleading cases in 
person before the court. In 1875 she applied for admission to the Court of 
Claims, and was refused, on the ground, first, that she was a woman and, second, 
that she was a married woman. The contest was a bitter one, sharp, short and 
decisive. But, undiscouraged, Mrs. Lockwood had her application for admission 
to the bar of the United States Supreme Court renewed. That motion was also 
refused, on the ground that there was no English precedent for the admission of 
women to the bar. Again, nothing daunted, she drafted a bill admitting women to 
the bar of the United States Supreme Court, secured its introduction into both 
houses of Congress, and after three years of effort, aroused influence and public 
sentiment enough to secure its passage in June, 1879, and two months later, on 
the motion of the Honorable A. G. Riddle, Mrs. Lockwood was admitted to 
the bar of that august tribunal, the first woman upon whom the honor was con- 
ferred. After the passage of the act Mrs. Lockwood was notified that she could 
then be admitted to the Court of Claims. This honor she accepted, and had for 
many years before that court a very active practice. There is now no Federal 
Court in the United States before which she may not plead. In later years, 
however, she has confined her energies more especially to claims against the gov- 
ernment. She has even made an argument for the passage of a bill before the 
committees of the Senate and the House of Congress, and in 1870 she secured 
a bill giving to the women employees of the Government, of whom there are 
many thousands, equal pay for equal work with men. At another time she 
secured the passage of a bill appropriating $50,000 for the payment of bounties of 
soldiers and mariners, heretofore a neglected class. During Garfield's administra- 
tion, in 1881, Mrs. Lockwood made application for appointment as minister to 
Brazil, but these negotiations were terminated by the unfortunate death of the 
President. 



Woman Suffrage 585 



Mrs. Lockwood is interested, not only in equal rights for men and women, 
but in temperance and labor reforms, the control of railroads and telegraphs by 
the Government, and in the settlement of all difficulties, national and international, 
by arbitration instead of war. In the summer of 1889, in company with the Rev. 
Amando Deyo, Mrs. Lockwood represented the Universal Peace Union at the 
Paris Exposition, and was there delegated to the International Congress of Peace 
in that city, which opened its sessions in the Salle of the Trocadero, under the 
patronage of the French government. She made nearly all the opening speeches, 
and later presented a paper in the French language on international arbitration, 
which was well received. In the summer of 1890 she again represented the Uni- 
versal Peace Union in the International Congress in London, and here she pre- 
sented a paper on "Disarmament." Before returning to the United States Mrs. 
Lockwood took a course of university extension lectures in the University of 
Oxford. She was elected for the third time to represent the Universal Peace 
Union, of which she was then corresponding secretary, in the International Con- 
gress of Peace, held in November, 1891, in Rome. Her subject in that gather- 
ing was "The Establishment of an International Bureau of Peace." 

Mrs. Lockwood now lives in retirement in Washington, D. C, but her 
appearance upon a woman suffrage platform is always greeted with applause. 
Mrs. Lockwood has always been a student, and one of the most valuable acts of 
her career was when she became prime mover in the university extension course 
in this country. 

CARRIE LANE CHAPMAN CATT. 

Mrs. Carrie Lane Chapman Catt, for some years one of the most active 
and prominent workers for women's suffrage in the United States, was born in 
Ripon, Wisconsin, on the 9th of January, 1859. Her maiden name was Lane. 
While yet a child her parents moved to northern Iowa, where her youth was 
passed. In 1878 she entered as a student the scientific department of the Iowa 
Agriculture College, and was graduated therefrom in 1880 with the degree of D.S. 
She was an earnest student, and attained first rank in her class. For three 
years she devoted herself to teaching, first as principal of the high school in 
Mason City, Iowa, from which position she was soon promoted to city superintend- 
ent of schools in the same place In 1885 she became the wife of Leo Chapman, 
and carrying out her ideas of the wife as economic helpmate she entered into 
partnership with him as a joint proprietor and editor of the Mason City Republican. 
Within a year Mr. Chapman died. Disposing of her paper, Mrs. Chapman went 
to California where, for a year, she was engaged in newspaper work in San 
Francisco. In 1888 she entered the lecture field, and for some time spoke only in 
lecture courses, but the cause of women's enfranchisement soon enlisted her warm- 
est sympathies, and she accepted a position as state lecturer for the Iowa Women's 
Suffrage Association. Since that time all her energies have been devoted to the 
cause, and her earnest, logical eloquence has won her many friends. At every 
convention of the national association she has been called upon as a speaker. 
As the work for the cause in America has expanded and the suffrage army has 
grown, Mrs. Catt has come to be more and more acknowledged as one of its gen- 



586 Part Taken by Women in American History 

erals. Her health having suffered from her constant devotion to the cause, she 
has gone abroad. She said, on sailing, that it was her purpose to study the 
possibilities and status of equal suffrage in all of the countries throughout which 
she passed on her tour of the world, and it is safe to conclude that her deep, 
powerful voice will be heard in advocacy of the cause as often as possible. 

In 1890 she became the wife of George W. Catt, civil engineer of New York 
City. Her home is in Bensonhurst-by-the-sea, on Long Island. 

RACHEL FOSTER AVERY. 

The father of Mrs. Avery was J. Heron Foster, editor of the Pittsburg Dis- 
patch, and her mother was a native of Johnstown, New York, the birthplace of 
her Sunday school teacher and lifelong friend, Elizabeth Cady Stanton. From 
this heredity it might have been forecasted that the daughter would develop a 
strong, quick mentality and an advocacy for the independence of her sex. Mrs. 
Avery was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, December 30, 1858. When she 
was still a child Mrs. Stanton lectured in Pittsburgh, and shortly after a suffrage 
meeting was held in the Foster home, and a society was formed, of which Mrs. 
Avery's mother was made vice-president. Thus the young girl grew up in an 
atmosphere of radicalism and advanced talk, and she became a suffragist from con- 
viction, as well as by birthright. In 1871 the family, consisting of her mother, 
her sister and herself, the father having died shortly before, moved to Philadel- 
phia, where they at once identified themselves with the Citizens' Suffrage Association 
in that city. When about seventeen years old Miss Foster began to write for the 
newspapers, furnishing letters weekly from California, and afterwards from 
Europe, to the Pittsburgh Leader. In the winter of 1879 she attended the eleventh 
convention of the National Women's Association, and this determined her career. 
With characteristic promptitude she began to plan the series of conventions to 
be held in the West during the summer of 1880, and in the spring of 1881 she 
planned the series of ten conventions in the different states, beginning at Boston. 
In 1882 she conducted the Nebraska Amendment campaign, with headquarters in 
Omaha. But perhaps the act which best illustrated her ability to propagate the 
cause was when she engaged Governor John W. Hoyt, of Wyoming, to give a lec- 
ture in Philadelphia on "The Good Results of Thirteen Years' Experience of 
Women's Voting in Wyoming," had the lecture stenographically reported, col- 
lected the money to publish twenty thousand copies, and scattered them broadcast 
over the state of Pennsylvania. In February, 1883, Miss Foster sailed for Europe 
with Susan B. Anthony, and by reason of her superior linguistic attainments she 
served for ears and tongue in their journey through France, Italy, Switzerland 
and Germany. Miss Foster's management of the International Council of Women, 
held in Washington, D. C, in February, 1888, under the auspices of the National 
Women's Suffrage Association, was the crowning effort of her executive genius. 
The expenses of this meeting made a grand total of fourteen thousand dollars, 
the financial risk of which was assumed beforehand by Miss Anthony, supported 
by Miss Foster. 

Her marriage to Cyrus Miller Avery took place November 8, 1888, the Rev- 



Woman Suffrage 587 



erend Anna H. Shaw assisting in the ceremony. But she continued her suffrage 
work even more ardently, and for years held the office of corresponding secretary 
of the National Suffrage Association and of the National and the International 
Councils of Women. Mrs. Foster Avery is, moreover, a philanthropist in the 
broadest sense, giving constantly from her independent fortune to reforms and 
charities. 

HARRIOT STANTON BLATCH. 

Mrs. Harriot Stanton Blatch is the brilliant daughter of Mrs. Cady Stanton, 
who was one of the founders of the Woman's Suffrage Organization. Her father's 
name was Henry Brewster Stanton and her grandfather was Daniel Cady, a noted 
lawyer who, after serving a term in Congress, became a judge of the Supreme Court 
of New York. 

Mrs. Blatch is now one of the leading spirits in the woman's suffrage 
movement in this country and president of the Woman's Political Union of 46 
East Twenty-ninth Street, New York City. She is a woman of great strength of 
character and marked ability which has brought her to the front rank in this 
great wave of suffrage which is sweeping over our country. 

Mrs. Blatch was the organizer of the league for Self-supporting Women 
which has to-day 19,350 members. It is a league of working women of New York 
City and has affiliated with it such divisions of organized labor as The Typo- 
graphical Union, The Pipe-Caulkers' Union, The Painters' and the Bookbinders' 
Union. For several years Mrs. Blatch has devoted much of her time to amalgamat- 
ing women workers and teaching them the value of the franchise. The national 
suffragists count their greatest gain to be the working women and the college 
women, who for many years held aloof from each other in suspicion and con- 
servatism, but in the past few years both classes, for various reasons, now are 
united against tyranny or taxation without representation and for the advancement 
and rights of women. 

ELLEN C. SARGENT. 

Mrs. Ellen C. Sargent, of San Francisco, has just died of old age at the 
house of her son, George C. Sargent, a lawyer. Mrs. Sargent has been for many 
years one of the great women of California, broad-minded, interested in all 
progressive work, most of all in woman suffrage, and always optimistic. She 
lived in Washington many years while her husband, Hon. Aaron A. Sargent, was 
senator from California, and was a regular attendant at National Suffrage 
Conventions. She and Susan B. Anthony were very close friends and often 
visited each other and always were in correspondence. When her husband 
was minister to Germany, she accompanied him to Berlin, and on their return to 
California lived in Nevada City and in San Francisco. She had the advantages 
of New England birth, of Washington society, foreign travel, and a fortune, but 
she was at all times unassuming, helpful, sympathetic and regarded with deepest 
esteem and fondest affection by all of her friends. Mrs. Sargent was president 
of the California Equal Suffrage Association during the campaign of 1896, and 



588 Part Taken by Women in American History 

the campaign headquarters was in her house. Miss Anthony was her guest during 
a large part of the time. While suffrage has been her first thought, she has 
always seen the relation of other movements toward suffrage and has distributed 
much literature on peace, direct legislation and other related work. 

AMALIA BARNEY SIMONS POST. 

Mrs. Amalia Barney Simons Post, like so many others of the women 
suffragists can boast of ancestors who were prominent in early American History. 
Thomas Chittenden, the first governor of Vermont, was one of her ancestors and 
several were officers in the Revolutionary War, and in the army and navy in the 
war of 1812. Mrs. Post's father was William Simons and her mother Amalia 
Barney. Both parents were stern in integrity and patriotism and of great strength 
of character. In 1S64, in Chicago, Miss Simons became the wife of Morton E. 
Post She with her husband crossed the plain in 1866, settling in Denver, 
Colorado and later moving to Cheyenne, Wyoming. Mrs. Post's life in Wyoming 
was closely identified with the story of obtaining and maintaining equal political 
rights for Wyoming women, and to her perhaps more than to any other individual 
is due the fact that the women of Wyoming have to-day the right of suffrage. In 
187 1 Mrs. Post was a delegate to the Women's National Convention in Washing- 
ton, D. C, and before an audience of five thousand people in Lincoln Hall she 
told of women's emancipation in Wyoming. In the fall of 187 1 the Wyoming 
legislature repealed the act granting suffrage to women, but Mrs. Post by a 
personal appeal to Governor Campbell induced him to veto the bill. To Mrs. Post 
he said, "I came here opposed to women's suffrage but the eagerness and fidelity 
with which you and your friends have performed legal duties when called upon 
to act has convinced me that you deserve to enjoy those rights." A determined 
effort was made to pass the bill over the governor's veto, and a canvass of the 
members showed that the necessary two-thirds majority could probably be secured 
by the narrow margin of one vote. With political sagacity equal to that of any 
man Mrs. Post decided to secure that one vote. By an earnest appeal to one of 
the best educated men she won him to its support and upon the final ballot being 
taken upon the proposal to pass the bill over the governor's veto that man, Senator 
Foster, voted "no," and women's suffrage became a permanency in Wyoming. 
From 1880 to 1884, Mrs. Post, whose husband was delegate to Congress during 
that time, lived in Washington and by her social tact and sterling womanly 
qualities she made many friends for the cause of women's suffrage among those 
who were inclined to believe that only the radical or immodest of her sex desired 
suffrage. For twenty years Mrs. Post was vice-president of the National Women's 
Suffrage Association. In 1890, after equal rights to Wyoming women had been 
secured irrevocably by the constitution adopted by the people of the new state, 
Mrs. Post was made president of the committees having in charge the state- 
hood's celebration. On that occasion a copy of the state constitution was presented 
to the women of the state by Judge N. C. Brown, who had been president of a 
Constitutional Convention which adopted it, and Mrs. Post received the book in 
behalf of the women of the state. 



Women Reformers. 

GRACE ALEXANDER. 

Miss Alexander, temperance reformer, was born in Winchester, New Hamp- 
shire, the 26th of October, 1848, and was the daughter of Edward and Lucy Catron 
Alexander, whose parents were among the early Puritan settlers. Miss Alexander 
taught school after graduating, and then accepted a position in the Winchester 
National Bank; finally became the cashier, and in 1881 when the incorporation of 
the Security Savings Bank took place, Miss Alexander was the first woman to be 
given the position of treasurer of a banking corporation. She is an earnest worker 
in Sunday schools, temperance societies and other religious organizations. 

FANNIE B. AMES. 

Mrs. Ames was born at Canandaigua the 14th of June, 1840, and is a noted 
industrial reformer. She was a student in Antioch College when Horace Mann 
was its president. Her first work was in the military hospitals during the war. She 
was married in 1863 to Reverend Charles G. Ames, a minister of Philadelphia, and 
here she took up the work of organized charity, becoming one of the state visitors 
to the public institutions of Pennsylvania. She was president of the New Cen- 
tury College, of Philadelphia, one of the most influential women's colleges of this 
country. Her lectures and writings have been full of force and most salutary in 
their effect. In 1891 she read a paper entitled "Care of Defective Children" before 
the National Council of Women and was appointed by Governor Russell factory 
inspector in Massachusetts. 

ROSA MILLER AVERY. 

Mrs. Avery was born in Madison, Ohio, the 21st of May, 1830. In 
September, 1853, she married Cyrus Avery, of Oberlin, Ohio. While living in 
Ashtabula, Ohio, she organized the first anti-slavery society of that time in that 
section of the country, and though only two years before the war there was 
not a clergyman in the place who would give notice of this meeting. During the 
war she wrote constantly for the various papers and journals of that day on the 
union and emancipation, being obliged to use a male signature in order to gain 
attention. Her pen-name signed to her later writings was "Sue Smith." These 
were on social questions and things helpful to young people. After removing 
to Chicago she took up the work of social purity and equal suffrage and has 
written many able articles for the Chicago Press on these subjects, 

(589) 



590 Part Taken by Women in American History 



LUCRETIA MOTT. 

One of the most famous characters of American womanhood was born at 
Nantucket, January 3, 1793. Her father was a sea captain; her mother, one of 
those energetic, sensible, cheerful women of that day and time. As an illustration 
of the amusements of the children in that simple home, one writer says of Mrs. 
Coffin, Lucretia's mother, that it was her custom to say to her daughters: "Now 
after you have finished knitting twenty bouts you may go down in the cellar and 
pick out as many as you want of the smallest potatoes, the very smallest, and 
roast them in the ashes." The family moved to Boston when Lucretia was but 
twelve years of age and she received her primary education at a public school, 
which her father felt was more in accordance with the democracy of our country. 
Later she attended the Friends' Boarding School, at Nine Partners, New York. 
James Mott, her cousin, attended this same school and here their friendship began. 
At fifteen, Lucretia was appointed an assistant teacher in this school, and she 
and Mr. Mott took up the study of French together. When she was eighteen 
and James Mott twenty-one, they were married and went to reside at the home 
of Lucretia's father in Philadelphia. Mr. Mott assisted Mr. Coffin in his 
business. The war of 1812 came on and destroyed Mr. Coffin's business, and 
the death of Captain Coffin soon thereafter brought great suffering upon the 
family. James Mott endeavored to do what he could for their support, but his 
business venture proved also a dismal failure and Lucretia Mott decided to open a 
school, which commenced with four pupils and soon increased to forty. Mr. Mott's 
prospects also had improved and the family were placed in more cheerful and 
satisfactory surroundings. Lucretia Mott's family were Quakers and about the 
time she was twenty-five her natural religious tendency compelled her to give up 
work as a teacher, and she began the close study of the Bible. At this time she 
had four children, but the care of her house did not prevent her becoming a diligent 
student. Her husband, James Mott, was now prospering in a cotton business, 
and so luxuries had been added to the necessities of the home, which gave 
her more time for her work and she was enabled to go to the different Quaker 
meetings and speak. She had always been deeply interested in the question of 
slavery and on December 4, 1833, when a convention met in Philadelphia for the 
purpose of forming The American Anti-Slavery Society, Lucretia Mott was 
one of four women to brave criticism and social ostracism as friends of the then 
despised abolitionists. She spoke at this meeting with great earnestness and power 
and immediately after the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society was formed 
with Mrs. Mott chosen as its president. The women were so unused to the proper 
methods of organization and conduct of a woman's society that they were obliged 
to call a colored man to the chair to assist them. We all have read how these 
anti-slavery lecturers suffered. Some were even tarred and feathered. In New York 
and Philadelphia houses were burned, church windows broken, and threats were 
being made to destroy the home of Mr. and Mrs. Mott, but amidst all this frenzy 
Mrs. Mott remained placid and unruffled even when the mob threatened her with 
personal violence. In 1839 the World's Convention was called in London to discuss 
the slavery question, and among the delegates sent from this country were James 



Women Reformers 591 

and Lucretia Mott, Wendell Philips and his wife, with others. On their arrival 
in London they were amazed to find that no women were to be admitted as delegates. 
This seemed a death blow to Mrs. Mott's work, but the friendship of William 
Lloyd Garrison was here shown when he refused to take part in the convention 
and sat in the gallery with the women. Mrs. Mott was shown the greatest honors, 
entertained by the Duchess of Sutherland, Lady Byron, Carlyle expressing for her 
the greatest admiration. She had made frequent public speeches and addresses 
while in England and aroused the greatest interest in the work. Soon after their 
return to this country she spoke before the legislatures of New Jersey, Delaware, 
and Pennsylvania; called upon President Tyler and discussed the slavery question 
with him. She was greatly interested in the question of suffrage for women, total 
abstinence, and national differences settled by arbitration instead of war, which after 
all these years is now so popular in our country. She felt greatly the difference 
in women's pay for the same work done by men. In 1848 Mrs. Mott, with 
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and some other noble women of that time, called the first 
women's suffrage convention held in this country at Seneca Falls, New York. Her 
home became the rendezvous of the enthusiasts and earnest workers in these 
various lines, and black as well as white were welcome guests. She aided the 
escaped slaves and took up the cause of injustice freely. All this multitude of 
labor was carried on in addition to the duties of her home and to her children, 
which were always most conscientiously performed. In 1856 it became 
necessary to change their home from the city into the country, as Mrs. Mott 
had become much worn with care, and they established the residence, which was 
known far and wide as "Roadside." In 1861 Mr. and Mrs. Mott celebrated their 
golden wedding, she being at that time seventy years of age but still active and 
interested in the cause of humanity. Lucretia Mott passed the latter years of her 
life near Philadelphia, where in 1880 she died. 

MARY A. LIVERMORE. 

Mrs. Livermore was one of the great characters and remarkable women 
developed by the few years prior to the Civil War, and her name is always 
associated with the great work of the Sanitary Commission of which she was the 
head and leader. She was born in Boston, December 19, 1821. Her people were 
Welsh and she was reared under the strictest Calvinistic faith. Mr. Rice, her 
father, was a man of strong character. The family consisted of five children 
younger than herself, and even as a child she was imbued with a great religious 
faith. When but twelve years of age she became anxious to do something in 
order to earn money to contribute her part toward the support of the family 
and, as she said, not to have her father work so hard for all of them. She took 
up the trade of dressmaking, which at that time could not be considered one 
giving much financial return, as she was paid but thirty-seven cents a day. She 
was always eager to learn and hungered for an education. In this she met great 
encouragement from Doctor Neal, their minister, who assisted her to go to the 
Charlestown (Massachusetts') Female Seminary. While there one of the teachers 
died, during Mary's first term, and she was asked to fill the vacancy. She 



59^ Part Taken by Women in American History 

accepted at once, studying at night in order to fit herself for the position, and 
when but twenty years of age she had taught two years as a governess on a 
Virginia plantation and had returned to the family with the sum of six hundred 
dollars. At this time she was asked to take charge of the Duxbury High 
School, which she did. Her sister had died and the family were in great sorrow. 
Their minister at this time was Rev. D. P. Livermore who became interested in 
her reading and mental advancement and soon became fascinated with her 
personality, and when she was twenty-three they were married. 

She became his assistant in the editing of the New Covenant, a religious 
paper published in Chicago, where they made their home. They had three children. 
In 1861 when the war broke out and the slavery question was one which everyone 
was discussing, Mrs. Livermore was deeply affected by the evidence of the case. 
She was in Boston when Mr. Lincoln's call for seventy-five thousand men was 
responded to and she was so affected by the hardships which she knew were 
facing them and the agony and distress of the women left at home, that she felt 
it her duty to see if there was not some work that she and the women of this 
country could do to help in this dreadful struggle. A meeting for women was 
called in New York City, which resulted in the formation of an aid society, which 
was to send assistance to the soldiers and their families. They sent a delegate to 
Washington to inquire if there was not some work which the government would 
let the women undertake, but they were told they were not wanted. This only 
added fuel to the flame of their desire to undertake what they knew would be 
needed of the women, and soon the United States Sanitary Commission was 
organized for working in hospitals, looking after camps, and providing comfort 
for the soldiers. Branches were formed in ten large cities. The northwestern 
branch was put under the direction of Mrs. Livermore and Mrs. A. H. Hoge. 
Supplies began to come in to these loyal women from all parts of the country, 
and Mrs. Livermore was sent to Washington to talk with President Lincoln about 
the work, and while he told her that "by law" no civilian, either man or woman, 
would be allowed to act officially, personally he was in favor of anything which 
would help the women to do their duty to their country. Mrs. Livermore's first 
work was after the battle of Fort Donelson. There were no hospitals. The 
poor wounded and sick had to be hauled in the rough Tennessee wagons, many 
dying before they reached St Louis. At the rear of the battlefields the sanitary 
commission took up its work. They kept the men supplied with hot coffee and 
soup; they furnished supplies for the sick; they helped care for those in the 
hospitals, nursing and working personally among them and many a poor fellow 
closed his eyes in death in Mrs. Livermore's arms. This commission expended 
about fifty million dollars, and the women raised the largest proportion of this. 
It is said each battle cost the commission about seventy-five thousand, and the 
battle of Gettysburg, one half million. Mrs. Livermore when not on the field, 
went about the country making appeals to the people for money and supplies to be 
sent to their own boys at the front. At one time the need of money was so great 
that Mrs. Livermore decided to have a fair in Chicago. This was one of the 
famous charitable efforts during the war. Fourteen of Chicago's largest halls were 
hired, and the women assumed an indebtedness of ten thousand dollars. The 




SUSAN B. ANTHONY- 



DISTINGUISHED WOMEN ORATORS. 



Women Reformers 593 



City Council and Board of Trade of Chicago advised the abandonment of the 
project, but Mrs. Livermore and her loyal supporters went bravely on and every 
hall was filled with things to be sold, and supplies for the men. Instead of 
twenty-five thousand, which they hoped to raise, the women cleared one hundred 
thousand dollars. This was followed by others in Boston, New York, Cincinnati, 
and Philadelphia. In New York one million dollars was raised, and in Philadelphia 
two hundred thousand more than that raised by New York. Mrs. Livermore was 
asked to make a tour of the hospitals and posts on the Mississippi River, and all 
officials and military officers were ready now, not only to lay down the bars 
of red tape and army regulation but glad to welcome this noble woman who had 
done so much and showed such remarkable executive ability and willingness to 
aid in lessening the suffering necessary. Her labors cannot be justly estimated 
and the American people owe to her and to Clara Barton, of the Red Cross, a 
debt which cannot be cancelled. She was the author of several books, one "What 
Shall We Do With Our Daughters," and "Reminiscences of the War." She died 
in 1905. 

Sociologists. 

MARGARET DREIER ROBBINS. 

Born in Brooklyn. The daughter of Theodore and Dorothea Dreier. She is 
the founder of the Woman's Municipal League of New York; president of the 
New York Association for Household Research; president of the New York 
Woman's Trade Union League in 1905 ; member executive board of Chicago 
Federation of Labor since 1908; member of committee on industrial education, 
American Federation of Labor; member of executive committee, Illinois section, 
American Association for Labor Legislation, and prominent in all labor and social 
organizations for many years. 

CORINNE STUBBS BROWN. 

Born in Chicago, 1849. Teacher in the public schools of Chicago and married 
Frank E. Brown. Is a student of social problems and socialist of some prominence. 
President of the Illinois Women's Alliance for the purpose of obtaining the enact- 
ment and enforcement of factory ordinances and compulsory educational laws. An 
active worker in the study of economic and social questions among the clubs. 

GABRIELLE MULLINER. 

Lawyer and social reformer of New York. Is using her efforts to procure 
separate trials for women. 

HELENA STUART DUDLEY. 

Born in Nebraska, in 1858. Daughter of Judson H. and Caroline Bates 
Dudley. Teacher of biology and chemistry in the Packer Collegiate Institute at 

38 



594 Part Taken by Women in American History 

one time. Became head worker of the college settlement work in Philadelphia ; also 
of the Denison House College settlement in Boston since 1893. 

MRS. ROBERT CARTWRIGHT. 

Chairman of the public safety committee of the city of New York. Originated 
and caused to be placed the electric signs at elevated railway stations indicating the 
next stop; also the signs in the cars of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company, 
giving the names of the subway lines and their destination. It is believed that 
these have prevented thousands of accidents and hundreds of thousands of tourists 
from boarding the wrong trains. 

DIANA BELAIS. 

Active worker in the reform concerning the treatment and care of disabled 
and overworked animals. Finding the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to 
Animals did not entirely accomplish the work she desired — was not far-reaching 
enough — she framed the bill and caused it to be presented to the legislature at 
Albany, New York, and for two years she struggled for the passage of this bill 
and ultimately was successful in her efforts, and to-day the agents of the society 
are invested with full police power and have brought about a wonderful change 
in the humane treatment of animals and the sanitary conditions for them. But the 
greatest of Mrs. Belais' municipal achievements lies in her splendid crusade against 
the horrors of vivisection, and she is now engaged in trying to accomplish her ideas 
through legislative measures and ordinances in the cities. 

MRS. A. M. PALMER. 

President of what is known as the Rainy Day Club and organizations to 
rectify the short weights and false measurements. It was said that the city of New 
York, according to authorized statements, lost one million dollars yearly on short- 
weighted package goods. All devices for fraud resorted to by merchants and 
dealers were to be brought to account. She has been joined in this work by Mrs. 
William Grant Brown, of New York. 

ELEANOR M. WHALEY. 
Interested in the cleansing of cities under the Municipal Woman's League. 

LAURA B. HERTZ. 

Chairman of the Civic Committee of California's Women's Clubs. Mrs. 
Hertz was born in San Francisco, November, 1869, and received a high school 
education in Santa Barbara. She married Louis Hertz in March, 1891, after having 
taught school for several years. Mrs. Hertz's work and activities are for the 
betterment of all civic conditions, moral, physical and educational. Especially is 



Women Reformers 595 

she interested in work for the young. She was elected president of the Council 
of Jewish Women, serving in this position for two years, after which she was 
elected a delegate to the triennial council, which met in Chicago in 1905. For two 
years past, she has been chairman of the Sabbath school committee, and inaugurated 
an international union Thanksgiving service conducted by the children of all the 
Jewish Sunday-schools of San Francisco. Mrs. Hertz is at present the chairman 
of the Department of School Patrons of the National Education Association, and 
is at the head of the entertainment for the Jewish Chautauqua Assembly, meeting 
in San Francisco. 

MARGARET SMYTH McKISSICK. 

Mrs. Margaret Smyth McKissick was born in Charleston, South Carolina, 
and is proud of her Maryland, Virginia, as well as South Carolina, colonial and 
revolutionary ancestry. She has one son, about nineteen years old, and it has been 
largely her interest in him that has led to her interest in the industrial schools 
of South Carolina 

She has been vice-president for two years, president for two years of the 
State Federation of Women's Clubs, and for the last four years has been chairman 
of the Department of Forestry and Civics. 

Mrs. McKissick oversees the educational system, carries baskets to the 
families at the Christmas season and generally guards the welfare of employees 
and their families in some of the mill villages of South Carolina. Mrs. McKissick 
follows in her work the methods inaugurated by her father, Captain Ellison A. 
Smyth, at Pelzer, South Carolina. 

MARTHA PARMELEE ROSE. 

Mrs. Rose was born March 5, 1834, in Norton, Ohio. Her father, Theodore 
Hudson Parmelee, was one of the founders of the Western Reserve College, and 
went with the early colony to Ohio, in 1813. He was educated under Lyman 
Beecher and accepted the views of Oberlin, which opened its doors to women and 
the negro. Here Miss Parmelee obtained her education, graduating in 1855. While 
teaching in a seminary in Pennsylvania, she became the wife of William G. Rose, 
a member of the legislature of that state ; an editor and lawyer. In 1864 Mr. and 
Mrs. Rose removed to Cleveland, Ohio, where Mr. Rose was later the mayor of 
the city. Mrs. Rose became intensely interested in the poor and destitute, espe- 
cially the sufferings of the poor sewing women as a result of the frauds and 
extortions practised upon them. Through lectures and reports of the Royal Com- 
mission of England on the training schools of that country and the manual training 
schools of France and Sweden, she succeeded in arousing the press and business 
men of the city to the necessity for the establishment of a training school in Cleve- 
land, which was accomplished. She has written a book entitled, "Story of a Life 
of Pauperism in America," many articles on the labor question and kindred topics. 
She reviewed Mrs. Field's "How to Help the Poor" ; many of her suggestions were 
accepted by the associated charities of Cleveland. She helped to form the Woman's 



596 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Employment Society, which gave out garments to be made at reasonable prices and 
sold to home missions. She was at one time president of the Cleveland Sorosis, 
aiding materially the success of this woman's club. She is known as a patron of art. 

ANNA BYFORD LEONARD. 

Mrs. Anna Byford Leonard was born July 31, 1843. She was the daughter 
of a well-known physician and surgeon of Chicago, Illinois, who was the founder 
and president of the Woman's Medical College of Chicago, and devoted his life 
and his work to the cause and diseases of women. In 1889 Mrs. Leonard was 
appointed sanitary inspector, the first woman to be appointed to that position. 
Through her efforts and those of five other women, who were aiding her in this 
splendid work, the eight-hour day was enforced, which provides that children under 
fourteen years of age shall not work more than eight hours a day. Through Mrs. 
Leonard's efforts seats were placed in stores and factories for the relief of girls 
employed in these places ; and through her efforts, also, schools have been estab- 
lished in some of the stores to give the children employed two hours of schooling 
a day. Many of these girls whose first labors were those of cash girls were unable 
to write their own names. In 1891 Mrs. Leonard was made president of the 
Women's Canning and Preserving Company, which she brought to great success. 
She is entitled to a place among the distinguished business women of this country 
as well as among cultured and prominent social leaders and representative American 
women. 

JANE ADDAMS. 

Miss Addams was born at Cedarville, Illinois, September, 
i860. She is the daughter of the late Hon. John H. and 
Sarah Weber Addams. Studied abroad for two years and later 
in Philadelphia. Opened a social settlement department known 
as Hull House, in Chicago, in 1889, in connection with Miss 
Ellen Gates Star and of this she has since been the head. Was 
inspector of streets and alleys for three years in the neighbor- 
hood of Hull House. Has done a wonderful work in sociology 
and is to-day recognized as one of the foremost women in this 
country in her line of work. She has written and lectured on 
social and political reform. 

Miss Addams has been ranked the foremost living woman 
in America to-day, as having done the most for womankind 
and, for that matter, for human kind. This modest, unassum- 



Women Reformers 597 

ing little woman has proven a power in Chicago, which political 
corruption and vicious ignorance could not withstand. She 
has matched kindness with kindness, craftiness with craftiness 
until ward bossism fell before her. A lifelong sufferer from 
spinal trouble, she has already accomplished a work in Chicago 
and sent forth a worldwide influence for social and industrial 
betterment which many a strong man might be proud to call 
his life work. What Miss Addams has accomplished in Chicago 
cannot be told briefly, but here are a few of the things she has 
done: Through Hull House she has provided a place where 
nine thousand men, women and children go to take sewing, 
millinery and dancing lessons; drink coffee; paint pictures; to 
mould clay; a place where they have free access to library, 
club rooms, day nursery, kindergarten, children's playgrounds, 
labor bureau, medical dispensary, ideal bakery, diet kitchen, 
visiting nurses, social, educational and industrial clubs for all 
ages and purposes. She has cleaned up one of the filthiest and 
most corrupt districts in Chicago. She has replaced in the 
heart of this district an ill-kept and filthy stable with an art 
gallery and a children's playground; she has done this for 
about two thousand children whose only playground was the 
street. She has made a long and vigorous fight against drug- 
gists who sold cocaine to children ; against the spread of typhoid 
fever by personal inspection of four thousand tenements; 
against tuberculosis among the rear-tenement dwellers ; for new 
factory laws, and in all of these cases she has won out. She 
has co-operated with the Juvenile Courts. She has established 
public baths, free reading rooms, better public and home 
sanitation and cleaner streets. She has established a model 
apartment house with twelve model apartments. She main- 
tains a visiting kindergarten by means of which children too 
crippled to attend school are visited in their homes and 
instructed by trained kindergarten teachers, and yet the half has 
not been told. 



59S Part Taken by Women in American History 

IDA WHIPPLE BENHAM. 

Mrs. Benham was born near Ledyard, Connecticut, on the 8th of January, 1849, 
and was the daughter of Timothy and Lucy Ann Geer Whipple. The 14th of April, 
1869, she married Elijah B. Benham, of Groton, Connecticut. She inherited from 
her Quaker father and mother a desire for peace, and lectured on this and the 
subject of temperance. Is a director in the American Peace Society, and a 
member of the Universal Peace Union, and has always taken a conspicuous part in 
all peace conventions. Has contributed poems to the New York Independent, 
Youths' Companion, St. Nicholas, and other prominent periodicals. 

CLARISSA CALDWELL LATHROF. 

Miss Clarissa Caldwell Lathrop was born in Rochester, New York, and died 
September, 1892 in Saratoga, New York. She was the daughter of the late 
General William E. Lee Lathrop. Her prominence came from her remarkable 
experience. She was confined and unlawfully imprisoned in the Utica State 
Asylum for twenty-six months through a plot of a secret enemy to put her out of 
existence. She managed at last to communicate with James B. Silkman, of New 
York, a lawyer who, like herself, was confined in the same asylum under similar 
circumstances. He succeeded in obtaining a writ of habeas corpus in December, 
1882. Judge Barnard of the Supreme Court pronounced her sane and unlawfully 
incarcerated. Miss Lathrop felt she owed it to her own sex to take her case before 
the legislature of New York State, and demand reform in this direction, but she 
was unsuccessful in two efforts and found herself penniless and facing the necessity 
of her own support. After several efforts in most humble capacity, she became 
a court stenographer and ten years after her release wrote her book, the story of 
her own prison experiences, entitled "A Secret Institution." This book led to 
the formation of the Lunacy Law Reform League, in 1889, a national organization 
with headquarters in New York City, of which Miss Lathrop became the secretary 
and was the national organizer. 

MRS. ARCHIBALD HOPKINS. 

Mrs. Archibald Hopkins, president of the District of Columbia Association 
of the Civic Federation, was Charlotte Everett Wise, born June 7, 1857 in Cam- 
bridge, Massachusetts. She was the daughter of Captain Henry A. Wise, United 
States Navy, and Charlotte Brooks Wise, the granddaughter of Edward Everett 
and Charlotte G. Everett, of Boston, Massachusetts. Mrs. Hopkins has always 
been active in the charitable and philanthropic work of Washington. She is one 
of the original members of the Civic Federation and as president of the local 
organization of the city of Washington has done some splendid work in the effort 
to ameliorate the condition of the employees of the government. Many surprisingly 
unsanitary and unwholesome conditions have existed and the local organization 
has gained the attention of the chiefs of the various departments and Congress for 
the betterment of surroundings and the rectifying of injustices. 



Women Reformers 599 



ELIZABETH GERBERDING. 

Mrs. Elizabeth Gerberding is the leader of the fight for municipal reform in 
the city of San Francisco. To the women who took a part in this great revolt 
against graft the men owe much. Mrs. Gerberding was born in a little mining 
town in California in 1857. Her parents moved to San Francisco when she was 
but eight years of age. Soon after an early marriage she was thrown on her own 
resources, and for some years made her living and educated her children by 
teaching. This struggle brought out and developed in her the courage she has 
shown throughout the great war for civic righteousness in San Francisco. In 
1894 she married Albert Gerberding, coming in close connection with those who 
were afterwards in the forefront for public weal. Mr. Gerberding's father was the 
owner and publisher of The Bulletin, the paper which in the early days helped 
to put down the lawlessness of organized theft and which to-day represents the 
public feeling which has brought to San Francisco a decent government. Mrs. 
Gerberding succeeded in getting representative women to show by their presence 
at the trials of these officials the stand of the best element of society. A League 
of Justice was formed. Mrs. Gerberding became the only woman member of 
the executive committee. On her own initiative she formed the Woman's League 
of Justice which soon had a membership of five hundred. This became a strong 
auxiliary in the graft prosecution ; the value of their moral support to those engaged 
in the prosecution was incalcuable. 

Of Mrs. Gerberding's active work for the betterment of San Francisco, this 
is but a part. She formed the California women's Heney Club of San Francisco, 
and as president made it a real power for good. This organization became the 
Woman's Civic Club of San Francisco. 

Immediately there was new work for this club to do. On a trip east, Mrs. 
Gerberding discovered that an active propaganda was afoot to defeat the Hetch 
Hetchy water project on the ground of the preservation of natural resources. 
Persons had even succeeded in getting the Federation of Woman's Clubs to pass 
resolutions against the grant. 

Mrs. Gerberding went back to San Francisco and persuaded the Century 
Club, the oldest woman's club on the Pacific coast, to withdraw in protest from the 
federation. The women of San Francisco are in a great fight for pure water. 

Since her husband died in 1902, leaving her comfortably provided for, 
Mrs. Gerberding has been militant for her city. She loves San Francisco as only 
the native Californian can. The men who have fought the good fight for San 
Francisco know how often she has poured the balm of her sympathy upon their 
wounds and filled them with renewed energy and courage. 

ADA M. BITTENBENDER. 

Mrs. Bittenbender, lawyer and reformer, was born in Asylum, Bradford 
County, Pennsylvania, August 3, 1848. Her father's family were partly of New 
England and partly of German stock; her mother, of New England. Her father 
served all during the Civil War, and died soon after its close. Mrs. Bitten- 



6oo Part Taken by Women in American History 

bender's maiden name was Ada M. Cole. In 1874 sne entered as a student of 
the Pennsylvania State Normal School, from which she was graduated in 1875. After 
graduating, she was elected a member of the faculty and taught one year. She 
then entered the Froebel Normal Institute in Washington, D. C, and graduated 
from this institute in 1877. The day on which she graduated she was called to 
her Alma Mater as principal and accepted the position, teaching for one year, when 
illness prevented her continuing her work. In 1878 she married Henry Clay Bitten- 
bender, a young lawyer of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, and a graduate of Princeton 
College. Soon after their marriage they moved to Osceola, Nebraska. Mrs. Bit- 
tenbender taught school for a short time. In 1879, Mr. Bittenbender bought the 
Record published in Osceola. Mrs. Bittenbender was engaged as editor and served 
in this capacity for three years, making an able, fearless, moral, temperance 
newspaper of this journal. Mrs. Bittenbender strongly opposed the granting of 
saloon licenses. When the Nebraska Woman Suffrage Association was organized 
in 1881, she was elected recording secretary. She with others secured the sub- 
mission of the woman suffrage amendment to the constitution in 1881. The 
following year she was elected president of the association. In 1881 she became 
the editor of the Farmers' Alliance paper, started in Nebraska. While editing the 
Record she read law with her husband, and in 1882 passed an examination and 
was licensed to practise. She was the first woman admitted to the bar in Nebraska. 
She became her husband's law partner, and for many years the firm existed 
under the name of H. C. and Ada M. Bittenbender. She secured the passage of 
the scientific temperance instruction bill and the tobacco bill ; secured a law giving 
the mother the guardianship of her children equally with the father, and several 
other laws beneficial to women. She was the author of the excellent industrial 
home bill which was enacted by the Nebraska legislature in 1887. At the Inter- 
national Council of Women, held in Washington, D. C, in 1888 she addressed 
the council on "Woman in Law." She represented the Woman's Christian 
Temperance Union at the national Capital for many years in urging legislation in 
the interest of temperance. In 1888 she was admitted to practise in the Supreme 
Court of the United States, and elected an attorney to the International Woman's 
Christian Temperance Union, which she held for some time. She is the author 
of the chapter on "Woman in Law" in "Woman's Work in America" and the 
"National Prohibitory Amendment Guide." It is through her efforts and by her 
untiring devotion to the cause that much of the beneficial legislation for temperance 
and the protection of women and her interests have been obtained. 

HELEN MAROT. 

Is an industrial reformer and worker in social economics. Miss Marot has 
been engaged in the work of social economics for the past sixteen years. Her 
first efforts in this direction was the forming of a small center for the use of all 
sorts and conditions of people interested in economic problems in Philadelphia, her 
native city. In this work she was assisted by Dr. David G. Brinton. Books and 
pamphlets were collected and a reading-room and gathering place for the discussion 
of these problems was opened. While this center was in active operation, lectures 



Women Reformers 6oi 



were delivered by Sidney Webb, of England, Ramsay MacDonald, M.P., and 
men from the Pennsylvania University. During the existence of this circle Miss 
Marot compiled a handbook of labor literature which was most favorably received 
by bibliographers as well as sociologists. This was a selected and classified 
bibliograph of the more important books and pamphlets in the English language at 
the time of its publication of 1897. 1° l 9 00 Miss Marot, in connection with Miss 
Caroline L. Piatt, made an investigation and report of the manufacture of men's 
clothing in Philadelphia. The part referring to ready made clothing was published 
by the United States Industrial Commission. The part relating to the manu- 
facture of custom made clothes was published by the Pennsylvania Consumers' 
League and the Journeyman Tailors' Union. This was the first exposure of 
conditions under which the latter class of clothing is made. After this Miss 
Marot made some investigations in New York and in 1903 was asked to investigate 
conditions under which children worked for the New York Child Labor Com- 
mittee which was just then being formed. The investigation led to the enactment 
of laws formulated by her associates and herself which placed New York in 
the lead in child labor reform. This was the beginning of the child labor campaign 
throughout the country now led by the National Child Labor Committee. At 
this time Miss Marot's health broke down and she was forced to lay aside her 
work for over a year; she was then called to Philadelphia to take the secretaryship 
of the Pennsylvania Child Labor Committee. This committee made an extensive 
investigation of child labor and began a legislative campaign which resulted in the 
passing of a fine piece of legislation but which was declared unconstitutional on a 
slight technicality raised by those interested in vitiating the law. Miss Marot 
realized that the only method of eventually destroying this evil was in better 
educational facilities and new economic conditions. She left the Pennsylvania 
Committee and returned to New York to work with the New York Public 
Education Association. She was urged to accept the secretaryship of the Woman's 
Trade Union League of New York City, and gave up her educational work to acecpt 
this responsible office and to-day there is a membership of over fifty- two thousand in 
this league. 

Miss Marot and her associates, who are largely college girls and students 
of social questions in sympathy with the cause of organized labor, aided and 
managed the strike of woman shirt-makers in New York last year, when forty 
thousand of these women united, formed a union and declared a strike. This was 
settled by their employers ultimately coming to a recognition of their claims and 
it was settled on a basis of increased pay and a recognition of their union. Miss 
Anna Morgan, the daughter of J. P. Morgan, was one of the moving spirits in 
aiding these women to obtain their rights. After the strike was over, about three 
thousand of the workers were still out of employment. It remained for the 
practical mind of Miss Morgan to make provision for these girls. Miss Morgan 
proposed to establish by subscription a shirtwaist factory which should be a model 
in every sanitary and architectural respect and operated under strictly union con- 
ditions and finally to have a profit-sharing system. Their first order was from 
Wellesley College— a thousand waists to be made by their special pattern. 



6o2 Part Taken by Women in American History 



MRS. ISAAC L. RICE. 

Mrs. Isaac L. Rice, organizer of the Anti-noise Society, was born in New 
Oneans, Louisiana, May 2, i860. Is the daughter of Nathaniel and Annie Hyne- 
Barnett and is the wife of Isaac L. Rice, a prominent lawyer of New York City. 
On her mother's side, Mrs. Rice descended from Elias Hyneman, a native of Hol- 
land who came to this country in the eighteenth century. Mrs. Rice received a 
classical and musical education and also completed a course at the Woman's Medi- 
cal College of the New York Infirmary in New York City, where she took her 
degree of M.D., in 1885, but soon after this she was married and abandoned the 
plan of practising her profession. Her home is one of elegance and distinction on 
the Riverside Drive, overlooking the Hudson River in the city of New York. The 
situation of her home brought to her attention as one of the sufferers the unneces- 
sary noise of the river craft which rendered her days uncomfortable and her nights 
sleepless. The long distance signalling indulged in by tugs on their way up and 
down the river, their shrieking sirens, even when two miles away from the 
pier, became insufferable. At one time Mrs. Rice planned to sell her house and 
move to a quieter neighborhood, but learning that the inmates of the hospitals 
along the East River were sufferers from these same river noises and that no 
attempt had been made to obtain relief for them, she then determined to devote 
herself to this work. She had hitherto been unaccustomed to any public effort, 
having lived a quiet, domestic, home life. To convince the most sceptical of the 
extent of the nuisance, Mrs. Rice had careful records made on various nights of the 
number and duration of the whistle blasts, engaging for this purpose law students 
from the Columbia University, their reports being duly attested. From these it 
was learned that almost three thousand blasts could be noted in one locality during 
a period of eight hours, from ten p. m. to six a. m. She recognized the fact that 
this whistling was not called for either by statute or emergency requirements and 
that it could be dispensed with by having watchmen on their piers and by a system 
of like signals. She contended, furthermore, that this unnecessary whistling was 
not only a general public nuisance, but a grave menace to health ; that it was also 
a detriment to navigation, because it covered or rendered difficult to distinguish, 
those signals which were necessary or demanded by law, from the unnecessary and 
that in justice to all they ought to be immediately suppressed. She gathered data 
from all of the municipal institutions exposed to noise and from every one came 
the plea for relief. All of this testimony was corroborated by the most eminent 
physicians in New York. She appealed to the municipal and state authorities, but 
in vain, as they contended that it was a local nuisance on a federal waterway, and 
therefore, the municipal authorities had no right to act. Therefore, it was stated 
there was nobody in the United States who had the right to regulate the size of a 
boat whistle or to forbid useless handling of the same. After a year's constant 
effort Congressman Bennett succeeded in having a law passed through Congress, 
giving authority to the Board of Supervising Inspectors to punish unnecessary 
whistling. Mrs. Rice then decided to organize a society composed of representa- 
tive men in the various cities of the United States to abate one of the gravest 
ills of city life — unnecessary noise. She has succeeded in interesting in this work 



Women Reformers 603 

Archbishop Farley, Bishop Greer, the commissioner of health, the president of the 
Academy of Medicine, the president of Columbia University, the College of the 
city of New York and the New York University, the late Richard Watson Gilder 
and the late Mark Twain and William Dean Howells, and many other distinguished 
physicians, educators and public men. Europe has also taken up the work in the 
most encouraging manner. Germany, Austria, Holland, Denmark, Sweden and 
England now have organizations, and the appeal of this society in many of the 
cities has brought about the granting of "quiet zones" around city hospitals. Mrs. 
Rice has organized also a children's society, in which Mark Twain took a great 
interest and was at the time of his death its president. The latest phase of Mrs. 
Rice's work is to form a national committee of the governors of all the states in 
order to make this movement country-wide. This work and great movement insti- 
gated by the persistency and perseverence of one woman entirely unaided is acknowl- 
edged to be one of the most revolutionizing reforms of the century, and Mrs. Rice's 
courageous perseverence and ceaseless efforts denote a character worthy of the 
widest emulation. Mrs. Rice is a refined, cultured woman, an accomplished musician 
and linguist and occupies a high social position in the city of New York. She is 
a woman of literary ability and has contributed to many of the leading magazines. 

MARY VAN KLEECK. 

Miss Van Kleeck is a social reformer and economic worker. Secretary of 
committee on women's work of the Russell Sage Foundation. Miss Van Kleeck 
was born June 26, 1883, in Glenham, New York. She is the daughter of Eliza 
Mayer, whose father, Charles F. Mayer, was a prominent lawyer of Baltimore, 
Maryland. Her father was the Rev. Robert Boyd Van Kleeck, of Fishkill-on-the- 
Hudson, New York. She graduated from Smith College in 1904, and since then has 
been engaged in social work, holding the following positions : During the summer 
of 1904, secretary, Sea Breeze, the fresh air home of the New York Association 
for Improving the Condition of the Poor; from 1905 to 1907 she was holder of 
the joint fellowship of the Smith College Alumnae Association and the College Set- 
tlements Association, during which time the subjects of investigation were overtime 
work of girls in factories and child labor in the New York City tenements. The 
results of the first investigation were published in Charities and the Commons, 
October 6, 1906, and the report of the second appeared in Charities and the Com- 
mons, January 18, 1908. From 1907 to 1909 Miss Van Kleeck was industrial secre- 
tary of the Alliance Employment Bureau in charge of the investigations of women's 
work. In 1909 she was secretary of the committee on women's work of the Rus- 
sell Sage Foundation, continuing the investigations begun at the Alliance Employ- 
ment Bureau and undertaking others. The subjects of investigation have been 
women's work in the bookbinding trade in New York, makers of artificial flowers, 
and working girls in public evening schools in New York. Miss Van Kleeck has 
also supervised an investigation of the working girls in the millinery trade carried 
on by Miss Alice P. Barrows, a member of the same staff. 



604 Part Taken by Women in American History 



ELSA DENISON. 

Miss Denison was born May 17, 1889, in Denver, Colorado. She is the 
daughter of Dr. Denison and granddaughter of Henry Strong, of Chicago, the well- 
known philanthropist. She was graduated in Bryn Mawr in June, 1910, and imme- 
diately volunteered as a worker in the New York Bureau of Municipal Research 
and has spent all her time in that important work since her graduation. This one 
of the most important progressive movements was started in New York by an 
organization to be known as the New York Bureau of Municipal Research, whose 
object is an investigation as to the benefit derived from the co-operation of educa- 
tional associations, women's clubs, boards of trade, and charities with the public 
schools in the matters of medical and dental examinations, school nurses, sanitary 
improvements, new buildings, recreation and playgrounds, decorations, industrial 
training, kindergartens, changes in school laws, relief of the needy, instructions in 
civics and many other things which will be conducive to the welfare of the children 
destined to be the men and women of the near future. In reply to their circulars 
begging for information the bureau has had many interested responses and volun- 
teer workers. Miss Denison, though but twenty-two years of age, has been one 
of the most effective workers under the bureau and will make a report in September 
that will be valuable to the bureau in forming plans for further activities. Miss 
Denison chose the problem of "Civic Co-operation with the Public Schools," because 
of her patriotic conviction that "upon the wise education of the child to-day depends 
the efficiency of the citizen of to-morrow." To have that education the best, every 
citizen must take an active interest in the schools of his community. 

MRS. CHARLES S. THAYER. 

Mrs. Thayer is the present head of the college settlement in New York. 
Before her marriage, in 1904, she was Miss Mary Appleton Shute. Mrs. Thayer is 
a graduate of Smith College. 

Among other women prominently connected with settlement work and social 
investigation may be mentioned Mrs. C. B. Spahr, of Princeton, New Jersey; Miss 
Jean Gurney Fine, Miss Elizabeth Williams, Miss Maud Miner and Miss Mary B. 
Sayles, who are all graduates of Smith College. Other Smith women who are 
prominent in literature are Miss Anna Hempstead Branch, Miss Fannie Harding 
Eckstorm, Miss Olivia Howard Dunbar, Miss Zephine Humphrey, Miss Anna Chapin 
Ray, Miss Ella Burns Sherman and Miss Fannie Stearns Davis. 



Catholic Women in America. 



The Founding of the Georgetown Convent, the 

Oldest School for Girls in America. 

The foundress of the Georgetown Convent, Georgetown, 
D. C., the first Visitation house in America, was Miss Alice 
Lalor, known later in religion as Mother Teresa. She was born 
in Queen's County, Ireland, but her parents removed to 
Kilkenny where her childhood and early youth were spent. 
Her tender piety and bright and charitable character won the 
affection and regard of every one around her, and especially 
of her pastor, Father Carroll. When at the age of seventeen 
she received the sacrament of confirmation from Bishop 
Lanigan, he was attracted also by her modesty, and having 
instituted with Father Carroll a confraternity of the Blessed 
Sacrament at Kilkenny, he named Alice Lalor as its first 
president or prefect. She soon resolved to consecrate herself 
to God, and was permitted to make the vow of virginity, 
although complete renunciation of the world could not be made 
because there was no convent in the neighborhood. One of Alice 
Lalor's sisters married an American merchant, Mr. Doran, who 
was desirous that his wife should have the companionship of 
Alice in her new transatlantic home for a while. Alice, now 
thirty-one years of age, agreed to go with them, but promised 
Bishop Lanigan that she would return in two years to aid in 
forming the religious community so long contemplated. She 
sailed from Ireland with her sister in the winter of 1794. 
Among the passengers on the sailing vessel were Mrs. McDer- 

(605) 



606 Part Taken by Women in American History 

mott and Mrs. Sharpe, both widows. During the long voyage, 
they formed an intimate friendship with Alice and expressed the 
desire which they had long felt to enter the cloistered life and 
agreed that when they landed they would go to confession and 
communion and take the priest, whomsoever might be their 
confessor, as their spiritual director. They landed in Philadel- 
phia, and the priest whom they found and accepted as their 
director was, happily, Father Neale. These three devout women 
brought so unexpectedly to his feet from beyond the sea were 
the women destined to co-operate with him in founding the 
community of his vision which he had never ceased to hope 
that he might realize. Although Alice Lalor felt bound by 
her promise to return to Ireland, Father Neale saw the greater 
service she could render to religion in America and offered to 
release her from her promise to return to her native land. 
Miss Lalor, Mrs. McDermott and Mrs. Sharpe settled in 
Philadelphia, hired a house and lived in community. Mrs. 
Sharpe had her daughter with her, a child of eight years. 
Suddenly the yellow fever broke out and Father Neale narrowly 
escaped death. Alice Lalor and her companions remained per- 
sistently in the path of danger, ministering to the pest-stricken 
people. In the winter of 1798-99, Father Neale was ordered to 
Georgetown as president of the Jesuit College. He sent for 
the three devoted religious converts and domiciled them for a. 
time with three Poor Clares, who being driven from France to 
this country by the Revolution of 1793 had set up a little convent 
not far from the college. The Poor Clares attempted to keep 
a school as a means of support, but their poverty was so extreme 
and their life so rigorous that not many scholars applied. 
These women, poor and barefooted according to their rules, 
came of noble blood and had been born and reared to luxury. 
Alice Lalor and her two friends boarded and taught in this 
convent, but it soon became apparent that the austere rule of St. 



Catholic Women in America 607 

Clare differed widely from that they wished to adopt, and was 
uncongenial to the times and needs of the locality. Father 
Neale, therefore, bought a house and land nearby and installed 
them in it. Thus was begun by these three ladies an establish- 
ment and school which has become famous in America and 
from which many of her most noted women have graduated. In 
1800 Father Neale was consecrated Coadjutor to Archbishop 
Carroll and continued as president of the Georgetown College. 
It is not known when Bishop Neale decided to place these 
devoted women under visitation rules. This little group 
increased to five members all of whom were known round 
about as "The Pious Ladies," their only appellation for many 
years. Mrs. Sharpe who was known as Sister Ignatia, their 
principal teacher, after a sudden illness died. In 1804 the Poor 
Clares returned to France, and Mother Teresa (Alice Lalor) 
was able to buy the house and land which the Poor Clares 
had occupied. In 1808, Bishop Neale's term as president of the 
college ended and he took a dwelling close to the convent, which 
made it possible for him to supervise closely these new 
daughters of a still unformed community, whom he was 
endeavoring to train for a monastic life. It is said that in 1812 
their buildings were in a state of total disrepair, the monastery 
a forlorn-looking house containing six rooms, and in 181 1, it 
is said, Sister Margaret Marshall "succeeded by her energy 
and the toil of her own hands in lathing and plastering the 
assembly room." There remains scarcely a vestige of these 
primitive structures to-day. For a while this was the only 
Catholic institution of the kind in the United States where 
the daughters of Catholics might become well grounded in the 
principles of their religion. The first nine years only four 
members joined "The Pious Ladies," these were : Sister Aloy- 
sia Neale, Sister Stanislaus Fenwick, and Sister Magdalene 
Neale, and a lay sister, Mary. In 1808 Miss Catherine Ann 



608 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Ridgen joined the order and was chosen as Mother Teresa's 
successor. The mother house at Annecy had been suppressed 
during the French Revolution, and was not restored until 1822. 
The other houses in Europe were unwilling to send a copy of 
the constitutions to Georgetown, because this community had 
not been founded in the usual way by professed members of 
the order. The whole undertaking, in short, was looked upon as 
irregular, and it was believed that Rome would never approve 
of Bishop Neale's little community. Although schools were 
opened by Mrs. Seton in Baltimore and one at Emmitsburg 
Bishop Neale would not consent to abandon his scheme. A 
rich lady living in Baltimore, who had been educated with the 
Ursuline nuns in Ireland, heard of the embarrassments at 
Georgetown, and offered her means and influence to the Arch- 
bishop for the benefit of "The Pious Ladies," if they would 
consent to transform their house into an Ursuline convent. 
These plans were laid before Bishop Neale, who politely and 
respectfully thanked this generous and excellent lady for her 
liberality, but stated he would never consent to the proposed 
change. The Archbishop, seeing how invincible was Bishop 
Neale's purpose to continue on the lines he had already laid 
down, told the good Bishop that he would give him power to do 
what he could, but he must expect no help from him. One day 
in examining the books which they found in the little library 
purchased from the Poor Clares, they found on the title page 
of one of the books the name of St. Francis de Sales and the 
word "Visitation." This volume, on examination, proved to 
contain the rules of the Visitation Order, which they had 
sought so long and so ardently prayed for. This is believed 
to have been in about 1809 or 18 10, or perhaps a little later. 
And now, having the rules of the Order, they had but to 
decide upon their dress. Bishop Neale decided to let them wear 
the Teresian costume, and wrote to his brother Charles, at 



Catholic Women in America 609 

Port Tobacco to send him a model of it from the convent there. 
A large doll, fully dressed in the habit of the Order, was for- 
warded to the Bishop. This convent at Port Tobacco was a 
Carmelite house, so while the costume adopted provisionally 
at this time was Carmelite, it was changed by the Bishop; the 
white bandeau of the Teresian Carmelites was replaced with 
the black, and in this respect, at least, the Georgetown sisters 
were able to conform to Visitation requirements. Having 
gained this much, the Bishop, undismayed by those doubts and 
tremors which beset even some of his loyal co-workers, resolved 
to admit the sisters to simple vows. This was done on the feast 
of St. Francis de Sales, January 29, 1814. The secluded life 
of this community, with its constant, patient, obscure struggles 
and peaceful joys, was threatened with destruction by the war 
of 1 8 12 and in 1814, when a formidable movement was begun 
against the Capital city by Cockburn and General Ross, and the 
battle of Bladensburg was fought. The sisters were greatly 
alarmed by the rapid advance of the enemy and the burning of 
the Capitol, which they witnessed from the upper windows of 
their monastery. They, however, were spared. In 181 5 Arch- 
bishop Carrol died at the age of eighty years, and Bishop Neale 
succeeded him in his high office, becoming the Archbishop of 
Baltimore. The Archbishop received authority for the admis- 
sion of his beloved sisters to solemn vows, and the date he fixed 
upon was the Feast of Holy Innocents, December 28, which 
was the one hundred and ninety-fourth anniversary of the 
death of St. Francis de Sales. The three who were chosen for 
admission first were the oldest members, Alice Lalor, Mrs. 
McDermott, and Henrietta Brent, who were known, the first 
as Sister Teresa, Sister Frances, and Sister Agnes, Sister 
Teresa (Alice Lalor) was appointed Superior; Sister Frances 
(Mrs. McDermott), the second assistant, and Sister Agnes 
(Henrietta Brent) Mistress of Novices. 
39 



610 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Bishop Neale said in establishing the school that it was 
founded "to teach the female youth of America," and truly did 
he prophecy and plan, for hither came the best of the "female 
youth of America" for many years, and to-day some of our 
most distinguished women claim the Georgetown Convent of 
Visitation as their Alma Mater. 

In the period just before the war-days, there came to the 
academy the two daughters of Senator Ewing, of Ohio (the 
first secretary of the Department of the Interior). One of them, 
Ellen Ewing, afterwards married General William Tecumseh 
Sherman. Here also was educated Harriet Lane Johnston, 
niece of President Buchanan, who gained social distinction at 
the Court of St. James while her uncle was United States Min- 
ister there, and afterwards gracefully conducted for him the 
social functions of the executive mansion, as one of the most 
charming in all the line of "ladies of the White House." 
Another graduate, famous for her exceptional beauty, as well 
as for her social leadership in Washington, was Adelaide Cutts, 
who married Stephen A. Douglas, the brilliant rival of Abraham 
Lincoln for presidential honors. Mrs. Douglas long after her 
first husband's death, became the wife of General Robert Wil- 
liams, United States Army. 

General Joseph E. Johnston, eminent afterwards among 
Confederate military chieftains, found his wife in a Visitation 
graduate, Miss McLain, a daughter of Secretary McLain. 
Another pupil, Teresa Doyle, married Senator Casserly; and 
Miss Deslonde, of Louisiana, who studied here, became Mrs. 
General Beauregard. The following account of the students 
of the institution is compiled from "A Story of Courage ; Annals 
of the Georgetown Convent of the Visitation of the Blessed 
Virgin Mary." 

"Among others who graduated before the war were 
Marion Ramsay, who became Mrs. Cutting, of New York ; the 



Catholic Women in America 6ii 

daughters of Judge Gaston, of North Carolina; the daughters 
of Commodore Rogers ; Eliza and Isabella Walsh, the daughters 
of the United States Minister to Spain ; Minnie Meade, a sister 
of General Meade, who became the wife of General Hartman 
Bache, United States Army; Albina Montholon, daughter of 
the French Minister and granddaughter of General Gratiot, 
United States Army; Kate Duncan, of Alabama, who married 
Dr. Emmet, of New York; the daughters of Commodore Cas- 
sin; the Bronaugh sisters, one of whom married Admiral 
Taylor ; the Carroll sisters, one of whom became the Baroness 
Esterhazy, of Austria ; the daughters of Senator Stephen Mal- 
lory, of Florida; the daughter of Senator Nicholson, of 
Tennessee, afterwards Mrs. Martin, who became principal of 
a leading seminary in the South ; Katie Irving, a grandniece of 
Washington Irving; the daughters of Major Turnbull; Mary 
Maguire, who became the wife of General Eugene Carr. Of 
the daughters of Mrs. Bass, of Mississippi, afterwards wife of 
the Italian Minister, Bertinatti, one married a foreign noble- 
man. Madeleine Vinton became the wife of Admiral Dahlgren ; 
Emily Warren became Mrs. Roebling, the wife of the builder 
of the Brooklyn bridge, who herself completed the great work 
when her husband had been stricken with illness. Nancy Lucas, 
who married Doctor Johnson, of St. Louis, sent five daughters 
to the convent, as did also Major Turner. General Frost sent 
five representatives, one of whom married Philip Beresford 
Hope, son of the distinguished member of Parliament. Adele 
Sarpy, who became Mrs. Don Morrison, a pupil herself, later 
on sent her three daughters. Ellen Sherman Thackara and 
Rachel Sherman Thorndyke, daughters of General Sherman, 
followed in their mother's footsteps at Georgetown. Myra 
Knox became Mrs. Thomas J. Semmes, of New Orleans. Ada 
Semmes, who married Richard Clarke, the historian, with her 
sisters, one of whom was Mrs. Ives were also pupils here. 



612 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Among other leading Southern families represented at the 
school at this time were the Floyds of Virginia and the 
Stephenses of Georgia. 

"Of those who have graduated since the war are: Bertha 
and Ida Honore; the former Mrs. Potter Palmer, who was 
brought prominently before the country as the president of the 
Board of Lady Managers of the World's Columbian Exposition. 
Her sister became the wife of General Frederick D. Grant, for- 
merly United States Minister to Austria, now a general in the 
United States Army. Blanche Butler, the daughter of General 
Benjamin F. Butler, became the wife of Governor Ames, of 
Mississippi, and Mary Goodell married Governor Grant, of 
Colorado. Harriet Monroe, of Chicago, who wrote the ode 
for the Columbian World's Fair, graduated in 1879, having for 
her classmates Adele Morrison, of St. Louis, now Mrs. Albert 
T. Kelly, of New York; Ella Whitthorne, of Tennessee, now 
Mrs. Alexander Harvey, of Baltimore, and Miss Newcomer, 
of Baltimore who, as Mrs. H. B. Gilpin, annually presents a 
medal for music to the school. Mary Saunders, the daughter 
of ex-Senator Saunders, of Nebraska, as the wife of Russell 
Harrison, the ex-President's son, graced the White House by 
her presence during Benjamin Harrison's administration. 
Mary Logan Tucker, the daughter of the soldier and states- 
man, General John A. Logan, now wields as a journalist a 
pen as trenchant as was her father's sword. 

"The portraits of Emma Etheridge, of Tennessee, the 
daughter of Honorable Emerson Etheridge, and Josephine 
Dickson, of Missouri, which adorn the walls of the convent 
parlor, are those of two young ladies noted for their beauty. 
The former is now Mrs. John V. Moran, of Detroit, and the 
latter Mrs. Julius Walsh, of St. Louis; Estelle Dickson studied 
art in Paris. 

"Among other pupils were Pearl Tyler, daughter of 



Catholic Women in America 613 

President Tyler; Gertrude and Jessie Alcorn, the daughters of 
Senator Alcorn, of Mississippi; Romaine Goddard, daughter 
of Mrs. Dahlgren, who became the Countess von Overbeck; 
Irene Rucker, who become the wife of General Philip H. Sheri- 
dan; Constance Edgar, now the Countess Moltke Huitfeldt, 
daughter of Madam Bonaparte and granddaughter of Daniel 
Webster; Mary Wilcox, granddaughter by adoption of General 
Andrew Jackson. Ethel Ingalls, daughter of ex-Senator 
Ingalls, has reflected credit on the academy by her literary 
work; her younger sister, Constance, followed her at the school, 
together with Anna Randall Lancaster, and her sister Susie, 
daughters of the late Samuel J. Randall; the five daughters of 
the late A. S. Abell, of Baltimore, and Jennie Walters, daughter 
of W. T. Walters of the same city. 

"Miss Early and Miss Ould were two gifted Southern 
ladies who are remembered at the school. Miss E. M. Dorsey, 
also, a bright and winning story-writer, whose 'Midshipman 
Bob' is well and favorably known to young readers, is one of 
the later graduates." 

Even this partial list of some among those who have 
received their training at Georgetown Convent in knowledge, 
morals, manners and the conduct of life, is at first rather 
surprising by reason of the high rank and average of the 
women educated here. Yet on second and deeper thought it 
will appear to be only a reasonable result of so much patient 
labor, lofty endeavor, unselfish effort, and devout studiousness, 
offered day by day for a century, with no other thought than that 
of contributing to the glory of God and the blessing of the 
human race, in whole and in particular. 

The annals of this illustrious institution, which celebrated 
its Centennial in 1899, must, we think, place one fact very clearly 
before the minds of all thoughtful and observant readers, and 
that is, the marked degree of individuality characterizing the 



614 Part Taken by Women in American History 

members of such a body as the Georgetown Convent of the 
Visitation. 

This we trust has been demonstrated by such definite 
examples as the steadfast endurance and guiding hope of 
Mother Teresa Lalor; the virgin self-reliance and bravery of 
Sister Margaret Marshall; the firm executive quality of Mother 
Agnes Brent and other Superiors; the gentle, tactful rule of 
Mother Juliana Matthews ; the vivacious and exquisitely trust- 
ful, spiritualized personality of "Sister Stanny" (Sister Stanis- 
laus) who was the daughter of Commodore Jacob Jones, United 
States Navy, who captured the British war-sloop "Frolic," for 
which act he received the thanks of Congress, a reward of 
$25,000.00 and a gold medal; the enthusiasm for astronomical 
study of Sister Genevieve White, who was a sister of the late 
Judge White, of New York, and niece of Gerald Griffin, the 
famous Irish poet, and her sister, dear Sister Teresa, in the 
midst of bodily suffering; the grand, sturdy serviceableness of 
Sister Joseph Keating, who was of noble French descent; the 
delicate, skillful housekeeping and responsive charity of Mother 
Angela Harrison, or the perfect meekness of Sister Mary 
Emmanuel Scott, daughter of General Winfield Scott; Sister 
Bernard Graham, daughter of Honorable George Graham, who 
was a very remarkable business woman ; Sister Eulalia Pearce ; 
Sister Mary Austin, who was a wife and the mother of five 
children when she presented herself for her vows in the Order. 
She was received and became a nun — her husband a Jesuit 
priest — and two of her children were brought up by the mother 
of Father Fenwick and three by the Sisters of the Convent in 
which she was a nun. Among those of later date who are 
affectionately remembered by the present generation of 
graduates and scholars are : Sister Mary Loretto King, long the 
able directress of the school and a woman of wonderful execu- 
tive ability, strength of character and mental qualities possessed 



Catholic Women in America 615 



by few of her sex; Sister Paulina Willard; Sister Loyola 
Leocadia, a gifted woman and to whom we are indebted for the 
collecting and preparation of the Annals of the Convent, now 
in book form. Sister, now Mother Fidelis, is the last of that 
type of women noted for their great executive and mental 
strength which have put their stamp on the women they sent 
out into the world to become forces in the progress of their sex, 
going on in America to-day; Sister Benedicto, with her gentle 
spirit and marked artistic talents, has developed the talents of 
those of the students who came within her care, among whom 
many are to-day well known in the world of art and owe to her 
their first creditable work. It might be mentioned that Madame 
Yturbide found a refuge in this Convent after the tragic death 
of her husband, the self-proclaimed president of Mexico, who 
was shot on his return from exile. She wore the garb of a 
nun and her daughter became a novice and is buried with the 
sisters here. These are but a few, among the larger few, whom 
we have sketched in this book, and all, taken together, are only 
instances of the traits and capacities of numberless other sisters. 
They show that not only may there be pronounced individuality 
among the members of a religious order, but also a wide variety 
of development, under the uniform garb and the equal sub- 
mission to a common rule and discipline. 

The alumnae of the Georgetown Convent of Visitation was 
organized by Mary Logan Tucker, daughter of General John 
A. Logan, a graduate of the Georgetown Convent of Visitation, 
who was elected its first president, March 3, 1893. 

Prominent Catholic Women in America. 

Mrs. Frances Tiernan, novelist, whose pen name is "Christian Reid," was a 
daughter of Colonel Charles F. Fisher of the Confederate Army. Her girlhood 
home was in Salisbury, North Carolina, to which she returned on the death 
of her husband, James M. Tiernan, of Maryland. Among the thirty or more 
stories which have made famous her pen name "Christian Reid," are "A Daughter 



616 Part Taken by Women in American History 



of Bohemia," "Valerie Aylmar," "Morton House," "Heart of Steel," "Cast for 
Fortune," and "A Little Maid of Arcady." Mrs. Tiernan has received a Laetare 
medal from Notre Dame University, Indiana. 

Miss Grace Charlotte Mary Regina Strachan, educator, social worker and 
writer, is the daughter of Thomas F. Strachan, a Scotch Presbyterian, but 
entered the Catholic church, of which her mother was a devoted member. She was 
educated in Buffalo, New York, first, at Saint Bridget's and later at the Buffalo State 
Normal School and she has taken several New York University extension courses. 
Since 1900 she has been superintendent of the public schools of New York, and is 
well known for her philanthropic work in the Young Women's Catholic Association 
of Brooklyn, where she has taught free classes. Miss Strachan has also been 
most active in promoting the cause of equal pay for equal work and is interested 
in all Catholic charities. She has contributed several articles and stories to the 
Delineator and has traveled in this country and abroad, having been granted an 
audience with Pope Pius X. She fs president of the Interborough Association of 
Women Teachers and a member of many other organizations. 

Georginia Pell Curtis was born in New York City, February 19, 1859, and 
although of Protestant parentage and educated at a Protestant school she was 
afterwards converted to the Roman Catholic Church, and has since been a constant 
and brilliant contributor to all the publications devoted to the interests of that 
church. Her writings have appeared in the Ave Maria, the Catholic World, the 
Messenger, the Magnificat, the Messenger of the Sacred Heart, Donahoe's, the 
Rosary, and the Pilgrim. She is also the editor of "Some Roads to Rome in 
America," and the "American Catholic Who's Who." She comes justly by her 
ready, facile mental qualities and her ability for logical work, coming from 
distinguished ancestry along Colonial and Dutch lines; on the maternal side Miss 
Curtis is a granddaughter of Thomas Hill, known on the stage as Thomas Hill- 
son, an English actor of the old Park Theatre, New York, who numbered among his 
intimate friends, Junius Brutus Booth, John William Wallack, and Washington 
Irving. Other lineal ancestors of whom Miss Curtis is justly proud were Peter 
Vandewaker, keeper of the city gate at the foot of Wall Street, New York, in the 
eighteenth century, and Jacobus Vandewaker, mayor of New Amsterdam, in 1673. 
Mrs. Edwin F. Abell, daughter of the late Frank Laurenson, a noted merchant 
of Baltimore. She married the late Edwin F. Abell, son of Arunah S. Abell, 
founder of the Baltimore Sun. Mr. Abell, succeeded his father as editor of 
the Sun, and under this guidance it remained as it had always been one of the most 
efficient and influential journals in the United States, and in its columns all affairs 
of interest and benefit to the Catholic Church in America have always been given 
just and dignified treatment. 

Madam Marie Louise Alband, was born at Chambly, near Montreal, in 
1852, and was the daughter of Joseph Lajeunesse, a musician. Musical ability 
was early evidenced in the daughter and at the age of fifteen she had finished her 
education at the Sacred Heart Convent in Albany, New York, and had become 
organist at the Church of the Sacred Heart in New York City. Later she 
studied in Paris and Milan under distinguished musicians, eventually making her 
debut in Messina, in 1870. Her success, which established her as a famous singer, 



Catholic Women in America 617 

was achieved in the Royal Italian Opera in London, in 1870. Since then her 
voice has been heard in opera and sacred music by great audiences in America 
and England. 

MOTHER O. C. D. AUGUSTINE. 

She was the daughter of the late Samuel Tuckerman. She entered the 
Religious Order of the Carmelites, in Baltimore, in 1893, and for three years 
was Superior of the Carmelite Monastery, in Roxbury, Boston, having been one 
of the founders of this order. In 1908 a branch of the order was established in 
San Francisco on the estate of Robert Louis Stevenson, and Mother Augustine 
was placed in charge, where she has remained ever since. 

LAURA ELIZABETH LEE BATTLE. 

Was born January 26, 1855, and is a descendant of the celebrated Lees of 
Virginia. Has been active in the work of building Catholic Churches in Michigan 
and North Carolina. 

KATE WALKER BEHAN. 

Was the daughter of William Walker, a prominent citizen of New Orleans, 
Louisiana. She married General William J. Behan. Is president of the ladies 
auxiliary of the Good Shepherd, for Magdalenes, one of the most prominent 
Catholic Societies of New Orleans; also president of the Ladies' Confederated 
Memorial Association and president of the Jefferson Davis Monument Association, 
and chairman of the civic department of the Women's League of New Orleans. 

MARY ELIZABETH THOMAS BLOW. 

Was born May 27, 1863 at Cape Elizabeth, Maine. One of her father's 
ancestors, Isaiah Thomas, was the publisher of the first Bible in New England. 
One of her mother's ancestors, General Timothy Pickering, was president of the 
war board in Revolutionary time, Secretary of State, and Postmaster-General under 
Washington. She is the wife of Major William N. Blow, 15th Infantry, United 
States Army. 

ROSALIE B. DE SOLMS BOND. 

Was the daughter of Sidney J. de Solms and Maria del Carmen de Solms. 
She was born November 26, 1843, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Is one of the 
founders of the Catholic Guild, now the Dominican House of Retreat; member 
of the association of Perpetual Adoration and Work for Poor Churches, and 
other societies. The de Solms family is one of the most distinguished Catholic 
families of Philadelphia and Mr. de Solms presented to the Cathedral, in Logan 
Square, the painting of the ''Crucifixion" which is over the main altar. 

JOSEPHINE HALE BOYLE. 

Was the daughter of Joseph P. Hale, of San Francisco, California. Her 
husband enjoys the distinction of being heir-presumptive to the Earldom of Cork. 



618 Part Taken by Women in American History 



MRS. PETER ARRELL BROWNE. 

Was born April 14, 1834 and is the daughter of Thomas Parkin and 
Julianna M. Scott, of Baltimore. In i860 she married P. A. Browne, Jr., who was 
the son of Peter Arrell and Harriet Harper Browne, of Philadelphia, and in 
1861 they removed to Baltimore. Mr. Browne was a prominent lawyer of Mary- 
land and auditor of the Superior Court, of Baltimore. Mrs. Browne's father was 
also a distinguished lawyer being chief judge of the Supreme Bench of Baltimore 
City, and a member of the Maryland legislature in 1861, and with others was 
imprisoned for refusing to take the oath of allegiance to the United States. 

ANNA ELIZABETH BRYAN. 

Was one of the most prominent women of the South, being the daughter 
of the late Admiral Raphael Semmes. Is prominent in Catholic charitable work of 
her home city, Memphis, Tennessee. 

EMMA WESTCOTT BULLOCK. 

Is the widow of Jonathan Russell Bullock, who was formerly judge of the 
United States District Court of Rhode Island She is a member of the national 
patriotic societies of the country, The Colonial Dames, Descendants of Colonial 
Governors, Society of the Mayflower, etc.; hereditary life member of the National 
Mary Washington Memorial Association. 

SUZANNE BANCROFT CARROLL. 

Is a graddaughter of Honorable George Bancroft, the historian of the 
United States. Her husband is the son of John Lee Carroll, of Ellicott City, 
Maryland. The family emigrated to Maryland, in 1688, and have been conspicuous 
in the history of the United States. One of his ancestors, Charles Carroll, of 
Carrollton, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He took a prominent 
part in the Independence Movement and was a member of the Convention of 
Maryland chosen to frame the constitution; also a member of the first Congress of 
the United States in 1777, and of the board of war, and a senator from Maryland. 
Mrs. Carroll lives in Paris, France. 

MOTHER PRAXEDES CARTY, (SUSAN CARTY). 

Was born at Rawnsboy, County Cavan, Ireland, and entered into the 
novitiate of the Loretta Sisters in 1874. She was Superior of the convent in 
Bernalillo, New Mexico; also Las Cruces, New Mexico; Florissant, Missouri, and 
Loretta Heights, near Denver. In 1896 she became Mother Superior of the whole 
order of the Society of the Sisters of Loretta at Loretta, Kentucky. She has made 
several trips to Rome in the interests of this order and was elected Mother- 
General in 1904. The order is now known as the Sisters of Loretta at the Foot of 
the Cross, and her title is Superior-General of this order. 



Catholic Women in America 619 



MARGARET ELIZABETH CASEY. 

Was born December, 1874, in Beatrice, Nebraska. Active in the ladies' 
auxiliary, Ancient Order of Hibernians. Was secretary in 1900 of the law class of 
the Kansas State University. 

MRS. JAMES BLANCHARD CLEWS. 

Is the granddaughter of the late Honorable Charles Nichols, at one time 
minister to The Hague. Her husband, J. B. Clews, is a nephew of Henry Clews of 
the firm of Henry Clews and Company, bankers of New York City. She is active, 
and has been for several years, in all Catholic charitable work. 

ZOE DESLOGE COBB. 

Was born in Potosi, Missouri, December 18, 1850. Is president of the 
Children of Mary, Sacred Heart Convent, and also president of the ladies' 
auxiliary, St. Louis Obstetrical Dispensary. 

EDYTHE PATTEN CORBIN. 

Mrs. Corbin, the wife of General Henry C. Corbin, United States Army, was 
one of the most prominent social leaders of Washington before her husband's 
death, and by her kindliness, charm, and practical sense endeared herself to the 
army. She is the daughter of Edmund and Anna Statia Patten, of California, 
who were pioneers of the Pacific coast, and belonged to that circle of early 
settlers the Mackays, Fairs, and Crockers, who made their fortunes in the gold 
fields of that state. Mrs. Corbin and her sisters were educated in a convent in 
Paris. She is a most accomplished conversationalist, speaking French, German, 
and Italian fluently, and is to-day one of the charming women of Washington, D. C. 

ANNA McLANE CROPPER. 

Was born March 11, 1859, m Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Is the daughter 
of Allen and Ariadne Knight McLane. Her family were prominent in the army, 
navy, and diplomatic service of the United States. Her father's father, Louis 
McLane, was a member of Congress, Senator, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary 
of State under General Jackson, and Minister to England. Her own father was 
a graduate of the Naval Academy, but resigned in 1850, and was for many 
years president of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company. She is prominent in 
the Society of Colonial Dames. 

MOTHER ANTONINA O. S. D. FISCHER. 

Before entering sacred order her name was Mary Ann Fischer, and she 
was born in Bavaria, Germany, November 22, 1849. Is the daughter of John and 



620 Part Taken by Women in American History 



Mary Ann Fischer. She was a member of the Dominican Order for thirty-four 
years. In 1902 she went with seven Sisters to Great Bend, Kansas, and founded 
the Mother House and novitiate of the Sisters of St. Dominic. 

STELLA M. HAMILTON. 

Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles W. Hamilton, and was born in Omaha. 
Is prominent in social work of that city, and active member of the Christ Child 
Society. 

JULIA CARLIN HARDIN. 

Was born in Carrollton, Green County, Illinois. Her ancestors were 
prominent among the early settlers of Illinois. She married John A. Hardin, 
of Louisville, Kentucky, who died in 1884. 

MRS. FRANCIS T. HOMER. 

Is the daughter of George W. and Jennie Webb Abell, and granddaughter 
of A. S. Abell, the well-known founder of the Baltimore Sun. In 1902 she married 
Francis T. Homer, of Baltimore. 

LOUISE FRANCES HUNT. 

Was born in Paris, France, in 1837. Is the daughter of John T. and 
Anne Maria Hyde Adams, and the wife of William H. Hunt, Secretary of the 
Navy under President Garfield, and Minister to Russia under President Arthur 

MRS. GEORGE MERRIAM HYDE. 

Is the daughter of the late Oliver Prince Buel, of New York, and grand- 
daughter of General Charles Macdougall. Her mother was a member of the 
well-known family of Hillhouse and of Bishop Atkinson's family. Mrs. Merriam 
is now Sister Mary of the Tabernacle. 

ELIZA LE BRUN MILLER JOYCE. 

Was born in Ohio, April 5, 1840. Her father, Thomas Miller, in that year 
came to Ohio from Bronwnsville, Pennsylvania. Her mother's (Margaret T. 
Wilson) father, Thomas Wilson, Mrs. Joyce's grandfather, was obliged to leave 
Ireland in the rebellion of 1798, forfeiting his property, which was restored to 
him forty years later. She is regent for Trinity College, Washington, D. C, 
and on the board of mangers of several charitable institutions. Active in 
organizing charitable societies in the church. 

ANNE LEARY. 

Was born in the city of New York of Irish parentage, and is a sister of 
the late Arthur Leary. She is one of the most prominent social leaders of 



Catholic Women in America 621 



New York City and Newport and much beloved for her generous charity and her 
great accomplishments. She was created a countess by Pope Leo XIII in 
recognition of her services to the church. She spends much of her time abroad. 

ADELE LE BRUN. 

Was the daughter of Napoleon Le Brun, of New York, the well-known 
architect. She was instrumental and conspicuous in bringing to this country the 
Society of the Helpers of the Holy Souls, which had been founded in France by 
Mere Marie de la Providence. The house for this order was opened in May, 1892, 
and she has made the extension and the furtherance of the good works of this 
order her life work. 

MARGARET McCABE. 

Was born in 1846 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded the Sacred Heart Home for 
Working Girls and the Boys' Home in Cincinnati, and prominent in the building 
of the Church of the Sacred Heart of that city. 

MARCHIONESS SARA McLAUGHLIN. 

Created a marchioness by Pope Pius X in 1908, in recognition of her bene- 
factions in the interest of religion. She is the widow of the late political leader, 
Hugh McLaughlin. 

MOTHER EUTROPIA McMAHON. 

Superior of the Sisters of Charity, of Nazareth, Kentucky, to which she was 
elected in 1909, having been previously Superior of the Presentation Academy at 
Louisville. 

SISTER JOSEPHINE O. S. D. MEAGHER. 

Was born in 1841 in County Tipperary, Ireland, and emigrated to this 
country in 1852. She and her sister both entered the order of St. Dominic at 
Springfield, Illinois. In 1873 Sister Josephine was placed in charge of a little 
band of religious people and sent to Jacksonville, Illinois, to establish an independent 
community, over which she presided for fifteen years. In 1908 they celebrated 
the fiftieth anniversary of her entrance into religious life. 

REBECCA NEWELL MORISON. 

Was born in Rhode Island, and is the widow of H. G. O. Morison. It 
is said the "Knownothings" tried to burn the convent in New England where she 
was staying to "rescue her from the Popish Nuns." 

MARGARET O'BRIEN. 

Assistant librarian, Omaha Public Library. Is the daughter of the late 
General George Morgan O'Brien, United States Army. 



622 Part Taken by Women in American FIistory 



MARY SEMMES ORRICK. 

Is a descendant of the distinguished Admiral Raphael Senimes, U. S. N., 
and the widow of Dr. Nicholas C. Orrick, of Kenton, Massachusetts. 

MARIE MARTIN PALMS. 

Is the wife of F. L. Palms, of Detroit, Michigan, and was born in New 
Orleans, Louisiana. Is the president of the Weinman Catholic settlement. 

MRS. THEOPHILE EMILY CARLIN PAPIN. 

Was born in Carrollton, Illinois, and is the daughter of William and Mary 
Goode Carlin. In 1865 she married Theophile Papin, great-grandson of Pierre de 
Laclede Ligueste, the founder of St. Louis. Some of her ancestors left Ireland 
in the Revolution of 1798 and settled in Virginia, eventually going with a colony 
to Illinois. An uncle, Thomas Carlin, was governor of Illinois from 1838 to 1842 
and founded the town of Carrollton. Mrs. Papin is prominent as an active 
worker in the charitable work of the Catholic church in St. Louif. and in the 
social life of that city. 

KATHERINE LAUGHLIN PFOHL. 

Was born in Buffalo, New York, in 1867. Is the daughter of John M. and 
Mary A. Whalen Laughlin. Her grandfather on her mother's side was one of 
McMahon's Irish Regiment and was killed at Spottsylvania Court House. Her 
granduncle was Bishop Marrom of Kilkenny, Ireland. In 1887 she married 
George W. Pfohl, whose ancestors came to this country with Lafayette. Mrs. 
Pfohl is the director of the Working Boy's Home of the Sacred Heart; a.so St. 
Elizabeth's Hospital Association, and St. Mary's Infant Asylum. Is president 
of the O. M. I. Parish Aid Society, Holy Angels Church, and vice-president of the 
St. James Mission and of the Catholic Women's Club. 

MRS. ANDREW WELSH, SR. 

One of the generous benefactors of the Catholic Church, having given 
$100,000 to St. Ignatius College, California, and later $50,000 to Santa Clara 
College near San Francisco. 

MOTHER MARY DE SALES (WILHELMINA TREDOW). 

Was the daughter of William Tredow of Vienna, and the Princess Clemen- 
tine of Saxe-Coburg. Is the director of the Bradford Park Academy, Ursuline 
Nuns, located in Bedford Park, New York. 



Catholic Women in America 623 



ELIZABETH A. SETON. 

Founder and first Superioress of the Sisters of Charity. 
Elizabeth Ann Bayley was born in New York City, the 28th of 
August, 1774, and was the daughter of Dr. Richard Bayley, a 
distinguished American physician. Her mother died when she 
was but three years of age. Miss Bayley was brought up in 
the doctrines and practices of the Protestant Episcopal Church, 
to which her parents belonged. At the age of twenty she became 
the wife of William Seton, a merchant of New York City, whose 
early life had been spent in Leghorn. About the beginning of 
the year 1800, Mr. Seton's affairs became much embarrassed 
from the consequences of the war and other vicissitudes 
incident to trade. Mrs. Seton rose to the necessities of the 
occasion. She not only cheered him by her unfailing courage, 
but aided him in the arrangement of his affairs. Mrs. Seton 
was the mother of five children. Her influence was not only 
confined to her own family circle, but she sought wherever it 
was possible to draw the hearts of others to the consideration 
of their true welfare. So zealous was she in this respect that 
she and another relative were frequently called the Protestant 
sisters of charity. In 1801, Mrs. Seton's father, Dr. Bayley, 
died, but although her father had married a second time, Mrs. 
Seton was very devoted to him during his entire life. In 1803 
Mr. Seton's health became so precarious that they resolved 
upon visiting Italy. Owing to many calamities and a form 
of contagion and sudden illness among her children, and the 
extreme kindness and devotion of the Catholic friends of 
Mr. and Mrs. Seton, she was brought under the influence 
and lived in the atmosphere of the Roman Catholic Church, and 
ultimately she became a convert to this faith. While away she 
was in constant correspondence with Father Cheverus, and 
owing to the counsel and advice of Bishop Carroll she 



624 Part Taken by Women in American History 

ultimately, on Ash Wednesday, March 14, 1805, presented 
herself for acceptance in the Church of St. Peter's, New York 
City. She was received into the church by Rev. Matthew 
O'Brien. Mrs. Seton being anxious to exert her influence for 
the benefit of her own family and others, opened a boarding 
house for young boys who attended school in the city. May 26, 
1806, Mrs. Seton was confirmed by Bishop Carroll in the 
presence of her devoted friend, Mr. A. Filicchi, her husband's 
former friend of Leghorn. Through Mrs. Seton's zeal she 
brought her sister-in-law, Cecelia Seton, into the circle of the 
Roman rhurch and her sister Harriet joined Mrs. Seton when 
she went to Baltimore, and here she collected around her a band 
of religiously inclined young women. Mrs. Seton decided upon 
establishing an order for the care and instruction of poor 
children. Mr. Cooper, a convert and student of St. Mary's 
for the priesthood, was anxious to devote his property to the 
service of God. The clergy were consulted on this occasion 
and the city of Emmitsburg, Maryland, was fixed upon as full 
of moral and physical advantages for a religious community. 
The title of Mother had already been gladly given everywhere 
to Mrs. Seton. One lady after another came gathering about 
her in fervor and humility offering themselves as candidates 
for the new sisterhood. A conventual habit was adopted, which 
was afterwards changed to that worn by the Sisters of Charity 
and under the title of Sisters of St. Joseph, a little band was 
organized under temporary rules. At the end of July, Mother 
Seton and the whole of her community, now ten in number, 
besides her three daughters and her sister-in-law, removed to 
a little farmhouse on their own land, in St. Joseph's Valley, 
which was to be their own home. In 181 1, measures were taken 
to procure from France a copy of the regulations in use among 
the Daughters of Charity founded by St. Vincent de Paul, as 
it was intended that St. Joseph's community should model itself 



Catholic Women in America 625 

upon the same basis. All during this time, Mrs. Seton had 
continued her devotion as mother to her own children, and she 
says, in writing to a friend, "By the law of the church I so 
much love, I could never take an obligation which intertered 
with my duties to the children, except I had an independent 
provision and guardian for them, which the whole world could 
not supply to my judgment of a mother's duty." This and 
every other difficulty in the adoption of the rules was, however, 
at length arranged by the wisdom of Archbishop Carroll, and in 
January, 1812, the constitutions of the community were con- 
firmed by the Archbishop and Superioress of St. Mary's College 
in Baltimore. In 1820 Mrs. Seton's health failed, and her 
lungs became so seriously affected that medical attendance gave 
her no hope of recovery. Her death occurred January 4, 1821. 
1821. 

MARY HARDEY. 

As we trace the lineage of Mother Mary Aloysia Harley 
we turn to one of the brightest pages in the history of 
America. It records the eventful day when under the leadership 
of Leonard Calvert a company of English Catholics sailed from 
their native land to lay the foundation of civil and religious 
liberty in the new world. Among these high-souled pilgrims 
was Nicholas Hardey, a man of undaunted courage and of 
unflinching fidelity to his faith. Another, the grandfather of 
Mary Hardey, came in direct line from this loyal son of the 
mother church and was well-known in the colonial times 
throughout Maryland and Virginia. He lived near Alexandria 
and was an intimate friend of George Washington. Frederick 
William Hardey was the third son of Anthony Hardey and 
inherited the winning qualities of his father. In 1800, he 
married Sarah Spalding. The year 1803 is noted in the history 
of America as the year of the Louisiana Purchase. When this 

40 



626 Part Taken by Women in American History 

last territory came into the United States, a tide of emigration 
flowed steadily for a number of years in the direction of the 
Gulf of Mexico. Among the pioneers from Maryland was Mr. 
Charles Anthony Hardey, who fixed his residence in lower 
Louisiana. The young Republic of America after separating 
from the mother country, entered at once upon a life of intense 
energy, and the church was not the last to feel the inspiration 
of freedom. Before the close of the eighteenth century the 
orders of Carmel and the Visitation were established in the 
United States. The first decade of the nineteenth century saw 
the birth of Mother Seton's congregation in Maryland, and 
about this time two religious communities sprang up in the 
newly settled regions of the far West, the Lorettines and 
the Sisters of Nazareth in Kentucky. A little later came the 
Daughters of St. Dominic. On the Atlantic coast, the Ursulines 
had founded convents in New York and Boston. In 181 5, when 
Bishop Dobourg was appointed to the See of New Orleans, his 
first care was to provide educational advantages for the 
children of his vast diocese; hence when in Paris, he made 
application to Mother Barat for a colony of nuns. He had been 
silently preparing among the Daughters of the Sacred Heart 
an apostle for the American mission in the person of Mother 
Phillipine Duchesne. On the fifteenth of December, 1804, 
Mother Barat accompanied by three nuns arrived at Sainte 
Marie and took possession of it in the name of the Sacred 
Heart. Mine. Duchesne was anxious to undertake the work 
for the church in the new field and far ofT regions of America. 
After fourteen years of waiting, her earnest desires were 
realized. She was accompanied by Mme. Octavie Berthold, 
who was born a Calvinist, her father having been Voltaire's 
private secretary. Mme. Eugenie Audi entered the Society 
of the Sacred Heart in Paris, and offered herself for the 
mission of the Sacred Heart in America. Two lay sisters were 



Catholic Women in America 627^ 

chosen to accompany this little band of missionaries, and on the 
29th of May, the anniversary of the Feast of the Sacred Heart, 
they landed on the shores of America about sixty miles below 
New Orleans. After their arrival they determined to join the 
Ursulines in St. Louis, arriving there August 21, 1818, where 
they established a school about fifteen miles out of the city. 
The wife of Mr. Charles Smith, a relative of the Hardey 
family, who had left Maryland in 1803 to make Louisiana his 
home, built the first Catholic church in New Orleans, and one 
of their plans was the establishment of a school at Grand Cateau 
which was the home of Mary Hardey. Proposal for this 
foundation was in due time accepted by Mother Barat and the 
organization entrusted to Mme. Audi. In October, five pupils 
were received, one of whom was Mary Hardey. Here she spent 
the early years of her education, and during this time her 
thoughts were turned to a religious life which met with the 
hearty approval of her mother, but her father, while not 
approving did not oppose her in her plans, and on September 
29, 1825, she entered upon her training for religious orders, 
receiving the religious habit on the 22nd of October, 1825. 
About sixty miles from New Orleans, on the left bank of the 
Mississippi, lie the farm lands associated with the pathetic 
story of the Arcadian exiles and glorified by the charm of 
Longfellow's magical pen. These woodlands are embalmed 
with memories of the gentle Evangeline. Not far from these 
smiling scenes, in the midst of a devout Catholic population, 
the Society of the Sacred Heart founded its third convent in 
America. The Abbe Delacroix, cure of the small town of 
St. Michael, appealed to Mother Duchesne to establish a con- 
vent in his parish, and it was decided that Mother Audi was 
the only one who could carry on the work. She entered upon it 
assisted by some novices, among them being Mary Hardey, 
who was then not yet sixteen. On the 23rd of October, 1825, 



628 Part Taken by Women in American History 

they bade farewell to their relatives and friends, and on the 
20th of November, took possession of their new convent. Mine. 
Hardey profited so well by the training she received and made 
such progress in humility and self-renunciation that her period 
of noviceship was abridged, and she was admitted to her first 
vows, March, 1827. May, 1827, Mme. Matilda Hamilton, 
assistant superior of the School of St. Michael died. Like Mme. 
Hardey to whom she was related, Mme. Hamilton sprang from 
one of those English Catholic families who sought liberty on 
the shores of the Chesapeake. Her father left Maryland in 
18 10 for upper Louisiana. In those days the advantages of 
education in this part of the world were very great. After 
taking her first vows, Mme. Hamilton was sent to Cateau and 
later accompanied Mother Audi to St. Michael, where her death 
occurred. In 1832, the Convent of St. Michael counted two 
hundred inmates. In the spring of 1832, the Asiatic cholera 
appeared for the first time in America, having been carried to 
Quebec. The pestilence turned southward, advancing with 
the current of the Mississippi, along whose borders it mowed 
down thousands of victims. During the next spring the con- 
tagion swept over Louisiana, and the Convent of St. Michael 
was included in its destructive course. Mme. Audi and Mme. 
Aloysia Hardey stood valiantly by this little community and 
remained at their post of duty. After Mother Hardey's service 
as superior at this convent, she was appointed superior of the 
Convent of New York. Her work in Louisiana was the begin- 
ning of a long and eventful career in labors for the church in 
various institutions which were established throughout the 
country. She assisted in the foundation of orders in Halifax, 
Nova Scotia and Buffalo, New York. In 1846, she 
established a convent in Philadelphia. In 1847, sne purchased 
the Cowperthwaite estate, ten miles from Philadelphia, and 
established a school known as Eden Hall, and confided it to 



Catholic Women in America 629 

the care of Mother Tucker, mistress-general of Manhattanville. 
The two foundations of Halifax and Buffalo made heavy 
demands on the community of Manhattanville. Among the 
many foundations organized by Mother Hardey, there is 
probably none more interesting in history than that of Detroit. 
In 1852, Mother Hardey established a free school in New York 
City for the instruction of poor children. The Manhattanville 
School owes its establishment and organization to her. In 
1863, she began labors for the church in Cuba, establishing 
a boarding school for girls in Sancto Spiritu, Cuba. At one 
time when it was decided that Mother Hardey should leave 
Manhattanville and be succeeded by another superior this met 
with the earnest disapproval of Archbishop McCloskey, and a 
letter was received from Mother Barat at the head of the order 
in France written to Archbishop Hughes promising that she 
would never withdraw Mother Hardey from Manhattanville. 
In addition to this she organized parochial schools and many of 
the prominent educational institutions of the church in existence 
to-day. She was the instrument of the church for the foundation 
in Cincinnati. At the time of the memorable and terrible 
conflagration in Chicago in 1871, Mother Hardey organized 
bazaars in all her houses and sent the proceeds to be distributed 
to the most needy sufferers. When the terrible days of 1871 
had drawn to a close, Mother Hardey was appointed assistant- 
general and deputed to visit the convents in North America, 
which required several months, as at this time they numbered 
twenty-five houses. After this service, she was permanently 
transferred to Paris to give to Mother Goetz the benefit of her 
experience and judgment in determining matters of importance 
to the church. Mother Goetz's death occurred January 4, 1874. 
She was succeeded by Mother Lehon as superior-general and 
her first act as such was to send Mother Hardey to America to 
attend to business matters for the Manhattanville property. 



630 Part Taken by Women in American History 



It was during this visit to America that she established the 
Tabernacle Society in connection with the sodality of the 
Children of Mary. In 1876, after her return to France, she 
was sent by the mother-general to visit the convents of Spain. 
Fifty years of labor, zeal, and devotedness to the good of 
others is the record of this noble woman. In September, 1877, 
when the superiors from sixty houses in the various parts of 
the world met for the purpose of a spiritual retreat, Mother 
Hardey requested that she be permitted to return to America 
with some of the visiting superiors owing to her failing health, 
and on the 20th of October, the little party sailed for New York. 
On the 1 8th of July, she sailed on her return journey to 
France. She accompanied Mother Lehon on several tours to 
various convents in Belgium, England and Italy. In 1882, 
she was again sent to New York for the purpose of saving the 
Manhattanville property, the encroachments of the city threat- 
ening its very existence. While in America on this mission, 
she experienced a severe illness, and it was doubtful whether 
she would be able to make the return voyage, but on February 
18, 1884, she sailed for France, very weak and at the risk of 
her life. Although she never regained her health, gradually 
failing physically, she remained mentally strong until the very 
last. On Thursday, the 17th of June, 1886, at the age of 
seventy-six, she died, after sixty years and ten months' service 
for her church. Thus ended the life of one of the most remark- 
able women in America in labors for the advancement of 
education and religion. 



The Jewish Women of America. 

Though woman's activity in communal affairs has been 
great and potent, its record is one of work so modestly per- 
formed that while fully appreciated, there are but few records to 
be procured on so important a topic. While men have sacrificed 
property and even life itself for the faith of their fathers, yet 
some of the most dramatic cases of self sacrifice and devotion 
on American soil were cases of Jewish women during the colon- 
ization of South America, Mexico and this country and 
during the wars for our independence and the abolition of 
slavery. To this day the Spanish and Portuguese congregation 
of New York shows its gratitude to the women who gave 
substantial aid in effecting the building of the first synagogue 
erected in that city in 1730. In this manner their names have 
been preserved and all honor is due to Abigail Franks, Simha 
de Torres, Rachel Louiza, Judith Pacheco, Hannah Michaels 
and Miriam Lopez de Fonseca. Jewish immigrants continued 
to come from Spain and Portugal as late as 1767 and in Georgia 
they were among the earliest settlers of that colony in 1733. 
Another distinct group were the early German Jews in 
America, and to this group belongs the Shetfall family. In 
1740 the British government passed an act for the natural- 
ization of foreigners in the American colony and it is 
remarkable that a large number of Jewish women availed 
themselves of this act. In Jamaica no less than forty names 
appear, several of them doubtless related to many of our old 
American families. Among these Esther Pereira Mendes, 
Leah Cardoza, Esther Pinto Brandon and similar names. In 
colonial society prior to the Revolution, several Jewish women 

(63O 



6^2 Part Taken by Women in American History 

took a prominent part and not a few were numbered among the 
belles of that day. 

Among these may be mentioned several ladies of the 
wealthy and influential Franks family ; Abigail Franks married 
Andrew Hamilton, of Philadelphia. Phila Franks, in 1750, 
married General De Lancy and their New York home was 
one of the pretentious mansions of the day and later became 
the Fraunces Tavern and was the very building in which 
George Washington delivered his farewell address. A 
daughter of Joseph Simon, of Lancaster, married Dr. Nicholas 
Schuyler, subsequently one of the surgeons in the Revolutionary 
War. Sarah Isaacs, the daughter of a patriot soldier, married 
outside of her own religion and her son was John Howard 
Payne, the noted composer of "Home, Sweet Home." Among 
these Rebecca Frank deserves special mention. She was born 
of wealthy parents gifted with a ready wit and rare personal 
beauty, and had access to the most exclusive circle of colonial 
society. Her grandfather was the sole agent for the British 
kings for the Northern colonies while her father was the 
king's agent for Pennsylvania, which readily explains why 
this family, like so many of the colonial aristocracy, took the 
king's side in the Revolutionary struggle. Rebecca Franks is 
mentioned as one of the queens of beauty at the Meschianza, a 
splendid fete given to General Howe before leaving Phila- 
delphia in 1778. She married Colonel, afterwards General, Sir 
Henry Johnson. Many distinguished Americans visited her in 
her English home, among these being General Winfield Scott. 
Her death occurred in 1823. The great majority, however, were 
staunch adherents of the patriot cause and several Jewish 
women figure in Revolutionary history. Among the women of 
the South are the names of Mrs. Judy Minis and her daughter. 
The wife of a Revolutionary soldier, she was heart and soul in 
the cause. A strict observer of Jewish ritual, she prepared the 



The Jewish Women of America 633 

meals for Jewish soldiers taken prisoners by the British, after 
the fall of Savannah. Her intense patriotism so disturbed the 
British commander, that for a time he ordered each woman 
to remain in her house, but finally, owing to their constant 
communication and assistance to the patriots, Mrs. Minis and 
her daughter were ordered to leave the town ; they accordingly 
went to Charleston, of which place the husband was one of 
the patriot defenders. 

In Westchester County we meet another patriotic Jewess, 
Esther Etting Hays, the wife of David Hays, also a Revo- 
lutionary soldier. When Tarleton with a party of British raided 
the village of Bedford in 1779, Tory neighbors entered the 
house where Mrs. Hays was lying upon a sick bed with a new- 
born infant. They demanded information, which she was 
supposed to possess, concerning the patriot plans, on her refusal 
to comply the house was set afire. The mother and child were 
saved only by faithful negro servants, who conveyed them to 
a shelter in the wood. 

Among the noble examples of Jewish womanhood at this 
period were Mrs. Moses Michael Hays, of Boston, and Mrs. 
Reyna Touro, who, in a Puritan community, with hardly any 
Jewish associations, brought up their children as observant 
Jews, Judah Touro and his brother becoming the great 
communal workers of the next generation. 

The beginning of the nineteenth century finds women tak- 
ing a more active part, by their organization of benevolent and 
charitable institutions. The most prominent name at this period 
is that of the noblest daughter American Judaism has produced, 
Rebecca Gratz, who was born in Philadelphia in 1781. Like 
Rebecca Franks, she, too, was born to wealth and social position ; 
she too moved in the most exclusive society and possessed, like 
her, beauty, grace and culture. She, too, might, doubtless, 
have made a match as brilliant, as distinguished as her name- 



634 Part Taken by Women in American History 

sake, but, unlike her, she was a devout Jewess. Writers have 
hinted that it was her devotion to her faith that Was the sole 
cause of her remaining unmarried. Her beauty, refinement and 
wealth of noble qualities, made her beloved by all who knew her, 
so that we may well look upon her as the ideal American lady 
and Jewish woman. 

Miss Gratz had been the close friend of Matilda Hoffman, 
Washington Irving's first and only love. Her charm and 
nobility of character so deeply impressed the great American 
author, and so enthusiastically did he describe them to his 
friend, Sir Walter Scott, during his European trip, that the 
latter is said to have found in her the character he so beautifully 
depicted as the Rebecca in "Ivanhoe." Among her intimate 
friends were some of the leading statesmen and writers, Henry 
Clay and Sully, the artist, among others. This noble woman 
from the start took a keen interest in every charitable endeavor. 
Her name is inseparably associated with every benevolent move- 
ment in Philadelphia during the first half of the nineteenth 
century. 

In 1819 two Jewish women, Mrs. Aaron Levy and Miss 
Hannah Levy, happened to witness a case of distress in a Jewish 
family, and at once resolved to call upon other ladies for aid. 
Their appeal led to the formation of the Female Hebrew 
Benevolent Society of Philadelphia, in which Miss Gratz at once 
took a leading part. In 1838 she organized the first Hebrew 
Sunday School in America, and to it devoted her best efforts. 
She appealed to the ladies of other cities as well, and thus led to 
the establishment of similar institutions in New York and 
Charleston. 

As early as 1850 Rebecca Gratz advocated a society to 
take care of Jewish orphans. Her appeal was finally answered 
in the organization of the Jewish Foster Home in 1855. She 
was also active in the Ladies' Hebrew Sewing Society and the 



The Jewish Women of America 635 

Fuel Society. Nor were her labors entirely of a sectarian 
character. As early as 1801 she was secretary of the Female 
Association for the relief of women and children, and in 181 5 
one of the founders of the Philadelphia Orphan Asylum, win- 
ning from the gentile world the highest admiration and sincere 
regard. Her death occurred in 1869, and her memory well 
deserves to be kept fresh by the Jewish women of America for 
all time. 

With Rebecca Gratz were associated three other women 
who deserve to be mentioned on this occasion. All of them were 
women of refinement and social standing, thoroughly American 
by ancestry and intensely devoted to their race and faith. As 
Leroy-Beaulieu well put it, it is only those Jews who do stand 
for their race and faith who gain the respect and friendship of 
the Christian world. The ladies to whom I refer were Mrs. 
Anna Allen, Miss Louisa B. Hart and Miss Ellen Phillips. 
They were among the founders of the Hebrew Sunday School 
and the Jewish Foster Home, and, like Miss Gratz, took a warm 
interest in all charitable enterprises. Miss Hart was born in 
1803 at Easton, Pennsylvania, and to her belongs the credit of 
founding the Ladies' Hebrew Sewing Society. Miss Phillips 
was the granddaughter of Jonas Phillips, a Revolutionary 
soldier, and at her death in 1891 bequeathed over $100,000 to 
the charities in which she was interested. Mention should also 
be made of Mrs. Matilda Cohen (1820-88), a member of the 
Woman's Centennial Commission in 1876, and Mrs. Rebecca 
C. I. Hart (also of Revolutionary ancestry) who, for thirty 
years, was president of the Hebrew Benevolent Society. Did 
time permit, extended notice should also be given to the names 
of Mrs. Florence, Miss Pesoa, Mrs. Binswanger, of Phila- 
delphia, of the Moises, and Miss Lopez, of Charleston, Mrs. 
Pricilla Joachimsen, of New York, the founder of the Hebrew 
Sheltering Guardian Society, Mrs. Simon Borg, and many 
others. 



636 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Within the past thirty years the Jewish women have done 
wonderful work in the various fields of charitable endeavor 
throughout the Union. The societies organized by them are 
far too great in number, even to be enumerated within the 
scope of this paper. Much less is it possible to give the names 
of the noble women who have labored so diligently in behalf of 
those institutions. Many of them are fortunately here to-day, 
and we hope will continue to labor in their noble work for many 
years to come. 

In law and medicine some of the earliest to break down the 
prejudice against women in the professions, were Jewish 
women. On the stage are the names of Pearl Eytinge and her 
sister Rose, who appeared with Booth. In art you can point to 
Miss Katherine Cohen, the gifted pupil of St. Gaudens, who has 
exhibited her sculptures at the Paris Salon. In the realms of 
education some of the best private schools during the first half 
of the nineteenth century were conducted by Jewish women, like 
Miss Harby and Miss Moise. Since the establishment of the 
public school system, hundreds of Jewish women have won the 
admiration of the communities throughout the country for their 
work as teachers, while in this city the first female assistant 
superintendent appointed by the Board of Education is a Jewess 
well known to all, not only as an educator, but as a devoted 
worker in every department for the betterment of the Jewish 
community. 

Quite a number of names have appeared in the realm of 
letters. Not to mention contemporaries, we may point to 
Rebekah Hyneman as a poet of no mean ability, and to Penina 
Moise, a gifted writer, both in prose and verse, the author of 
"Fancy's Sketch Book" and a contributor to various magazines. 
Her hymns have for many years been chanted throughout the 
synagogues of the South. Unfortunately few bright rays came 
into her life, a life which had much of misery and sorrow, 



The Jewish Women of America 637 

closing with years of total blindness. Miss Charlotte Adams 
has written an appreciative sketch of her, and I know of no 
sentiment more pathetic than the last words of Penina Moise, 
"Lay no flowers on my grave. They are for those who live 
in the sun, and I have always lived in the shadow." 

Jewish Women's Work for Charity. 

Theodore Roosevelt once paid the following tribute to 
Jewish citizenship : 

"I am glad to be able to say that, while the Jews of the 
United States, who now number more than a million, have 
remained loyal to their faith and their race traditions, they 
have become indissolubly incorporated in the great army of 
American citizenship, prepared to make all sacrifices for the 
country either in war or peace, striving for the perpetuation 
of good government and for the maintenance of the principles 
embodied in our constitution. They are honorably dis- 
tinguished by their industry, their obedience to law, and their 
devotion to the national welfare." 

And Simon Wolf, in his notable volume, "The American 
Jew, as Patriot, Soldier and Citizen" gives the names of nearly 
eight thousand Jews who served, on both sides, in the Civil War. 
It is after all in the grand fabric of Jewish charity, whose broad 
expanse extends throughout the land, that the Jewish people 
and pre-eminently the women, have been able to prove them- 
selves patriots and worthy citizens. Indeed in the field of 
philanthopic efforts the Jewish citizens of America may 
unhesitatingly claim to have built for themselves monuments 
more numerous and larger by far than their proportionate 
share, and their forces have been directed not to saving souls 
by a chance or creed but by bettering the conditions of human 
existence. The ideal of the Jewish religion — the universal 



638 Part Taken by Women in American History 

fatherhood of God and the direct responsibility of every human 
being to the Maker of all — has steadfastly been upheld. But in 
the Jewish charity, as in such work under the direction of no 
other religious body, its forces have not been exerted in striving 
to make good the seeming shortcoming of the divine nature, but 
in striving to make good the essential shortcomings of our 
human nature, by alleviating the distresses arising from the 
constitution of society and by lessening the sufferings that are 
inevitably incident to the conditions of life. To this end the 
American Jewish citizens have organized a widely diversified 
system of relief for the sick and needy, and while so doing have 
not restricted their efforts within denominational bounds but 
have opened their doors and stretched out their hands towards 
all humanity. And not alone in dealing with conditions that 
are inseparable from the social system, but also in dealing with 
such as are removable, in educating and lifting up those of the 
community who are in need of fostering care and in furthering 
the spread of intelligence, have the Jewish women been 
unceasingly active in their charitable organizations. 

Moreover, it was remarked in the recent political campaign 
of the Jewish voters, "Their quiet critical analysis of political 
nostrums is most disheartening to the district leaders of 
Tammany Hall," and the Jewish women in their careful 
investigation, their sound sense and their zeal to instill and 
foster independence in every invidual should be an inspiration 
and not a discouragement to the women of wealth and careless 
thought who rush into hysterical benevolence. 

How efficient the efforts of these Jewish charity workers 
has been is amply demonstrated by a glance at public charitable 
institutions. In the House of Refuge on Randall's Island 
there were found, according to a recent official report, only two 
hundred and sixty Jewish boys and girls. In the Juvenile 
Asylum there were two hundred and sixty-two Jewish children 



The Jewish Women of America 639 

under sixteen years of age committed for various mis- 
demeanors. Compared with the entire Jewish population of 
New York City this number is insignificant, and the ratio will 
probably be found to be considerably lower than in the general 
population. Furthermore, the records of the department of 
charities in the city of New York showed that out of the Jewish 
population approximating seven hundred thousand in greater 
New York, in the almshouse in Blackwell's Island there were 
only twenty-six pauper Jews, of whom the majority were blind, 
idiotic, or possessed of some peculiar defect, which prevented 
admission to existing Jewish charitable institutions. 

And there is no indiscriminate alms-giving among Jewish 
charity workers. The work of the United Hebrew Charities of 
New York is typical of similar Jewish organizations throughout 
the United States, and it is organized and run as accurately 
and scrupulously as any large business house. It is in their 
auxiliaries to these organizations that the Jewish women have 
accomplished a work which richly deserves mention in an 
account of what women are doing for America's welfare. The 
sisterhoods in various districts co-operate with the United 
Hebrew Charities. They give material relief, have developed 
day nurseries, kindergartens, clubs and classes of various 
kinds, employment bureaus, mothers' meetings and in fact have 
become social centers for the poor of their neighborhoods. 
Since a large percentage of the distress which is met with is 
occasioned by illness, medical relief of all kinds has been 
organized, each district as a rule, having its physician and its 
nurse. 

The Home for Aged and Infirm at Yonkers, New York, 
is managed by well-known philanthropists but all the kitchen 
utensils, linen and all household articles are provided by a 
Ladies' Auxiliary Society composed of twelve hundred members. 

Of all the problems which confront the average charity 



640 Part Taken by Women in American History 

organization, possibly the most perplexing is the one of the 
family where the mother must be wage earner. The kinder- 
garten and the day nursery have done something to solve the 
problem, but the Chicago Women's Aid, an organization of 
Jewish women for literary and philanthropic purposes, has 
thrown much light on the most creditable way of helping these 
women. This society has for three seasons supported a work- 
room for women. The workroom is in charge of a paid super- 
intendent but the members of the society take an active part in 
the executive and personal service departments. Work is 
provided for about five months each year during the winter, 
and the rooms are within walking distance of Hull House, thus 
being convenient for women who wish to leave their young 
children at the Hull House Day Nursery. The hours are from 
nine a. m. to twelve m. and from one to four p. m. The super- 
intendent is assisted by one permanently employed cutter and 
several who work part of the time. In extreme cases work is 
supplied at home, but it is preferred to have the women come to 
the workroom. All sorts of garments are made, the workers 
receiving seventy-five cents a day. The beneficiaries of the 
workroom are such women as would ordinarily be entitled to 
the benefits of relief societies, especially the United Hebrew 
Charities, but in this way, by requiring them to give at least a 
partial equivalent for what they get, their self-respect is 
retained even though the charities are in reality helping them. 
It has proved far superior to the old-time method of 
unconditional giving, tending to keep them away from relief 
agencies and is in many ways a most wholesome substitute for 
alms. It gives those who ordinarily spend their days in dingy 
unclean tenements an opportunity to leave the crowded quarters 
for seven hours a day, to breathe purer air, to learn the value 
of cleanliness, and to live in an atmosphere of cheerfulness and 
refinement. And this is far from being the only successful 
experiment by the Jewish women of America. 



The Jewish Women of America 641 

In Philadelphia, besides the main bureau of the United 
Hebrew Charities, various organizations of women have been 
formed as auxiliary to the United Charity, such as the Ladies' 
Auxiliary Committee, the Ladies' Volunteer Visiting Com- 
mittee, and the Personal Interests Society, whose activity has 
aided to a great degree in mitigating the suffering among the 
Russian Jews. Another of the older charities of Philadelphia, 
the Esrath Mashim, or Helping Women, is to be noted in this 
regard. This society was organized in 1873 in aid of lying-in 
women at their homes, and after the year 1882 devoted its effort 
chiefly to the needs of the refugee immigrants from Russia. In 
1 89 1 the demands on this charity as on all others grew beyond 
the confines of the organization, and the society was reorganized 
as the Jewish Maternity Association, establishing a hospital 
known as the Maternity Home, which has grown to be one of 
the large charitable institutions. A training school for nurses 
was added in 1901, and at the same time a branch of the work 
inaugurated at Atlantic City as the Jewish Seaside Home for 
invalid mothers and children. This splendid work has enlarged 
immensely in the more recent years. In Philadelphia, too, we 
find a loan society conducted by Jewish women, which makes 
loans without interest to deserving persons in amounts of from 
five dollars to twenty-five dollars, repayable in installments. 

So we find in every city these evidences of the intense 
vitality of the Jewish women's spirit for uplifting unfortunates. 
We find Jewish women on the committees for improved housing 
in the congested sections of our cities. We find Jewish women 
serving on the boards of trade schools, figuring in the organ- 
ization of bureaus and federations of the United Hebrew 
Charities, opening public baths for the poor and investigating 
tirelessly the conditions of health and sanitation among them. 
It is with great regret that we are obliged to curtail the list of 
individual endeavor, for certainly many of the names of the 

41 



642 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Jewish women of America belong on the honor roll of her 
womanhood : 

There is Mrs. Joseph Pulitzer, a niece of Jefferson Davis, 
whose benevolences are famed; Kate Levy, well-known worker 
for health and sanitation in Chicago ; Henrietta Szold, secretary 
of the Jewish Publishing Society of America, with others too 
numerous to mention. 

SADIE AMERICAN. 

The splendid work done by Miss American should be the 
pride not only of her own race, but of all American women. 
She was born in Chicago, March 3, 1862, and educated in the 
public schools of that city. She has been a frequent speaker at 
clubs and conventions on the subject in which she is so deeply 
interested, philanthropy, civic and educational subjects; has 
occupied the pulpits in synagogues and churches ; was secretary 
of the Congress of Jewish Women at the World's Fair in 1893 ; 
one of the founders of the Council of Jewish Women, 1893, 
an organizer of many sections of this association, and its 
executive secretary in 1893 ; president of the New York section, 
Council of Jewish Women; speaker and delegate representing 
Council of Jewish Women at the International Congress of 
Women; also at the Atlanta Exposition, 1896; London, 1899, 
Speaker Vacation Schools; Berlin, 1904, Toronto, 1909, Speaker 
Playgrounds; Chairman of the Press Committee of Council 
of Jewish Women, 1899-1904. Jewish Societies: Was instru- 
mental in the formation of the Jewish Study Society, 1899, and 
later in the formation of the Union of Jewish Women 
Workers, England. Assisted in the formation of the Bund 
Judischer Frauen, Berlin, 1904. Council of Women of the 
United States. Member of the Executive Committee of the 
Council of Women of the United States since 1898. Speaker 



The Jewish Women of America 643 

Triennial Council of Women of the United States, 1895, 1898, 
1902. Committee on Peace Propaganda, Council of Women of 
the United States, 1899- 1904. Chairman Committee on 
Immigration and Emigration 191 1. Federation of Women's 
Clubs. Speaker at Biennial of General Federation of Clubs, 
Denver, 1896. Member of Industrial Committee, New York 
State Federation of Women's Clubs, 1905. Speaker on Play- 
grounds at the General Federation of Women's Clubs, Boston, 
1908. Woman's Municipal League. Director Woman's 
Municipal League New York City, 1901. Chairman of 
Woman's Municipal League Tenement House Committee, 
1 902- 1 903. Member Executive Committee Intermunicipal 
Association for Household Research, 1904. Consumers' 
League: Vice-president, 1898- 1899 and director, 1899, Illinois 
Consumers' League. President of Consumers' League of New 
York State, 1901-1905. Member Executive Committee National 
Consumers' League, 1901-1906. Chicago Activities: Club 
Leader Maxwell Street Settlement, Chicago, 1894- 1898. 
Teacher Sinai Temple Sunday School, Chicago, 1894- 1899. 
Member Executive Committee, Civic Federation of Chicago, 
1 895- 1 899. Founder Vacation Schools, Chicago, 1896. Presi- 
dent League for Religious Fellowship, Chicago, 1896. Founder 
and Chairman Permanent Vacation School and Playground 
Committee of Chicago Women's Clubs, 1896- 1900. Member of 
Executive Committee of South Side District Bureau of 
Charities, Chicago, 1896-1899. Director Cook County League 
of Women's Clubs, 1897- 1898. Member of committee in 
Chicago which drew and secured the passage of the Illinois 
Juvenile Court Law. Member of Executive Committee of Com- 
mittee of One Hundred to revise laws regulating education 
in Illinois, 1897-1898. Member Executive Committee and one 
of the founders at the call of the Governor, Army and Navy 
League of Illinois during the Spanish- American War, 1898. 



644 Part Taken by Women in American History 

National Association of Charities and Corrections. Speaker 
National Association of Charities and Corrections, 1895. 
Member of Committee on Neighborhood Improvement, 
National Association of Charities and Corrections, 1903. Play- 
ground Association of America: One of the founders of 
Playground Association of America. Member of Executive 
Committee and Secretary of Board of Directors. Chairman of 
Committee on Playgrounds in Institutions, 1908. Public 
Education Association: Member of Committee on night school 
and Social Centers, Public Education Associations, New York 
City, 1899-1903. National Educational Association: Member 
of Executive Committee, Department of Women's Organ- 
izations, 1907. Delegate to the National Education Association, 
Department of Superintendents, Washington, 1908. Delegate 
Department of Women's Organizations, National Educational 
Association, Washington, 1908. Delegate to Department of 
Women's Organizations, National Education Association, 
Cleveland, 1908 and Denver, 1909. International Congress on 
Tuberculosis: Delegate and speaker at the International Con- 
gress on Tuberculosis, Washington, 1908. Immigrant Aid: 
Member of Executive Committee of societies co-operating to 
secure United States' women inspectors to protect girls coming 
in first and second class cabins since 1903. Founder and chair- 
man of the Committee on Immigrant Aid, Council of Jewish 
women. Publications : Reports of Council of Jewish Women. 
Articles on Vacation Schools and Playgrounds, among them 
two in the Journal of Sociology, University of Chicago, 
November, 1898, and January, 1899. Reports of Vacation 
Schools and Playground Committee, Chicago Woman's Club, 
1 897- 1 899. Plan of Work Committee on Immigrant Aid, 
Council of Jewish Women. Many fugitive lectures and articles 
on social subjects. 

Miss American is particularly proud of founding the 



The Jewish Women of America 645 

vacation schools and playgrounds in the city of Chicago. 
These, Colonel Parker of Chicago stated, "could hardly have 
gone forward without her ; that the method and conduct was so 
unique he considered it epoch making in education." While 
vacation schools were first started on philanthropic lines in 
New York City, these schools in Chicago were purely 
educational, and were conducted under a Board of Education of 
the best educators and social service workers of that city, and 
this work has since been incorporated in the schools of Chicago. 
To-day vacation schools and playgrounds are common, but when 
Miss American started this work in 1897, in Chicago there was 
neither literature nor activity on the subject in the sense of its 
being a great movement and hers was really the pioneer work 
in this direction. One of the special features of these schools 
was that provision was made for the deaf, the dumb and the 
blind. A school for these unfortunates was conducted in a 
summer camp. In 1900, while Miss American and her mother 
were en route to New York to establish a home, she met with a 
severe railroad accident and since that time her health has been 
such that her activities and the great work that she has accom- 
plished in these various lines has been conducted from her 
home. Miss American is at present greatly interested in 
vacation schools and welfare work for the blind, among the 
Jews in the city of New York and has organized a national 
association and work has been commenced in New York, 
Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. Another problem which has been 
forced upon her attention is the question of the care and 
provision for the Jewish immigrant girl and she has organized 
a committee on immigration aid which follows every Jewish 
immigrant girl who comes to this country, no matter what her 
destination and this has aroused a general interest in that of 
other immigrant girls which has been taken up by other 
philanthropic societies. Long before the white slave traffic 



646 Part Taken by Women in American History 

appalled the country, Miss American had been doing work in the 
interest and protection and saving of these young women. She 
was a delegate to the International White Slave Convention 
and has been active in associations which are aiding the 
individual work and work done by the government in this 
question. Miss American attended the conference on children 
called by President Roosevelt and did splendid work in the 
interest of the illegitimate child. The Lakeview Home for 
wayward girls and unmarried mothers was founded by Miss 
American in the city of New York. The varied and important 
character of Miss American's charitable work has not received, 
thus far, the appreciation which it so justly deserves. In future 
generations, hundreds of thousands will enjoy the benefits of 
work of which she has been the initial spirit, and which never 
could have been brought to realization without her energy and 
ability. 

ROSE SOMMERFIELD. 

Rose Sommerfield taught in the public schools of Baltimore from 1889 to 
1899. Actively interested in the First Grade Teachers' Association, helping to 
shape its policy. Inaugurated the first Mothers' Meetings held in public schools 
of Baltimore. Interested in Jewish and non-Jewish philanthropic and educational 
institutions as a volunteer worker. Helped to organize the Daughters of Israel 
and the Baltimore Section of the Council of Jewish Women, being the first secre- 
tary of both organizations. Also a Day Nursery, First Jewish Working Girls 
Club and the Maccabeans, an association of men who interested themselves in 
work among Jewish boys. Organized a free Sabbath school for Jewish children. 
Principal of the elementary school of the Kitchen Garden Association, also of 
the evening school for adult immigrants. A director and assisted in organizing 
the Young Men's Hebrew Association of Baltimore. Taught Jewish Sabbath 
school. Helped to organize first home for Jewish working girls in the United 
States. Gave model lessons in Hebrew at the Summer Assembly Jewish Chautauqua. 
Also appointed critic of lessons given at first Summer Assembly. Wrote articles 
on "Truancy in Public Schools" for Maryland State Conference of Charities, 
"Charity Organization" for first Triennial of Council of Jewish Women, in which 
Federation of Charities was urged and a school of philanthropy advocated. "Homes 
for Working Girls" for National Conference of Jewish Charities meeting in 
Philadelphia and many articles on educational and philanthropic subjects. In 
1899 went to New York and organized the Clara de Hirsch Home for Working 



The Jewish Women of America 647 

Girls and its Trade Classes, also organized the Clara de Hirsch Home for Immi- 
grant Girls, the Welcome House Settlement, the Model Employment Bureau, and 
helped to reorganize the Hebrew Sheltering and Immigrant Aid Society and the 
Virginia, a non-sectarian Working Girls Hotel. Was on the first committee of 
the Lakeview Home for Girls, chairman of the committee on philanthropy of the 
National Council of Jewish Women, secretary of the Monday Club of New York, 
vice-president of the Jewish Social Workers of New York, and secretary of the 
Jewish Social Workers, Section of the National Jewish Conference of Charities. 
Assisted in organizing the Wage Earner's Theatre League, and a member of its 
executive committee. 

REBECCA GRATZ. 

Miss Gratz was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, March 4, 1781, died in 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, August 29, 1869. She was one of the most distin- 
guished women of her day of the Jewish race in this country. She was one of 
a family of thirteen children ; her father Michael Gratz, a wealthy East India 
merchant, married Miriam, daughter of Joseph Simon, of Lancaster Pennsylvania, 
the best known and most respected Hebrew in the state. The names of Joseph 
Simon, Michael Gratz and Bernard Gratz, his brother, were signed to the "Non- 
importation Act," the forerunner of the Declaration of Independence which was 
drafted by Thomas Jefferson in the house then owned by the Gratz brothers. 
Their signatures with many others of the family may also be seen on the first 
list of seat holders (1782) of the Congregation Mikve Israel (Hope of Israel) 
one of the oldest Jewish Congregations in the United States. The Gratz home 
was the center of refinement, culture and hospitality, with the sweet Jewish set- 
ting of family affection. Washington Irving delighted "to roost in the big room." 
Henry Clay, Fanny Kemble and many others met there the best and most cul- 
tivated society of Philadelphia. Rebecca had every advantage of education and 
her friendships were largely among Christians. A most romantic and life-long 
attachment was formed with her beautiful schoolmate Maria Fenno. Though 
there were no railroads or steamboats in those days, intercourse by stage between 
New York and Philadelphia was frequent and upon one of these visits to the 
former city Maria married Judge Ogden Hoffman, a widower, and most accom- 
plished gentleman with children older than herself. One, a young daughter, 
Matilda, was the only love of Washington Irving, who was then pretending to 
study law in her father's office, but Judge Hoffman did not approve of his suit 
and the lovers were very unhappy. Consumption developed in Matilda Hoffman 
and Rebecca Gratz and Washington Irving nursed the poor girl until her death. 
After this Irving went abroad, traveling extensively, he visited Abbotsford, and 
there told Scott the story of Rebecca Gratz, her personal charm, strength of 
mind and her steadfastness to her faith. She had a few years before this refused 
on account of her faith, to marry a young man who was considered a most 
suitable match, sacrificing her inclination to follow what she considered her duty. 
In 1817, when "Ivanhoe" was published Scott sent a copy to Irving saying, "How 
do you like your Rebecca now?" In 1817 the ladies of Philadelphia opened the 



648 Part Taken by Women in American History 

first Philadelphia Orphan Asylum. Rebecca Gratz was chosen secretary and served 
in this capacity for forty-eight years. In 1835, when past the age when most 
people think their work is finished, she being then fifty-six years of age, she 
founded the first Sunday school for Jewish children, over which she presided for 
twenty-five years. This school, in the last year of her service, numbered four 
thousand pupils, it having opened with but five. In 1855 Miss Gratz started a 
Jewish Foster Home. Her long experience on the board of the Philadelphia 
Asylum enabled her to found the infant home, and though she lived to see it 
well established she could hardly anticipate its present usefulness as a modern 
institution. She was connected with every movement for bettering the condition 
of the poor and the sick of the city among her people. When the unfortunate 
Civil War occurred she was over eighty, but she stood firm and true to her 
country. Her one thought was for a united land with no North, no South, no 
East, no West. Rebecca Gratz lived long past the Psalmist's age, but she never 
lost her wonderful appearance, her charm of manner, her interest in good works, 
and above all, her devotion to the Jewish faith. 

JULIA SCHOENFELD. 

Miss Schoenfeld was born in Bellaire, Ohio, of German-Jewish parentage. 
Her father was born in Germany and migrated when a very young man to this 
country. Her mother was born in Frederick, Maryland, the daughter of German 
parents. When Miss Schoenfeld was a few months old her parents moved to 
Columbus, Ohio, and engaged in mercantile enterprises, but meeting with reverses, 
the family moved to Meadville, Pennsylvania, which was chosen for their home 
on account of its educational advantages. It was a college town with musical 
schools, where children could be given opportunities at a small cost. Miss Schoen- 
feld was graduated from the public schools of Meadville and entered Allegheny Col- 
lege in 1894, being graduated in 1897. She decided to study medicine and entered the 
Woman's Medical College at Toronto, Canada, but her father objecting to her 
being a professional woman she gave up her work. While at school in Toronto, 
the family moved to Johnstown, Pennsylvania. On Miss Schoenfeld's return, she 
was appealed to in the interest of the work for a settlement in the Jewish district 
in Pittsburgh and was requested to undertake the establishment of this institu- 
tion. She was then but twenty-one years of age, but filled with a desire to work 
for others. She offered her services to those interested in the movement and the 
Columbian Council Settlement developed from this small beginning. After three 
years' residence at the settlement, which was located in the heart of the Ghetto, 
Miss Schoenfeld left on account of ill health and returned to Johnstown. This 
was in 1902. At this time Miss Schoenfeld organized the Civic Club of Johns- 
town. This being an industrial center, iron mills and mines have brought to the 
community thousands of foreigners, for whom her efforts were made. 

The first work this club undertook was the establishment of the Juvenile 
Court. Miss Schoenfeld, during the first year, served as volunteer probation 
officer ; she also helped in the establishment of vacation schools and playgrounds. 
Her successor at the Columbian settlement remained but a year and she was 



The Jewish Women of America 649 

again called to serve in the work in Pittsburgh, where she remained a year. 
Later an opportunity offered to study vacation and amusement resources of 
working girls in New York City by the committee who had organized themselves 
for that purpose. In 1908 Miss Schoenfeld left for New York and as a result of 
her work there is in New York to-day the best legislation that has ever been 
enacted in regard to licensing and regulating dancing academies, public amuse- 
ment parks, etc. In 191 1 Miss Schoenfeld received her degree of M.A., from 
Columbia University. She has spent much time in the study of the immigrant 
question and its relation to the protection of girls in this country, and as secre- 
tary of the committee on immigrant aid of the Council of Jewish Women she 
has developed the protective bureau for girls. She has visited many cities, study- 
ing the work done in each along the lines of philanthropic and social endeavor; 
attended many conferences in this country and abroad. While in London in 1007, 
she made a close study of the Toynbee Hall and University Settlement. She 
has been an active worker on the state committee and state confederation of 
Women's Clubs, also in the Consumers' League and with other state and national 
organizations for the improvement of working conditions among women and 
children. She has written many articles for the press and addressed many of the 
prominent clubs of the country relative to the work in which she has been such 
a valuable worker and adviser. She is considered to-day one of the prominent 
women in the philanthropic work of our country and a valued representative of 
the able women of her race. 

ANNIE NATHAN MEYER. 

Simon Wolf gives in his "Jew as an American Citizen, Soldier and Patriot," 
the names of nearly eight thousand Jews in the Civil War. There has been 
made, unfortunately, no such muster of the Jewish women who have shown such 
public spirit for the good of American citizenship. But near the head of such a 
roll call would appear the name of Mrs. Annie Nathan Meyer, author and worker 
for the advancement of women. She was born in New York City in 1867, the 
daughter of Robert Weeks Nathan. She belongs to a prominent Jewish family 
and is a cousin of the late Emma Lazarus. She was educated at home in her 
childhood and afterward entered the School for Women, a branch at that time 
of Columbia College. She was one of the first to enter the women's course when 
it was opened in Columbia College in 1885, and eventually she became one of the 
founders of Barnard College, affiliated with Columbia College, and the first 
women's college in New York City. After this institution had received full 
sanction and recommendation at the hands of the faculty of the brother college 
she became one of the trustees and at the same time edited "Women's Work in 
America," a volume containing the result of three years earnest work and 
research. She married Dr. Alfred Meyer of New York, in 1887. Mrs. Meyer is 
opposed to women's suffrage, unless the franchise be restricted by laws providing 
for educational qualification. It is her theory that legislation should follow in 
the footsteps of education. She is a gifted woman, a poet and essayist, though 
most of her activities have been expended in philanthropic reform and charitable 
work. Her home is in New York City. 



650 Part Taken by Women in American History 

MRS. CAESAR MISCH. 

At fourteen years of age organized and taught a Sabbath school in Pitts- 
field, Massachusetts, a community too small to support a Rabbi. She was the 
first president of the Providence Section Council of Jewish Women; has been 
auditor and chairman of religious school. Commander of National Council of 
Jewish Women ; president of various charitable societies ; member of board of 
directors Providence Society for Organizing Charity ; member board of managers 
Providence District Nursing Association ; member Sex Hygiene Committee of 
Rhode Island State Conference of Charities ; first woman appointed on Providence 
Playground Committee, having been appointed by both Republican and Democratic 
mayors, and having entire charge of purchasing all the supplies. Chairman of 
North End Free Dispensary, which she organized under auspices of Providence 
Section, Council of Jewish Women. Has lectured in various cities and has 
written newspaper articles on Jewish topics and on White Slave Traffic. Has 
written a "Children's Service" for use in the synagogue and compiled a book of 
"Selections for Homes and Schools." 

ROSE MORDECAI. 

Prominent Jewish woman. Miss Mordecai says of herself, that she is 
simply Miss Rose Mordecai "without either romance or mystery, but one who 
loves his fellow men." She was born in Washington, D. C, February 14, 1839. 
Her father was Major Alfred Mordecai, Sr., a distinguished officer of the old 
army before the war, who resigned in preference to fighting in the Civil War, 
opposed to the idea of brother against brother. He went to reside in Philadelphia 
where Miss Mordecai, with two sisters, kept a private school for forty years. 
Her father was an intimate friend of Mr. W. W. Corcoran the great philan- 
thropist, of Washington, and Miss Mordecai now resides in the Louisa Home, 
established by Mr. Corcoran. Her mother's aunt was Miss Rebecca Gratz, the 
noted Jewish beauty of Philadelphia, whose beautiful character is believed to 
have been portrayed by Sir Walter Scott in his Rebecca of Ivanhoe. 

BERTHA RAUH (MRS. ENOCH) 

Bertha Rauh was born June 16, 1865, at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Daugh- 
ter of Samuel Floersheim and Pauline Wertheimer. Educated in the Pittsburgh 
public schools. Graduated 1884 with second honor degree, Pittsburgh Central 
High School. Married Enoch Rauh, president Milk and Ice Association, and of 
the Juvenile Court Aid Society; vice-president Ladies' Auxiliary, Gusky Orphan- 
age; member of board, Columbian Council School Settlement; board of visita- 
tion for institutions in state of Pennsylvania; visiting board of the Pittsburgh and 
Allegheny Free Kindergarten Association ; Civic Club of Allegheny County and of 
Permanent Civic Committee of Pittsburgh. Member Juvenile Court Committee 
of the Juvenile Court Association of Allegheny County. Chairman finance com- 
mittee and member advisory board, Soho public bath. Was member of board of 



The Jewish Women of America 651 



Humane Society of Pittsburgh and Allegheny, and of ladies' auxiliary of the 
Allegheny General Hospital. Organizer and leader of reading circle, in exis- 
tence nine years, for study of literature. Articles: "The Advantages of the 
Higher Education"; "A Trip up the Allegheny Valley"; "Benefits of the Sunday 
Concerts"; "A Tribute to Christopher Lyman Magee"; "Justice to the Jew"; 
"Reform in Confirmation"; "Woman's Place on Judaism," in local papers. 
Her address is 5837 Bartlett Street, Pittsburgh, Pa. 

GRACE P. MENDES. 

Was born at St. Croix, Danish West Indies. Her father was Jacob Osino 
De Castro and an active Confederate. When New Orleans fell he fled to Mobile, 
Alabama. Her mother was Hannah De Sola. Miss De Castro was educated in 
the public schools of New Orleans, Louisiana. Married Reverend Isaac P. 
Mendes, an Englishman. She labored shoulder to shoulder with her husband for 
twenty-seven years, working in the interest of the Jewish people in Savannah 
and gave them a standing second to none in the South. She has been president 
of the Savannah Section of the Council of Jewish Women since its organization 
in 1895, and is affiliated and does active work in the following organizations: 
First vice-president of the Ladies' Hebrew Benevolent Society; honorary presi- 
dent of the Savannah Branch of the Needle Work Guild; second vice-president 
of the Association for the Education of Georgia Mountaineers; treasurer of the 
committee on Health and Sanitation; a member of a committee of the Associated 
Charities; one of the Georgia Joint Committee of the Department of School 
Patrons of the National Educational Association and honorary president of the 
Temple Guild of "Mickve Israel" Congregation. 

BERTHA KAHN ELKERS. 

Mrs. Elkers was born in New York City in 1863. Parents were Israel and 
Sarah Kahn, both natives of Germany, and of the Hebrew race. They with their 
family moved to California in 1877. Mrs. Elkers was married in Oakland to 
Albert Elkers of Sacramento in 1882. They have two sons, both graduates of 
the University of California. At the beginning of the Spanish War, in April, 
1898, Mrs. Elkers founded the Sacramento Red Cross branch. Was its president 
from 1898 to 1908. Sacramento raised about $12,000 in money, food and supplies 
for the Red Cross work during the few months of the war. The Galveston 
disaster also received the attention of this branch and it did much to help the 
refugees from the earthquake and fire of 1906, which visited San Francisco. Mrs. 
Elkers was on the California State Red Cross Board from 1898 to 1904, and she 
is a charter member of the Saturday Club, 1893, one of the largest musical clubs 
in the United States, having a membership of fourteen hundred. She has done 
active musical work (piano), and has served on its board since 1894, and was 
president of the same from 1901 to 1905; honorary president since 1907. Assisted 
in starting four other musical clubs — Pacific Musical Society of San Francisco, 
Fresno Musical Club, Auburn and Berkeley, and is honorary member of the two 



652 Part Taken by Women in American History 

first named. She has been treasurer of the Hebrew Women's Benevolent Society 
for twenty-three years; secretary for the women's auxiliary of Congregation 
B'nai Israel for past five years; is one the board of the Sacramento City Mission; 
member of Home of the Merciful Saviour ; Young Woman's Christian Association ; 
Society for Homeless Children; San Francisco Auxiliary to Hebrew Orphan 
Asylum; Tuesday Club; Museum Association; Golf Club and has been on the 
board of the University of California Extension work. Her husband, Albert 
Elkers, is a native of Sacramento, where they have continued to reside. 



Women as Temperance Workers. 

From Mrs. Sarah D. La Fetra, 

President Woman's Christian Temperance Union, District of Columbia. 

i 

"I am especially glad to know that you are writing this 
book, to do justice to the women workers for the benefit of 
mankind, as heretofore not enough has been said or written of 
women's achievements. 

Very cordially yours, 

Sarah D. La Fetra/' 

FRANCES ELIZABETH WILLARD. 

In the Capitol at Washington, a statue of Frances E. 
Willard stands in the great circle of honor to represent the 
prairie state of Illinois, and in the great circles of reformers 
gathering through all ages, her place is forever secure. The 
early home life of Frances Willard was pre-eminently Christian. 
Her father, Josiah F. Willard, was a descendant of Major 
Simon Willard, of Kent, England, who, with Reverend Peter 
Bulkeley, settled in Concord, Massachusetts, less than fifteen 
years after the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth. Major 
Willard was a man of great force of character and of dis- 
tinguished public service and his descendants included many 
men and women who inherited his talents with his good name. 

Inheriting many of the notable gifts of both parents and 
of more remote ancestors, Frances Willard grew up in an 
atmosphere most favorable to the development of her powers. 
Early in her life her parents moved to Oberlin, Ohio, that the 
father might carry out a long cherished plan of further study 

(653) 



654 Part Taken by Women in American History 

and that the family might have the advantages of intellectual 
help and stimulus. But in May, 1846, Mr. Willard's health 
demanded a change of climate and life in the open. He moved 
his family to Wisconsin, then a territory, and settled on a farm, 
near the young village of Janesville. Miss Willard wrote 
many years afterward of their pioneer life here on a farm, half 
prairie, half forest, on the banks of the Rock River. She says 
that her career as a reformer had its root and growth in the 
religious character of the family in this log cabin neighbor- 
hood. Their abode was named Forest Home, and in the earlier 
years without what a Yankee would call "near neighbors" the 
family were almost entirely dependent upon their own resources 
for society. Mrs. Willard was poetical in her nature and she 
made herself at once mentor and companion to her children. 
The father, too, was near to nature's heart in a real and vivid 
fashion of his own. And so the children, reared in a home 
which was to their early years a world's horizon, lived an 
intellectual and yet a most helpful life. Miss Willard enjoyed 
entire freedom from fashionable restraint until her seventeenth 
year, clad during most of the year in simple flannel suits, and 
spent much of the time in the open air, sharing the occupations 
and sports of her brothers. Her first teachers were her educated 
parents; later an accomplished young woman was engaged as 
family teacher and companion for the children. Her first 
schoolmaster was a graduate of Yale College. At the age of 
seventeen she, with her sister Mary, was sent from home to 
school, entering Milwaukee Female College, in 1857. She 
completed her education at the Northwestern Female College, in 
Evanston, Illinois. After several years of teaching, her soul 
was stirred by the reports of the temperance crusade in Ohio 
during the winter of 1874, and in this she felt she heard the 
divine call of her life work. Of all her friends, no one stood by 
her in her wish to join the crusade except Mrs. Mary A* 



Women as Temperance Workers 655 

Livermore who sent her a letter full of enthusiasm for the 
new line of work, and predicted her success therein. In the 
summer of 1874, while in New York City, a letter reached her 
from Mrs. Louise S. Rounds, of Chicago, who was identified 
there with the young temperance association. "It has come to 
me," wrote Mrs. Rounds, "as I believe, from the Lord, that 
you ought to be our president. We are a little band without 
money or experience, but with strong faith. If you would come, 
there will be no doubt of your election." So it happened that 
Miss Willard turning from the most attractive offers entered 
the open door of philanthropy in the West. Within a week she 
had been made president of the Chicago Woman's Christian 
Temperance Union. For months she carried on this work 
without regard to pecuniary compensation, many a time going 
without her noon-day lunch downtown, because she had no 
money, and walking miles because she had not five cents to pay 
for a street car ride. Yet she declared that period the most 
blessed of her life so far, and that her work baptised in suffering 
grew first deep and vital, and then began to widen. With the 
aid of a few women she established a daily gospel meeting in 
Lower Farwell Hall for the help of the intemperate, and her 
gospel talks came to be in demand far and wide. Every dollar 
earned by writing or lecturing not needed for current expenses 
was devoted to the relief of the needy or to the enlargement of 
her chosen work. The Chicago Woman's Christian Temper- 
ance Union from that day of small things in the eyes of the 
world, has gone on and prospered until now it is represented 
by a wide range of established philanthropy. 

Miss Willard continued wielding a busy pen, speaking in 
Chautauqua, addressing summer camps in New England and 
the Middle States, and in 1876, while engaged in Bible study and 
prayer, she was led to the conviction that she ought to speak 
for women's ballot as a protection to the home from the tyranny 



656 Part Taken by Women in American History 

of drink, and in the autumn, in the national convention, in 
Newark, N. J., disregarding the earnest pleadings of con- 
servative friends, she declared her conviction in her first 
suffrage speech. She originated the motto, "For God and home 
and native land." This was first the motto of the Chicago 
Union. It was then adopted by the Illinois State Union ; in 1876 
beame that of the National Union, and was adapted to the use 
of the World's Union in Faneuil Hall, Boston, Mass., in 1891, 
then becoming, "For God, and home and every land." Miss 
Willard was one of the founders of the National Woman's Tem- 
perance Union Paper, Our Union in New York, and of the 
Signal, the organ of the Illinois Union. These, in 1882, were 
merged in the Union Signal which is now one of the most 
widely circulated papers in the world. 

In the autumn of 1877 she declined the nomination of the 
presidency of the National Woman's Christian Temperance 
Union, but she accepted it in 1879, when she was elected in 
Indianapolis, Ind., as the exponent of a liberal policy including 
state rights for the state societies, representation on a basis of 
paid membership and the advocacy of the ballot for women. At 
that time no Southern state except Maryland was represented 
in the national society and the total yearly income was only 
about $12.00. In 1881 Miss Willard made a tour of the 
Southern states, which reconstructed her views of the situation 
and conquered conservative prejudice and sectional opposition. 
Thus was given the initial impetus to the formation of the 
home protection party which it was desired should unite all 
good men and women in its ranks. During the following year 
Miss Willard completed her plan of visiting and organizing 
every state and territory in the United States, and of presenting 
her cause in every town and city that had reached a population 
of ten thousand. She visited the Pacific coast, and California, 
Oregon, and even British Columbia, were thoroughly organ- 



Women as Temperance Workers 657 

ized, ana more than twenty-five thousand miles of toilsome 
travel enabled her to meet the national convention, in Detroit, 
Michigan, in October, 1883, to celebrate the completion of its 
first decade with rejoicing over the complete organization of 
the Woman's Christian Temperance Union in each one of the 
forty-eight sub-divisions of the United States, Alaska not then 
included. In 1885 the national headquarters were removed 
from New York to Chicago and the White-Cross movement 
was adopted as a feature of the work of the national union. 
Because no other woman could be found to stand at the helm 
of this new movement, Miss Willard did so. No other move- 
ment of the work developed so rapidly. A great petition for 
the better legal protection of women and girls was presented to 
Congress with thousands of signatures. Mr. Powderly, chief 
of the Knights of Labor, through Miss Willard's influence, sent 
out ninety-two thousand petitions to local assemblies of the 
Knights to be signed, circulated and returned to her. Through 
the efforts of the temperance workers the same petition was 
circulated and presented for legislative action in nearly every 
state and territory. 

The sacrifices which Miss Willard has so freely macle for 
this work were repaid to her in abundant measure. She was 
called by Joseph Cook the most widely known and best-beloved 
woman in America, and the widespread influence of the 
Woman's Christian Temperance Union, in England, Canada 
and America is an imperishable monument to her place among 
the great of the world. 

The end of the career of Francis Willard, so far as her 
earthly life was concerned, was as truly religious as the great 
days of her power. As she lay upon her last bed of sickness 
after a hard day, she suddenly gazed intently on a picture of the 
Christ directly opposite her bed. Her eyes seemed to meet those 



42 



658 Part Taken by Women in American History 

of the compassionate Saviour and with her old eloquence, in the 
stillness, she said: 

"I am Merlin, and I am dying, 
But I'll follow the gleam." 

And a little later she said to the friends who gathered about 
her, "Oh, let me go away, let me be in peace ; I am so safe with 
Him. He has other worlds, and I want to go." And so still 
following the Christ gleam with a brave heart and a courageous 
step, the dauntless soul went on to follow her Lord to all worlds, 
whithersoever He may lead her. 

ANNIE ADAMS GORDON. 

Miss Annie Adams Gordon, vice-president of the National 
Women's Christian Temperance Union and honorary secretary 
of the World's Women's Christian Temperance Union, is one 
of the most unique figures in the temperance reform of to-day. 
Miss Gordon came into the work with Miss Willard. In 
1877 when Miss Willard was conducting a women's meeting for 
Mr. Moody, there was no one to play the organ. An earnest 
appeal was made and after waiting some moments, a young girl 
stepped forward and offered, saying. "As no one volunteers, I 
will do the best I can." This was Annie Gordon. Miss Willard 
was so attracted by her modesty and sweet nature that she 
persuaded her to come to her as private secretary, and thus 
began her work in the Women's Christian Temperance Union 
of this country. 

Miss Gordon was born in Boston but early in her child- 
hood her family removed to Auburndale, one of the suburbs 
of the former city. She was educated by a course in the Newton 
High School, Mount Holyoke College and Lasell Seminary. 
The many and varied offices held by Miss Gordon indicate 



Women as Temperance Workers 659 



the breadth of her view and the wide scope of her abilities, and 
identified with the interests of the Women's Christian Temper- 
ance Union almost from its inception, she has conserved and 
served these interests with love and loyalty. Loyalty may be 
said to be the crowning virtue of her character, a character 
possessing many of those sterling qualities which we have come 
to regard as the birthright of the native-born New Englander. 

Through her extensive travels on behalf of the Women's 
Christian Temperance Union, Miss Gordon has acquired an 
added breadth and culture which make her equally at home in 
social and official life. As honorary secretary of the World's 
Women's Christian Temperance Union, Miss Gordon enjoys 
almost a world-wide reputation, but it is as "the friend of the 
children" that she is best known on both sides of the Atlantic. 

As general secretary of the World's Loyal Temperance 
Legion (the branch of the organization work devoted to the 
boys and girls of this and other countries), Miss Gordon has 
made a large place for herself in the hearts and lives of the 
world's young people. She has written quite a number of 
musical compositions for this work and her "Marching Songs" 
in particular have been a conspicuous factor in popularizing the 
work of the Loyal Temperance Legion. By the terms of Miss 
Willard's will, Miss Gordon was made, in conjunction with 
Lady Henry Somerset, her literary executor. By request of 
the general officers of the National Women's Christian Tem- 
perance Union, she undertook to prepare a biography of Miss 
Willard and in a very short space of time she gave to the world 
"The Beautiful Life of Frances E. Willard." She has written 
several pieces of prose and poetry and contributed to the work 
"Questions Answered; a Manual of the Loyal Temperance 
Legion work," "Marching Songs for Young Crusaders" Nos. 
1, 2, 3 and 4, "The White Ribbon Birthday Book," "The Y 
Song Book," and "The White Ribbon Hymnal." Her style is 
terse and strong. 



660 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Miss Gordon is altogether a strong, well-poised, gentle 
and lovable woman, and has made for herself a noble place in 
the world's work. Willard Fountain, which stands at the 
entrance of Willard Hall, in Chicago, is the embodiment of her 
own thought and work. The money for its erection was raised 
by having the children give their dimes and sign total absti- 
nence pledges on red, white and blue cards, which were used 
to decorate the Women's Christian Temperance Union rooms 
at the Columbian Exposition. 

She was Miss Willard's constant companion during the last 
years and especially the last weeks of Miss Willard's life. The 
life use of Rest Cottage, at Evanston, 111., was given to Miss 
Gordon by Miss Willard, but she has never used it as a source 
of income to herself, but has held the gift as a sacred trust, keep- 
ing the property in order, and providing a caretaker, so that 
tourists and friends of the Women's Christian Temperance 
Union may visit the rooms and home made sacred by Miss 
Willard. 

LILLIAN M. N. STEVENS. 

Mrs. Lillian M. N. Stevens, national president of the Woman's Christian 
Temperance Union, was born in Dover, Me., and has always made her home 
within the borders of the Pine Tree state. Like so many women of the New 
England states, Mrs. Stevens' first public work was in the schoolroom as a 
teacher, but she early left this sphere and at the age of twenty-one married Mr. 
M. Stevens, of Stroudwater, at that time a charming little suburb of Portland, 
Me. Born a prohibitionist, Mrs. Stevens early began her temperance activities 
and the following data holds an interest for all : "Mrs. Stevens first met Miss 
Willard at Old Orchard, Me., in the summer of 1875, and there aided in the 
organization of the State Woman's Christian Temperance Union, of which she 
was elected treasurer. She held this position for three years. 

"For many years Mrs. Stevens was reckoned as Neal Dow's chief coadjutor, 
and since his death she is recognized throughout the state as the leader of the 
prohibition forces. Indeed, in the well-fought battle of 1884 which placed prohibi- 
tion in the state constitution, Mrs. Stevens won for herself a fame as organizer 
and agitator hardly second to Neal Dow himself. Some of the triumphs of the 
Maine Woman's Christian Temperance Union under her leadership have been 
the raising of the age of protection to sixteen years, a strong Scientific-Temperance- 
Instruction law, and the constitutional amendment to which we have already 
referred." 



Women as Temperance Workers 66i 



Mrs. Stevens, in addition to her temperance work, is prominently identified 
with many other reform and philanthropic movements of her city and state. She 
is one of the chief promoters of the Temporary Home for Women and Children 
in Portland and the State Industrial School for girls. She represented the state 
of Maine on the board of lady managers at the World's Columbian Exposition. 
To the executive ability essential to successful administration, Mrs. Stevens adds 
rare gifts as a speaker. Socially as well as officially, she has won recognition 
from some of old England's noblest houses and her home is the gathering place 
for the multitude of her co-laborers, her many friends and the philanthropic 
people of the city of Portland. 

MRS. WOOD-ALLEN CHAPMAN. 

Mrs. Wood-Allen Chapman, born at Lakeside, near Toledo, Ohio, is the 
only daughter of Dr. Mary Wood-Allen, the noted lecturer, author and editor. 
She attended various schools, including what is now known as Lake Erie College, 
and the Ann Arbor High School, from which she graduated in 1895. The follow- 
ing fall she entered the University of Michigan. Being unable, because of threat- 
ened ill-health, to finish the year's work, she accompanied her mother on a trip 
and made her first appearance on the lecture platform. Two years of college 
followed, when failing health on the part of her mother called her from her 
studies to take up the duties of acting editor of the magazine owned and edited 
by her mother, then known as "The New Crusade," still being published under 
the name of "American Motherhood." With this she remained associated both 
in the business management and editorially until her marriage, in 1902, to Mr. 
William Brewster Chapman, of Cleveland, Ohio. 

For several years following this event her home was in northern Michigan, 
from whence she began to contribute to such periodicals as The Congregationalist, 
The Ladies' World, The Union Signal, The Christian Endeavor World, etc. 

In 1905 New York City became her home and she at once joined The 
Woman's Press Club, The Mother's Club, The Woman's Forum, The Pen and 
Brush Club, and The American Society of Sanitary and Moral Prophylaxis. In 
August, 1905, her only child, a son, was born. In October, 1907, she was appointed 
national superintendent of the Purity Department of the Woman's Christian 
Temperance Union. In this capacity she wrote a large number of articles and 
leaflets, including her book "The Moral Problem of the Children." In April, 
1910, she became editor of a department in the Ladies Home Journal, and in 
June of the same year, was appointed associate superintendent of the Moral 
Educational Department of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. This 
position, however, together with her national superintendency she resigned in the 
spring of 191 1 on account of threatened ill-health, and in order to devote herself 
more exclusively to her literary work. 

SARAH DOAN LA FETRA 

Mrs. Sarah Doan La Fetra, temperance and missionary worker, was bom 
in Sabina, Ohio, June 11, 1843. She is the daughter of Rev. Timothy and Mary 



662 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Ann Custis Doan, her mother being of the Virginia Custis family. In early 
youth, religious truths made a deep impression on her mind and heart, and at 
sixteen she was converted and became an active member of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church. She improved every opportunity for study in the public schools 
and prepared herself in the Normal School of Prof. Holbrook in Lebanon, Ohio, 
for teaching. She taught in a graded school in Fayette County, Ohio, for some 
time before her marriage with George Henry La Fetra, of Warren County, Ohio. 
Three sons were born to them, the youngest dying in infancy. 

Mrs. La Fetra was a charter member of the Woman's Christian Temperance 
Union, of the District of Columbia, was the treasurer for some time, and from 
1885 served as president for eight years. She was one of the founders of the 
Florence Crittendon Hope and Help Mission in Washington. All local missionary 
work has had her sympathetic support. She presided for years over a temperance 
hotel in the heart of the nation's Capital, and not only did she make it attractive 
but successful financially. 

She is connected with the Metropolitan Memorial Methodist Episcopal 
Church. She has at various times been president of the Woman's Foreign Mis- 
sionary Society and of the Ladies' Association. She is the vice-president of the 
Washington District, Association for Foreign Missions. A recent honor has been 
conferred on her by the Baltimore branch of the Woman's Foreign Society in 
voting to erect a building at Bidar, India, to be called "The Sarah D. La Fetra 
Memorial," in recognition of her effective labors in that society. 

Mrs. La Fetra possesses a warm heart and generous public spirit, so that 
it has been said of her "every woman's work is made lighter by coming in touch 
with her." She is an intensely patriotic woman and the historic Metropolitan 
Methodist Church, so well known as the church of Grant, Logan and McKinley, 
is supplied with beautiful flags largely through her efforts. 

FRANCES E. BEAUCHAMP. 

Mrs. Beauchamp, reformer and lecturer, was born in Madison County, 
Kentucky, in the home of her paternal ancestor, General Samuel Estill, and was 
of the fifth generation born on the old farm which was taken up from the Com- 
monwealth of Virginia by his progenitors. She was an only child, of a highly 
imaginative temperament and spent her childhood in dreamland. Trees, flowers 
and animals became sentient beings with a vivid personality, among which she 
moved and conversed. Hours were daily given to this imaginative existence and 
but for the fact that her parents were intensely practical and insisted on regular 
habits and a systematic performance of the tasks assigned, she would probably 
have gone through life a visionary, and not the highly sensitive, keenly responsive, 
and eminently practical woman that her mature years have given to her day and 
generation. She attended a private school in Richmond, Kentucky, until her 
ninth year and established herself at the head of her classes, being prominently 
expert in mathematics. She was devoted to her teacher, the Reverend R. L. Breck, 
and was deeply grieved when her parents removed her from this school to 
Science Hill, Shelbyville, Kentucky. Her education covered the English branches, 



Women as Temperance Workers 663 

music and French. She was graduated from this institution in her sixteenth year 
and was to have been finished abroad, but instead married during the year, J. H. 
Beauchamp, a rising young lawyer, who ever shared her ambitions and encouraged 
her work. She has been devoted to her church and a local philanthropist from 
her youth. In 1886 she joined the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, and 
in the fall of that year was made corresponding secretary of the State Union. 
The following year she was appointed superintendent of juvenile work for Ken- 
tucky. In 1894 she was made one of the recording secretaries of the National 
Woman's Christian Temperance Union, and in 1895 was elected president of the 
Kentucky Woman's Christian Temperance Union, which office she is ably filling 
at the present time. She is a speaker of rare quality, uniting eloquence and force 
in a logical presentation of facts. 

JENNIE McKEE GRANDFIELD. 

Mrs. Jennie McKee Grandfield, the wife of the first assistant postmaster 
general, was born in Troy, Missouri. Her father, Hon. A. V. McKee, a distin- 
guished lawyer of Troy and a member of the Missouri Constitutional Convention, 
died in 1884. Her mother, who is still living, was Miss Clara Wheeler, daughter 
of Captain Wheeler, a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West 
Point, who served with distinction in the Seminole and other Indian wars. Miss 
McKee attended the public schools of Troy and was graduated from the Troy 
Collegiate Institute in 1884. She was a noted belle in a town famed for its beau- 
tiful women. On December 23, 1885, she married Charles P. Grandfield and 
returned with him to Washington, where he was employed in the post office 
department, and they have since resided in the Capital city. 

Mrs. Grandfield has taken an active interest in church work ever since, 
and at present is a member of the Gurley Memorial Presbyterian Church. Many 
years ago she joined the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and has been an 
active worker in that organization. At present she is treasurer of the District 
of Columbia Branch of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. She is also 
a prominent member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and is regent 
of her chapter in that association. Mrs. Grandfield is possessed of a fine personal 
presence and is universally beloved by all who know her. 

She has two charming daughters. The elder, Mrs. Clara C. White, is the 
wife of Mr. H. F. White, an attorney-at-law in Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania. 
The younger daughter, Miss Helen, was graduated from the Central High School of 
Washington in June, 191 1. 

LELIA DROMGOLD EMIG. 

Lelia Dromgold Emig, eldest daughter of Walter A. and Martha Ellen 
Shull Dromgold, was born near Saville, Perry County, Penna. Left motherless 
at the age of nine, her father moved to York, Pa., where he has since engaged in 
extensive manufacturing business. 



664 Part Taken by Women in American History 

In 1890 she accompanied members of the Young Women's Christian Tem- 
perance Union on a Flower Mission visit to the county jail and became interested 
in temperance reform. 

In 1894 she was married to Clayton E. Emig, an attorney-at-law, of Wash- 
ington, D. C. Here she immediately became associated with the District Woman's 
Christian Temperance Union and has served as a local president, general secretary 
of work and state corresponding secretary; and has written several temperance 
leaflets of merit. 

Mrs. Emig is active in church and rescue mission work and is a member 
of the Daughters of the American Revolution, tracing her ancestry to the following 
patriots of the Revolutionary War: John Hench, Jacob Hartman, Zachariah 
Rice, Nicholas Ickes, John Hartman, Frederick Shull, Thomas Donally and 
Abigail Rice, of Pennsylvania. 

"The Dromgold family in America" is her latest published contribution to 
genealogy. 

In 1909 she organized a Society of Children of the American Revolution, 
which was named by Mrs. William Howard Taft in honor of her distinguished 
ancestor, Thomas Welles, the fourth colonial governor of Connecticut. The 
society has 100 members and includes many of the official families of Washington. 

Mrs. Emig is the mother of three daughters, Evelyn, Gladys, and Lelia, 
who are enthusiastic followers in her philanthropic work. 

MAUD CLARK HARVEY. 

Mrs.. Maud Clark Harvey, Sunday school and missionary worker, was born 
in Plattsburg, New York, August 8, 1865, and is the daughter of Judge George 
Lafayette and J. Ann Walling Clark, and is the sister of Dr. Nathaniel Walling 
Clark, now the efficient superintendent of the Italian mission work of the Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church, Rome, Italy. This fact may possibly serve to accentuate 
Mrs. Harvey's interest in foreign missions. 

She was educated in the public and high schools of Plattsburg and was 
married to Evert Lansing Harvey, of Boonville, N. Y., on June 10, 1890. Coming 
to reside in Washington, D. C, they connected themselves with the Metropolitan 
Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church, of which Mr. Harvey is recording steward. 
They have two sons, George Lansing and Walling Evert, who are both students 
at Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn., of which institution their uncle, 
John Cheeseman Clark, is president of the board of trustees. 

Mrs. Harvey is district secretary of the Woman's Foreign Missionary 
Society of Washington District and superintendent of the young people's work 
of the Baltimore Branch ; she teaches a large class of young men in the Sunday 
school and is recording secretary of the Ladies' Association. She is a Daughter 
of the American Revolution and is possessed of a fine personal presence and 
great repose of spirit. 

SUSAN LUCRETIA DEWHIRST. 

Mrs. Susan Lucretia Dewhirst, missionary worker and organizer, was born 
in Washington, D. C, on February 19, 1876. and is the daughter of Mary Kath- 



Women as Temperance Workers 665 

erine and Junewell Simonds Hodgkins. Her father was a cousin of Justice 
Salmon P. Chase. She was educated in the public schools of Washington, gradu- 
ating in 1892. She is possessed of a deeply sympathetic nature and a philan- 
thropic spirit. 

Connecting herself in early life with the Metropolitan Memorial Methodist 
Episcopal Church, she became engaged in Sunday school, Epworth League and 
other church activities. For years she has been the efficient president of one of 
its missionary societies, "The World Wide Circle," and has been highly success- 
ful in raising funds for the support of orphans, Bible women, etc., in foreign 
lands. She has been acting treasurer of the Washington District Woman's Foreign 
Missionary Society for some years, and is the statistical secretary for the Balti- 
more branch of that association. 

She was married to William Sherman Dewhirst, of Illinois, in 1897, he 
having connected himself with government service in Washington, D. C. He is 
a steward of the Metropolitan Church. They have one son, twelve years of age. 

Mrs. Dewhirst is a daughter of the American Revolution and recording 
secretary of "Our Flag" Chapter. She has fine financial ability and is a welcome 
ally in every good work. 

THERESA A. WILLIAMS. 

Mrs. Theresa A. Williams, temperance worker and philanthropist, was born 
September 22, 1853, in Detroit, Michigan, and is the daughter of J. A. and Martha 
Hepburn Riopelle. She is descended on her mother's side from the Clements of 
New England, through whom she has common ancestry with Frances E. Willard, 
and on her father's side with the well-known French family of Riopelles, of 
Detroit. 

She was blest with a liberal education and a broad and generous public 
spirit. She was married to Henry E. Williams on November 15, 1876, residing 
for many years in Washington, D. C. Mr. Williams is assistant chief of the 
United States weather bureau and has always been in the fullest accord with her 
temperance and philanthropic work. Mrs. Williams is prominently connected with 
the Woman's Christian Temperance Union of the District of Columbia, which 
she joined in 1882, and is official parliamentarian for that body. She is president 
of Chapin Union, its pioneer auxiliary, and was for many years district treasurer. 
She was so efficient that an article printed in the daily papers giving a sketch of 
the officers who planned the great national convention of 1900 called her the 
"Sherman Financier." She served for ten years as treasurer of the National 
Missionary Association of the Universalist Church of which society she is now 
the president. 

EMMA SANFORD SHELTON. 

Mrs. Emma Sanford Shelton, president of the Woman's Christian Tem- 
perance Union, of the District of Columbia, was born in Westmoreland County, 
Va., in 1849. She was the daughter of Julia Ellis Bibb and Charles Henry San- 
ford, a lawyer residing at Montrose, the county seat. 



666 Part Taken by Women in American History 

She was educated in the public schools of Washington, and in October, 
1872, was married to Charles William Shelton, of Boston, Mass. They have one 
son, Arthur Bentley Shelton. 

Mrs. Shelton has been connected with the Woman's Christian Temperance 
Union, of the District of Columbia from the time of its organization in 1874. As 
superintendent of narcotics, she was instrumental in securing the passage by Con- 
gress of a law prohibiting the sale of cigarettes and tobacco to minors under 
sixteen years of age. While working for this law, she secured petitions in its- 
favor signed by nearly every physician in the city, the superintendent of public 
schools, all the supervising principals and nearly every teacher, as well as by 
pastors of all denominations. The petitions were ordered printed by the United 
States Senate and attracted such attention and created such an interest on the 
subject, that the bill prepared by her was speedily reported by the senate committee 
with favorable recommendations, and became a law. 

Mrs. Shelton was recording secretary of the District of Columbia Woman's 
Christian Temperance Union for more than twenty years, and for several years 
was the assistant national superintendent of the department of legislation. When, 
in 1901, it was decided by the District Union to secure a building of its own, the 
matter was placed in the hands of a board of trustees, of which Mrs. Shelton was 
made financial secretary. The building, 522 Sixth Street, which is the Woman's 
Christian Temperance Union Headquarters, was purchased and entirely paid for 
within eight years by money raised almost entirely by the members of the organi- 
zation under the efficient leadership of the president of the board of trustees. 

Mrs. Shelton has been for many years an active member of the Vermont 
Avenue Christian Church, a teacher in the Sunday school, and was for several 
years president of the board of Deaconesses of that church. She is a vice-president 
of the Interdenominational Missionary Union of the District of Columbia, and 
also represents her denomination in the Interdenominational Council of Women 
for Christian and Patriotic Service, whose headquarters are in New York City. 
She has recently been appointed on the advisory board of the Washington Sem- 
inary for young ladies. 

Mrs. Shelton has developed great ability as a leader in temperance and 
other Christian work, and has the peculiar genius of being able to secure the 
hearty co-operation of her associates in carrying out the plans formulated by 
herself and other leaders in the movements in which she is interested for the 
uplift of humanity. 

MARGARET DYE ELLIS. 

Mrs. Margaret Dye Ellis, daughter of Dr. Clarkson and Margaret Dye, 
was born in the city of New York. Her parents, who were members of the Anti- 
Slavery Society, were foremost also in benevolent and philanthropic endeavor. 
At the age of eighteen years, Margaret married Jonathan T. Ellis, a business man 
of New York but a native of Maine, and during their forty odd years of married 
life, in every possible way did he second his wife's efforts for the betterment of 
the world. 



Women as Temperance Workers 667 

Four children were born to them, two of whom with their father have 
passed on. During 1873-1874, Mrs. Ellis with her family were sojourning for a 
time in California. The great "temperance crusade," which had started in Ohio, 
found its way to the Pacific coast, and Mrs. Ellis, with other women, united in 
a movement to bring about better conditions in that western state. Upon their 
return to New Jersey in 1876, she identified herself with the Woman's Christian 
Temperance Union of that state, and in 1880 was elected corresponding secretary 
of the state union, a position she held for fifteen years. In 1895 she was appointed 
legislative superintendent for the National Woman's Christian Temperance Union, 
a position she still holds. For sixteen years she has spent her winters, or the 
time during the sessions of Congress at Washington, D. C, looking after the 
interests of temperance legislation. Mrs. Ellis has done much platform work, 
also, having spoken at Chautauquas, conventions, etc., in nearly every state in the 
union. Mrs. Ellis was appointed by President Taft as delegate to the Thirteenth 
International Non-Alcoholic Congress which met at The Hague in September, 191 1, 
an official certificate from the department of state making her a representative of 
this government 

ELLA ALEXANDER BOOLE. 

Mrs. Ella Alexander Boole was born at Van Wert, Ohio, where she 
attended the graded and high schools, after which she entered the University of 
Wooster at Wooster, Ohio, being graduated in the classical course in 1878. Her 
record in college was second in her class of thirty-one, twenty-eight of whom 
were young men, and she was awarded the first prize in the Junior Oratorical 
Contest. After her graduation, she served as assistant in the high school in her 
native town for five years and in 1883 was married to the Rev. William H. Boole, 
an honored member of the New York East Conference of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church. 

Her interest in the temperance work began at the time of the Crusade 
when as a schoolgirl she came in touch with that mighty movement. Her plat- 
form work began in 1883 and since that time she has been actively engaged in 
the prosecution of religious, temperance and philanthropic work. She has served 
New York Woman's Christian Temperance Union as an officer since 1885, having 
been elected corresponding secretary, first vice-president, secretary of the Young 
Woman's Branch, and in 1898 was elected president of the state. In 1903 she 
was elected secretary of the Woman's Board of Home Missions of the Presby- 
terian Church, United States of America, and her active leadership in home 
missionary work was felt not only in that church but in Interdenominational 
home missionary endeavor. In 1909 she was again elected president of New 
York State Woman's Christian Temperance Union, which position she still holds. 

As a member of the Woman's Press Club, chairman of the Woman's Anti- 
Vice Committee of New York City, president of the Allied Forces for Civic and 
Moral Betterment in the state of New York, and of many important committees 
in philanthropic work, she is well known among literary oeople and her platform 
experience has extended all over the nation. 



668 Part Taken by Women in American History 



ELLA HOOVER THACHER. 

Mrs. Ella Hoover Thacher is of old Holland and English descent. She 
taught school when she was fifteen and one-half years old; was prepared for 
college, but too young to enter; married at 17; began her temperance work when 
only five years old; joined church at twelve years of age; taught a Sunday school 
class of three little children when eleven years of age; moved to Florence, New 
Jersey, after her marriage and with the help of her husband, organized a Sunday 
school there, from which a church grew, with an attendance of more than 600 
people. They organized settlement work — cooking, sewing classes, boys' and 
girls' clubs, evangelistic work and helpers in work with boys in library; began 
Woman's Christian Temperance Union work with children of the town and a 
Woman's Christian Temperance Union followed; was elected county president of 
Burlington County Woman's Christian Temperance Union in 1893 ; made national 
superintendent of soldiers' and sailors' work; made world's superintendent of 
soldiers' and sailors' work; has traveled all over the United States and many 
foreign countries in interest of this department ; visited every National Soldiers' 
Home and many State Homes; organized Christian Temperance Unions. Over 
10,000 soldiers and sailors in forts, barracks, navy yards and on the large battle- 
ships and cruisers have pledged against strong drink through her influence; many 
of these are filling places of trust in the business world to-day. Some of them 
are preaching the Gospel of Christ. 

Mrs. Thacher has been sent by the World's Woman's Christian Temperance 
Union to Mexico where President Diaz became interested in the work ; also sent 
to Cuba and the Bahama Islands. Visiting government reservations while the 
canteen was in them, she learned of the dreadful havoc it was making and 
traveled extensively telling the people of the country of its dreadful wickedness; 
also arousing her own organization which, with other temperance societies and 
the Christian people of the nation, helped in the abolishing of the curse. 

For twenty-five years she was treasurer of an associational Woman's 
Foreign Missionary Society; is connected with the National Congress of Mothers 
and is on many local boards of philanthropic societies. For years she was the 
only woman on the executive board of the New Jersey State Red Cross Society, 
having been instrumental in its organization. 

MARY HARRIS ARMOR. 

Mrs. Mary Harris Armor of Eastman, Georgia, was called "The Southern 
Joan of Arc." She is state president of the Woman's Christian Temperance 
Union and has electrified the whole community, North and South with her match- 
less eloquence, her unanswerable logic, and her magnetic personality, as she has 
gone from city to city pleading the cause of prohibition. Mrs. Armor is credited 
with being the main factor in the passage of the state prohibitory law for Georgia, 
and she is now in constant demand as a speaker at Chautauquas and all over the 
country. Mrs. Armor's chief claim to distinction, aside from her platform work, 



Women as Temperance Workers 669 

is the fact that she raised a subscription of $7,000.00 in a single evening, for the 
work of the National Woman's Christian Temperance Union. One who was 
present at that memorable meeting, said : "A panic was on, the banks had closed 
down. Everyone who had money had it glued to the bottom of his pocket. When 
the little Georgia woman announced that she was going to raise $5,000 before 
she sat down, everybody smiled. She made no speech but talked simply, but the 
appeal went to the hearts of every one present. She was pleading passionately 
for her people, she was a Joan of Arc calling on her countrymen to rise, buckle 
on the sword and defend themselves. She was eloquent, formidable, tragic. Her 
humor would steal a smile from the lips of grief; she was malevolent and 
objurgatory against her enemies ; she was strong in her rhetorical efforts and 
intensity. Chaste, eloquent and moving a marvelous woman truly!" She said 
all that S,ooo people could stand and $7,000 was raised. Mrs. Armor is in demand 
all over the country to speak for temperance and philanthropy. 

EDITH SMITH DAVIS. 

Mrs. Edith Smith Davis is of English descent and was born and bred near 
the childhood home of Frances E. Willard in Wisconsin. Milton College, Lawrence 
University, and Wellesley College contributed to her education. From Lawrence 
University she received the degree of A.B., A.M. and of Litt. D. After taking 
post-graduate work at Wellesley College, she taught English literature for three 
years in Clark University. In 1884 she was married to the Reverend J. S. Davis, 
D.D., and began her active work in the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. 
In this organization she has held a great variety of offices and departments, aiding 
as much by her pen as by her voice. She is the author of a number of books, 
and has constantly written for the press. Her business ability was manifested 
when she aided in the raising of three hundred thousand dollars for the endow- 
ment of her "Alma Mater." After the death of Mrs. Mary Hunt in 1905, Mrs. 
Davis was elected to the superintendency of the Department of Scientific Tem- 
perance Instruction and Scientific Temperance Investigation of the Woman's 
Christian Temperance Union. During the five years that she has held this posi- 
tion she has been sent at a delegate to the Anti-Alcoholic Congress held at Stock- 
holm in 1907, to London in 1909, and to The Hague in 1911. Mrs. Davis con- 
siders her most important work to be the incorporation of courses of study in 
the higher schools, the publication of the "Temperance Educational Quarterly," 
and the holding of prize essay contests in the public schools. 

SUSAN HAMMOND BARNEY. 

Mrs. Barney, evangelist, was born in Massachusetts. In 1854 she married 
Joseph K. Barney, of Providence, Rhode Island. She was the founder of the 
Prisoners' Aid Society of Rhode Island. Has done work with the Woman's 
Foreign Missionary Society and was the first president of the Rhode Island 
Woman's Christian Temperance Union. Is an evangelist of note, and was largely 
instrumental in making prohibition a constitutional enactment in Rhode Island in 



670 Part Taken by Women in American History 

1886; and also to her is due the securing of police matrons for the station houses 
of large cities. She has been one of the helpful women in America to the cause 
of her sisters. 

JESSIE WILSON MANNING. 

Author and lecturer. Was born October 26, 1855, in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. 
An active worker and eloquent speaker on literary subjects and for the cause of 
temperance. 

TEMPERANCE LEADERS. 

Mrs. Mary Osburn, born in Rush County, Indiana, July 28, 1845, while 
matron and teacher of sewing and dressmaking in the New Orleans University 
accomplished much as superintendent of the Woman's Christian Temperance 
Union among the colored people throughout Louisiana. 

Mrs. Mary Jane Walter is secretary of the department of evangelistic work 
in the Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Iowa, and co-worker with J. 
Ellen Foster. She has attended many conventions, notably one in which the 
Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Iowa withdrew from auxiliaryship 
with the national association, because of its opposition to the political women's 
Christian temperance work. 

Mrs. Mary Brook Allen's remarkable executive talent in reform and philan- 
thropic work, combined with all the grace of a born orator, have made her such 
a power in the work for temperance that she has received the unqualified praise 
of such noted men as Doctor Heber Newton and Doctor Theodore Tyler. 

Miss Julia A. Arms, to her the white ribbon and the silver cross were the 
symbols of life and her short life was crowned with the success of her brilliant 
work as editor of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union Department in the 
Chicago Inter-Ocean and as editor of the Union Signal. 

Mrs. Ruth Allen Armstrong, as national superintendent of heredity for the 
Woman's Christian Temperance Union, issued leaflets and letters of instruction 
to aid in the development of the highest physical, mental and spiritual interest in 
those of her sex. Her lectures on heredity and motherhood were the first public 
instruction issued by the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and their effect 
for social purity has been tremendous. They carried convictions that for the 
highest development of manhood and womanhood, parentage must be assumed as 
the highest, the holiest, and most sacred responsibility entrusted to us by the 
Creator. 

Mrs. Lepha Eliza Bailey, whose girlhood was passed in Wisconsin when 
that part of the country was an almost unbroken wilderness, afterwards became 
a lecturer of national repute upon temperance and women's suffrage. In 1880 
Mrs. Bailey was invited to speak under the auspices of the National Prohibition 
Alliance. She responded and continued to work in the East until that society 
disbanded, and finally merged with the prohibition party, under whose auspices she 
worked for years over the temperance field. 

Mrs Frances Julia Barnes, who in 1875 became associated with Frances E. 
Willard, in conducting Gospel temperance meetings in lower Farwell Hall, Chi- 



Women as Temperance Workers 671 

cago, was afterwards given charge of the young women's department of the 
National Woman's Christian Temperance Union. Later she was made superin- 
tendent of the world's Young Women's Christian Temperance work and during 
every year she traveled extensively giving addresses and organizing new local 
unions. She was one of the most effective organizers that the cause of temperance 
had in the early days. 

Mrs. Josephine Penfield Cushman Bateman is one of the most devoted 
missionaries in the cause of temperance, for years managing the interests of the 
Woman's Christian Temperance Union at Asheville, North Carolina. When she 
was sixty-one years old, but with the same ardor for temperance as burned in her 
heart at the opening of the temperance crusade, twenty years before, made a lec- 
ture tour of every state and territory and through the Hawaiian Islands. She 
traveled sixteen thousand miles and gave three hundred lectures. She has also 
published a long line of valuable leaflets on temperance. 

Mrs. Mary Frank Browne is the author of an interesting temperance book, 
"Overcome," portraying the evils of fashionable wine drinking and intemperance. 
In 1876 she organized the San Francisco Young Women's Christian Association, 
and it was through her efforts that the first free kindergarten among the very 
poorest people was established. Later she assisted in organizing the California 
Woman's Christian Temperance Union, of which she served as president for 
many years. 

Mrs. Caroline Buell, the daughter of an itinerant minister, knew the trials 
of hard living and high thinking pertaining to that life and came out of it to work 
for temperance with her character developed on ruggedly noble lines. She entered 
heartily into the work, and her sound judgment, her powers of discrimination, 
her energy and her acquaintance with facts and persons made her at once a power 
in the temperance association. For many years she was reelected as corresponding 
secretary of the National Woman's Christian Temperance Union. 

Mrs. Sarah C. Thorpe Bull, wife of the late Ole Bull, the famous violinist, 
was long the superintendent of the department of sanitary and economic cooking 
in the National Woman's Christian Temperance Union. Mrs. Bull was largely 
instrumental in securing the monument to Ericsson on Commonwealth Avenue, 
Boston. Her home was for years in Cambridge, Mass. 

Mrs. Helen Louise Bullock gave up her profession of music, in which she had 
achieved some prominence, to become a practical volunteer in the work for 
suffrage and temperance. In 1889 she was appointed national organizer of the 
Woman's Christian Temperance Union and in that work went from Maine to 
California, traveling 13,000 miles in one year. During the first five years of her 
work she held over twelve hundred meetings, organizing a hundred and eight 
new unions and securing over ten thousand new members, active and honorary. 

Mrs. Emeline S. Burlingame was the acknowledged leader in the securing 
of a prohibition amendment to the constitution of Rhode Island in 1884. In 1891 
Mrs. Burlingame resigned the presidency of the Rhode Island Woman's Christian 
Temperance Union and was elected National Woman's Christian Temperance 
Evangelist and made her tour over the country addressing large audiences on the 
various phases of temperance work. 



6/2 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Miss Julia Colman originated the Temperance School that marked a new- 
departure in the temperance work among children, using text-books, tracts, charts 
and experiments. For fifteen years she was superintendent of literature in the 
Woman's National Temperance Union. 

Mrs. Anna Smeed Benjamin, of Michigan, is one of the best known orators 
in the cause of temperance. She was a logical, convincing, enthusiastic speaker, 
with a deep powerful voice and urgent manner, which made her a notable presiding 
officer. She was also a skilled parliamentarian and became superintendent of the 
national department of parliamentary uses in the Woman's Christian Temperance 
Union. The drills which she conducted in the white ribboners' "School of Methods" 
and elsewhere were always largely attended by both men and women. 

Mrs. Sarah Hearst Black bore the labor of self-denial incident to the life of 
a home missionary's wife in Kansas, Nebraska and in Idaho, and achieved a splendid 
work of organization as president of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union in 
Nebraska. 

Miss Alice Stone Blackwell, daughter of Lucy Stone and Henry B. Blackwell, 
has come forward in the cause of temperance, as is shown in the small weekly paper 
of which she is the editor. This is called The Woman's Column and is also 
largely devoted to suffrage. 

Mrs. Ellen A. Dayton Blair, of Iowa, as national organizer in the temperance 
cause, visited nearly every state and territory as well as Canada, and is a member 
of nearly every national convention. 

Mrs. Ann Weaver Bradley has done notable work for temperance in Kansas 
and Michigan. From young womanhood she has had an inherent hatred for the 
destroying agents in narcotics, and has done splendid work for the cause, being 
especially fitted for it by her gifts of persistence, thoroughness of research and her 
love of humanity. 

Mrs. Martha McClellan Brown worked strenuously as organizer of the 
National Prohibition Alliance and made her husband's newspaper the vehicle of a 
vigorous warfare against the liquor traffic. Later, her husband and she were 
appointed to the presidency and vice-presidency of Cincinnati, Wesleyan College, 
which offered them a field for propagating ideas of temperance in the young minds 
brought under their control. 

CYNTHIA S. BURNETT. 

Miss Cynthia S. Burnett passed her early life in Ohio, but her first "White 
Ribbon" work was done in Illinois, in 1879, later answering calls for help in Florida, 
Tennessee, Ohio and Pennsylvania. In 1885 she was made state organizer of 
Ohio, and the first year of this treaty she lectured one hundred and sixty-five times, 
besides holding meetings in the daytime and organizing over forty unions. Her 
voice failing, she accepted a call to Utah as teacher in the Methodist Episcopal 
College, in Salt Lake City. While living there she was made territorial president of 
the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, and eight unions and fifteen loyal 
legions were organized by her. Each month one or more meetings were held by 
her and the work was further indorsed in a column of a Mormon paper which she 



Women as Temperance Workers 673 

edited. Later, she spent a year as state organizer in California and Nevada, and 
for these efficient services in the West she was made a national organizer in 1889. 
She spends the evening of her life as preceptress of her Alma Mater, which has 
become Farmington College. 

Mrs. Mary Towne Burt began her work for temperance with the first 
crusade in Ohio and continued without intermission for many years. In March, 
1874, she addressed a great audience in the Auburn Opera House on temperance and 
immediately afterward was elected president of the Auburn Woman's Christian 
Temperance Union, holding the office two years. She was a delegate to the first 
national convention held in Cleveland, Ohio, 1874, an d was eventually promoted 
in the organization until she was made managing editor of the Woman's Temper- 
ance Union, the first official organ of the national union. In 1877 she was 
elected corresponding secretary of the national union, retaining the position for 
three years, and during that term of office she opened the first headquarters of the 
national union in the Bible House, New York City. In 1882 she was elected 
president of the New York State Union and during the years of her presidency it 
increased from five thousand to twenty-one thousand members, and from a 
hundred and seventy-nine to eight hundred and forty-two local unions. 

Mrs. Matilda B. Carse, whose young son was run over and instantly killed 
by a wagon driven by a drunken man through the streets of Chicago, was brought 
by this tragedy to register a vow that until the last hour of her life she would 
devote every power of which she was possessed to annihilate the liquor traffic. She 
has been president of the Chicago Central Woman's Temperance Union since 1878. 
To Mrs .Carse is due the credit of establishing the first creche in Chicago, known 
as the Bethesda Day Nursery. Besides this, several other nurseries, two free 
kindergartens, two gospel temperance unions, the Anchorage Mission, a home for 
erring girls; a reading room for men, two dispensaries for the poor and two 
industrial schools have been established through Mrs. Carse's energetic manage- 
ment, and these charities are supported at a cost of over ten thousand dollars 
yearly. Mrs. Carse personally raised almost the entire amount and yet she has never 
received any compensation whatever for her services to the public. She founded 
the Woman's Temperance Publishing Association and in January, 1880, the first 
number of the Signal was published. This was a large sixteen page weekly paper 
and two years later when Our Union was merged with it, it became the Union 
Signal, the national organ of the society. In this publishing business Mrs. Carse 
started the first stock company composed entirely of women as no man can own 
stock in the Woman's Temperance Publishing Association. Mrs. Carse was president 
and financial factor of this association from its inception. The great building, the 
national headquarters of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, is a monument 
to her life work. 

Mrs. Clara Christiana Chapin, prominent member of the Woman's Christian 
Temperance Union, in Nebraska, wrote much for the press on women and temper- 
ance questions. An Englishwoman by birth, Mrs. Chapin's life work has been of 
great benefit to America, her pen and personal influence aiding materially in the 
securing of the temperance, educational and scientific law for the state in which 
she lived. 

43 



674 Part Taken by Women in American History 



Mrs. Sallie F. Chap in, has always been a firm believer in prohibition as the 
sole remedy for intemperance. In the Woman's Christian Temperance Union she 
was conspicuous for years, serving as state president and she did much to extend 
that order in the South where conservatism hindered it for a long time. In 1881 she 
attended the convention in Washington, where she made a brilliant reply to the 
address of welcome on behalf of the South. A forceful and brilliant writer, she was 
at one time president of the Women's Press Association of the South. In the 
Chicago Woman's Christian Temperance Convention in 1S82 when the Prohibition 
Home Protection Party was formed, she was made a member of the executive 
committee and by pen and voice she popularized that movement in the South. 

Mrs. Louise L. Chase, in 1886, represented her state of Rhode Island, in the 
national convention of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, in Minneapolis, 
Minn. In 1891 she was elected state superintendent of scientific instruction in 
the schools of Middletown, R. I. 

Mrs. Elizabeth Coit, of Ohio, a well-known humanitarian and temperance 
worker throughout the West. During the Civil War she was a member of the 
committee of three appointed to draft the constitution of the Soldiers' Aid Society. 
She was chosen president of the first Woman's Suffrage Association organized at 
Columbus and for many years served as treasurer of the Ohio Woman Suffrage 
Association. 

Mrs. Cordelia Throop Cole, of Iowa, took a most conspicuous part in the 
temperance crusade of her state, riding many miles on her lecture trips to meet 
appointments with the mercury twenty degrees below zero, and sometimes holding 
three or four meetings at different points within twenty-four hours. In 1885 she 
was made the Iowa superintendent of the White Shield and White Cross work of the 
Woman's Christian Temperance Union. Her earnest talks to women were always a 
marked feature of her work and later her published leaflets "Helps in Mother Work" 
and "A Manual for Social Purity Workers" have been of admirable effect. 

Mrs. Emily M. J. Cooley began her temperance work in 1869, and when 
once awakened to the extent of the liquor evil she became one of its most determined 
foes. Although grown white-haired in the service is an indefatigable worker 
in the cause of prohibition. She served for years as state organizer in Nebraska 
and some time as national organizer speaking in every state in the Union. She did 
long service as president of the Second District Woman's Christian Temperance 
Union, of Nebraska. 

Mrs. Mary A. Cornelius, despite the cares of motherhood and the 
responsibilities of her position as a pastor's wife, found time and energy to act for 
years as president of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, of Arkansas. 
While leading an effort for prohibition in her state her life was threatened by the 
desperate element in the capital of Arkansas and personal violence attempted. Still 
she persevered, her pen never idle. Poems, numerous prose articles and vol- 
uminous newspaper correspondence testified to her industry and enthusiasm in the 
temperance cause. 

Mrs. Mary Helen Peck Crane delivered addresses on several occasions before 
the members of the New Jersey legislature when temperance bills were pending 
and she greatly aided the men who were fighting to secure good laws. At the 



Women as Temperance Workers 675 



Ocean Grove camp meeting, as the pioneer of press work by women, she gave 
valuable service and her reports for the New York Tribune and the New York 
Associated Press during the last ten years of those great religious and temperance 
gatherings at that noted Mecca of the Methodist Church, are models of their kind. 
She led the life of a sincere Christian, and died December 7, 1891, after a short 
illness contracted at the national convention of the Woman's Christian Temperance 
Union. 

Mrs. Emma A. Cranmar of Wisconsin has lectured on literary subjects and 
on temperance in many of the cities and towns of the Northwest. An earnest 
worker in the white ribbon movement, with which she has been connected for 
years, she served with great efficiency as president of the South Dakota Woman's 
Christian Temperance Union. 

Mrs. Lavantia Densmore Douglas has shown during her long life such 
ardent enthusiasm and untiring zeal in her work for prohibition that it made her 
name in her own community of Meadville, Pennsylvania, a synonym for tem- 
perance. She became a member of the Women's Christian Temperance Union 
and for many years was president of the Meadville Union. Arriving home from 
a trip to Europe on the twenty-third of December, 1873, the day of the great 
woman's crusade, and finding Meadville greatly aroused, she went immediately 
to the mass meeting that had been called and effected the temperance organiza- 
tion, which under one form or another has existed up till the present time. 

Miss Cornelia M. Dow is the youngest daughter of Neal Dow, almost the 
original temperance reformer in the United States, and it is most natural that 
the greater part of her time should be given to works of temperance. For years 
she was officially connected with the Woman's Christian Temperance Union of 
Portland, Maine. She was president of the Union in Cumberland County, one of 
the superintendents of the state union as well as one of the most effective vice- 
presidents. Her mother died in 1883 and Miss Dow became her distinguished 
father's housekeeper and companion up to the time of his death. 

Mrs. Marion Howard Dunham, of Iowa, entered upon the temperance field 
in 1877 with the inauguration of the red ribbon movement in her state, but believ- 
ing in more permanent effort she was the prime mover in the organization of the 
I6cal Woman's Christian Temperance Union. In 1883 she was elected state super- 
intendent of the Department of Scientific Temperance and held the office for four 
years lecturing to institutes and general audiences on that subject most of the 
time. She procured the Iowa State Law on the subject in February, in 1886. 
When the Iowa State Temperance Union began to display its opposition to the 
national union she came to be considered a leader on the side of the minority 
who adhered to the national and when the majority in the state union seceded 
from the national union October 16, 1890, she was elected president of those 
remaining auxiliary to that body. She spends a large part of her time in the 
field lecturing on temperance, but is interested in all reforms that promise to 
better the system and condition of life for the multitudes. 

Mrs. Edward H. East, of Tennessee, has spent much of her time and 
money in the cause of temperance. When the prohibition amendment was before 
the people of Tennessee she was active in the work to create sentiment in its favor. 



6/6 Part Taken by Women in American History 



A large tent that had been provided in the city as a means of conducting Gospel 
services she had moved to every part of the city. For a month she procured for 
each night able prohibition speakers. She was a delegate to every national con- 
vention after her first appearance in 1897. 

Mrs. Lucie Ann Morrison Elmore, of West Virginia, was always a pro- 
nounced friend to all oppressed people, especially the colored people of the United 
States. She is an eloquent and convincing speaker on temperance and after 
coming to live in Englewood, N. J., she held several important editorial positions 
and she used these opportunities to present to the public her belief in freedom, 
quality and temperance. 

Mrs. Rhoda Anna Esmond was married, and fifty-three years of age when 
first the influence of the woman's crusade of the West reached Syracuse, N. Y., 
where she was living, and she helped organize a woman's temperance society 
of four hundred members. Henceforth her life was devoted to the cause. She 
was made a delegate to the first state Woman's Christian Temperance Union 
Convention held in Brooklyn in February, 1875, with instruction to visit all the 
coffee houses and friendly inns in Brooklyn, New York, and Poughkeepsie, to 
gather all the information possible for the purpose of opening an inn in Syracuse. 
The inn was formally opened in July, 1875. As chairman of the inn committee 
she managed its affairs for nearly two years with remarkable success. In the 
first state Woman's Christian Temperance Union Mrs. Esmond has been made 
chairman of the committee on resolutions and appointed one of a committee on 
"Memorial to the State Legislature" and many other offices were tendered her in the 
state and national associations. In 1889 she resigned the presidency of her local 
union having held that office nearly six years, and she then devoted herself to 
her duties as state superintendent of the Department of Unfermented Wine, to 
which she gave her most earnest efforts for many years. 

Mrs. Harriet Newell Kneeland Goff entered the temperance lecture field 
in 1870, and has traveled throughout the United States, Canada, New Brunswick, 
Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, speaking 
everywhere and under various auspices. In 1872 she was made a delegate by three 
societies of Philadelphia, where she then resided, to attend the prohibition conven- 
tion in Columbus, Ohio, and there she became the first woman ever placed upon 
a nominating committee to name candidates for the presidency and vice-presidency 
of the United States. Through her presence and influence at that time was due 
the incorporation of woman suffrage into the platform of the prohibition party. 
She then published her first book (Philadelphia, 1876), "Was it an Inheritance?" 
and early the next year she became traveling correspondent to the New York 
Witness, besides contributing to Arthur's Home Magaisne, the Independent 
and other journals. In 1880 she published her second book of which six editions 
were issued in one year. Her third volume (1887) was, "Who Cares?" Early 
in 1874 she had joined and lectured in several states for the Woman's Temperance 
Crusade. She became a leader in the organization and work of the Woman's 
Christian Temperance Union of Philadelphia, and was a delegate therefrom to 
the first national convention of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, in 
Cleveland, Ohio, and again from the New York Union to the convention in 



Women as Temperance Workers 677 

Nashville, Tennessee in 1887. Her special work from 1886 to 1892 was for the 
employment of police matrons in Brooklyn, N. Y., then her place of residence. 
For this she labored long, drafting and circulating petitions, originating bills, 
interviewing mayors, commissioners, councilmen, committees of senate and 
assembly, and individual members of those bodies in behalf of the measure, and 
by personal observations in station houses, cells, lodging rooms, jails and 
courts she substantiated her every argument, and as a result she procured such 
amendments of the law as would place every arrested woman in the state in the 
care of an officer of her own sex. Mrs. Goff is probably one of the most effective 
reform workers who ever fought for women's benefit in America. 

Mrs. Jennie T. Gray, though of Quaker descent, became a zealous worker 
and a zealous speaker in the cause of temperance. Her greatest work was in the 
Woman's Temperance Union of Indiana, her home state, but she has traveled 
extensively, and in all her travels from ocean to ocean and from gulf to lake 
she endeavored to carry the strongest possible influence for temperance, often 
finding suitable occasions for advocating her claim in a most convincing way. 

Miss Elizabeth W. Greenwood, already devoting her life to philanthropic 
work, when the Woman's Temperance Crusade opened she found her sympathies 
at once enlisted for the cause and she became conspicuous in the white ribbon 
movement, not only throughout New York State, but throughout the country. 
When scientific temperance instruction in the New York schools was being pro- 
vided for, Miss Greenwood did important work with the legislature as state 
superintendent of that department. She served as national superintendent of 
juvenile work, and she was for years president of the Woman's Christian Tem- 
perance Union in Brooklyn, where she did splendid work as lecturer and evan- 
gelist. In 1888 she was made superintendent of the evangelistic department of 
the National Woman's Christian Union, and in 1889 she visited Europe, and there 
continued her reform methods. 

Mrs. Eva Kinney Griffith was lecturer and organizer of the Wisconsin 
Woman's Temperance Union for seven years. Her illustrated lectures won her 
the name of "Wisconsin Chalk Talker." She wrote temperance lessons and poems 
for the Temperance Banner and the Union Signal. She published a temperance 
novel "A Woman's Evangel" (Chicago, 1892), having already put out a volume 
named "Chalk Talk Handbook" (1887), and "True Ideal," a journal devoted to 
purity and faith studies. In 1891 she moved to Chicago where she became a special 
writer for the Daily News-Record, and afterwards an editor on the Chicago 
Times, and by this means she made public her views on temperance. 

Mrs. Sophronia Farrington Naylor Grubb during four years of the Civil 
War was one of those who gave time and strength in hospital, camp and field, 
and finally when the needs of the colored people were forced upon her attention 
she and her sister organized a most successful freedman's aid society. At the 
close of the war she returned to St. Louis, and here as her sons grew to man- 
hood, the dangers surrounding them as a result of the liquor traffic, led Mrs. 
Grubb to a deep interest in the struggle of the home against the saloon. She 
saw there a conflict as great and needs as pressing as in the Civil War and she 
gradually concentrated upon it all her powers. In 1882 she was elected national 



678 Part Taken by Women in American History 

superintendent of the work among foreigners one of the most onerous of the 
forty departments of the national organization of the Woman's Christian Tem- 
perance Union and by her effort and interest she brought that department up to 
a thoroughly organized, wide-reaching and flourishing condition. She published 
leaflets and tracts on all the phases, economic, moral, social and evangelistic 
of the temperance question and in seventeen languages. At the rate of fifty 
editions of ten thousand each, per year, these were distributed all over the United 
States. She established a missionary department in Castle Garden, New York 
City, through which instructions in the duties and obligations of American 
citizenship were given to immigrants in their own tongue as they landed. She 
also served long as president of the Kansas Woman's Temperance Union. 

Mrs. Anna Marie Nichols Hammer's connection with the work of the 
National Woman's Christian Temperance Union was as superintendent of three 
departments, work among the reformed, juvenile work, and social or parlor work. 
In all these branches she was eminently successful. She was also vice-president 
of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union for the state of Pennsylvania, and 
ranked high as a clear, forceful and ready speaker. 

Mrs. Sarah Carmichael Harrell was a member and the secretary of the 
educational committee among the World's Fair managers of Indiana. Her 
greatest work was the origination and carrying to successful completion the plan 
known as the "Penny School Collection Fund of Indiana" to be used in the educa- 
tional exhibit in the Columbian Exposition. From this work came to her the 
idea of temperance work among school children, and she was made superintendent 
of scientific temperance instruction for Indiana, and was moreover responsible for 
the enactment of a law to regulate the study of temperance in the public schools. 

Mrs. Mary Antoinette Hitchcock was living with her husband, Rev. Alfred 
Hitchcock, in Kansas, when the Civil War cloud hung over the country, and being 
imbued by nature and training with Union and anti-slavery sentiments, she was all 
enthusiasm for the cause and ready to lend her aid in every way possible. At 
that time many of the leaders passed through their town to Osawatomie to form 
the Republican party and she housed and fed fifty of them in one night, among 
them Horace Greeley. Later in her life having moved to Fremont, Nebraska, 
where her husband accepted a pastorate, she became an enthusiastic member of the 
Woman's Christian Temperance Union, and impressed with the idea that a state 
organization was necessary for its lasting influence she, in 1874, started the 
movement that resulted in the state organization. She was called to Sioux City, 
Iowa, on account of the death of her cousin, George G. Haddock, the circumstances 
of whose untimely murder at the hands of a drunken ruffian caused general 
indignation and horror. Over his lifeless body she promised the sorrow stricken 
wife to devote the remainder of her life to the eradication of the terrible liquor 
evil, and she fulfilled her promise. She accepted the state presidency of the 
Nebraska Temperance Union and for years traveled continually over the state, 
organizing unions and attending conventions. 

Mrs. Emily Caroline Chandler Hodgin was one of the leaders in the tem- 
perance crusade of Terre Haute, Indiana, in 1872, and was a delegate to the 
convention in Cleveland, Ohio, where the crusading spirit was crystallized by the 



Women as Temperance Workers 679 

organization of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. After that she began 
work of organizing forces in neighboring parts of the state. She became presi- 
dent of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union in her own county and secre- 
tary of the State Temperance Association, and she has greatly aided the cause 
from the lecture platform, for though a member of the Society of Friends, she 
availed herself of the freedom accorded to the speaker in meeting. 

Mrs. Jennie Florella Holmes began her public work at the beginning of the 
Civil War in 1861, by giving good service to the Soldier's Aid Society of Jersey- 
ville, 111. Earnest and untiring in her advocacy of the temperance cause and all 
equal political rights for women, on her removal, at marriage, to Tecumseh, 
Nebraska, she immediately allied herself with these elements and in the winter 
of 1881 she became a member of the first woman's suffrage convention held in 
that state and labored for the amendment submitted at that session of the legis- 
lature. She was chairman of the executive committee of the state suffrage society 
from 1881 to 1884. In 1884 she was elected president of the State Woman's 
Christian Temperance Union, which office she held for three years. She was 
elected delegate-at-large from Nebraska to the National Prohibition Party Con- 
vention held in Indianapolis in 1888, and in her ardent love for the cause she 
considered this the crowning honor of her laborious life. She remained, how- 
ever, with all her love for the temperance cause an active member of the Woman's 
Relief Corps and was sent a delegate to the Woman's Relief Corps Convention 
held in Milwaukee in 1889. She died in her home in Tecumseh the twentieth of 
March, 1892. 

Mrs. Esther T. Housh became a prominent temperance worker in 1883 
but she had done editorial work in the periodical Woman's Magazine published 
by her son in Brattleboro, Vermont, and when she attended the national con- 
vention in Detroit, she was immediately elected press superintendent of the 
Woman's Christian Temperance Union. She held that position until 1888, insti- 
tuting the National Bulletin which averaged eighty thousand copies a year. In 
the national conventions in Nashville and New York she furnished a report of 
the proceedings to a thousand selected papers of high standing. In 1885 she was 
elected state secretary of the Vermont Woman's Christian Temperance Union and 
was given editorial charge of Our Home Guards, the state organ. Her literary 
work has been of the most valuable character for the cause. 

Mrs. Mary H. Hunt, after a careful study of the sentimental, religious, and 
legal phases of temperance reform became convinced that if the nation were to 
develop on a high plane the liquor evil must be abolished by the wide dissemina- 
tion of actual knowledge concerning the nature of the effects of alcohol upon 
the body and mind of man. She felt she must reach the children through the 
medium of the public schools. To reach the public schools with authority to 
teach, she must have behind her the power of the law, and her plan of operation 
she decided must include direct attack upon legislation, and to secure an influence 
over legislation there must be a demand from the people. Miss Hunt laid her 
plan before the National Woman's Christian Temperance Union and there was 
created an educational department of which she became the national superintendent. 
By an appeal to the American Medical Association in their annual meeting of 1882, 



680 Part Taken by Women in American History 

she secured a series of resolutions from that body concerning the evil nature and 
effects of alcoholic beverages. These resolutions were made the text for her 
successful appeals before legislative bodies. She superintended this work in the 
Woman's Christian Temperance Union of the world, bringing the people to see 
the need of compulsory temperance education. Her work meant years of journey- 
ing from state to state addressing audiences almost continually, but it also meant 
victory in thirty-five states, in the national military and naval academies and in 
all Indian and colored schools under national control. It meant the creation of 
a new school of literature, the revision of old text-books, and the actual creation 
of new ones covering the entire course of instruction concerning the welfare of 
the body. All in all Miss Hunt's work has been of extremely practical benefit 
to the cause of temperance. 

Mrs. Henrica Iliohan was born in Vorden, province of Gelderland, king- 
dom of the Netherlands, but the love of liberty and independence seemed to have 
been instilled in her from birth, and when she had come to America and was 
obliged to earn her living, the disability of sex became of more and more impor- 
tance as she thought and studied over her situation. In trying to read English 
she noted for the first time an article on woman suffrage in the Albany Journal. 
In 1871, when Mrs. Lillie Devereux Blake addressed the assembly and asked the 
question : "Whom do you think, gentlemen of the committee, to be most compe- 
tent to cast a ballot, the mother who comes from the fireside or the father who 
comes from the corner saloon?" Mrs. Iliohan again pondered deeply. This was 
a query that struck home to this young foreign woman, living at that time in 
Albany, and she made inquiries as to why women did not and could not vote in 
this land of the free. Very much interested she read all that was accessible on 
the subject and when, in 1877, the first Woman's Suffrage Society of Albany was 
organized she became an earnest member. With the remembrance of woman's 
share in the brave deeds recorded in Dutch history, she gained courage and 
enthusiasm and began to express her views publicly. Her first appearance on the 
lecture platform was a triumph. She was a foreigner no longer, but an American 
woman working for the rights of all American women. Encouraged by many she 
gained in experience and became one of the acknowledged leaders of the society. 
She was elected four times a delegate from her society to the annual convention 
in New York City and worked during the session of the legislature to obtain the 
consideration of that body. Mrs. Iliohan has also done some good work in trans- 
lation. "The Religion of Common Sense," from the German of Professor L. 
Ulich, was one of her valuable contributions. In 1887 she moved to Humphrey, 
Nebraska, and thereafter became identified with Nebraska and the subjects of 
reform in that state and as she had done in the East, she endeared herself to the 
leaders and to the public. 

Mrs. Ella Bagnell Kendrick, of Hartford, Connecticut, has always been 
an earnest advocate of temperance. When in 1891 her husband became a business 
manager of the New England Home, one of the leading prohibition newspapers 
of the country, she accepted the position of associate editor and through the 
columns waged a systematic campaign against all liquor traffic. She was an 
efficient member of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and served through 
several terms as assistant secretary of the Hartford Prohibition Club. 



Women as Temperance Workers 68i 

Mrs. Ada Miser Kepley, inheriting strong anti-slavery principles from both 
maternal and paternal ancestors, this intense hatred of slavery took with her the 
form of hatred for the bodily slavery to alcoholic drink. And although she studied 
law and later was ordained a minister in the Unitarian denomination, Mrs. Kepley 
will be best remembered for her work for the abolition of alcoholic drinking and 
of the laws which tended to perpetuate that evil habit. In her law practice she 
made a specialty of exposing the hidden roots of the liquor trade in her town 
and county of Illinois. Through the paper Friend at Home which she edited, 
her readers learned who were the granters, grantees, petitioners and bondsmen 
for all the liquor shops there. She and her husband built in Effingham, 111., "The 
Temple," a beautiful building which was made the headquarters for the Woman's 
Christian Temperance Union, prohibition and general reform work. 

Mrs. Narcissa Edith White Kinney found her place in the white ribbon 
ranks in the fall of 1880, bringing to the work the discipline of a thoroughly 
drilled student and successful teacher. Her first relation to the Woman's Chris- 
tion Temperance Union was as president of the local union in her town, Grove 
City, Pennsylvania, and next of her own county, Mercer, where she built up the 
work in a systematic way. She did an immense amount of thorough effective 
work, lecturing, writing and pledging legislatures to the hygiene bill, for she had 
made herself a specialist in that department after much study in regard to the 
best method of teaching hygiene to the young. In 1888 she was sent to assist the 
Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Washington State in securing from 
the legislature the enactment of temperance laws, and, under her persuasive 
eloquence and wise leadership, the most stringent scientific temperance laws ever 
enacted were passed by a unanimous vote of both houses, also in spite of the 
bitter opposition of the liquor trade a local option bill was passed submitting to 
the vote of the people the prohibition of liquor traffic in each precinct. Miss 
White assisted in that campaign and had the gratification of seeing prohibition 
approved by a majority vote. After her marriage she came to reside permanently 
in Astoria in Oregon, and she liberally supported the Chautauqua movement for 
temperance in that state. 

Mrs. Janette Hill Knox, in 1881, was elected president of the New Hamp- 
shire State Woman's Christian Temperance Union, and as the responsibilities 
connected with that office drew her out from the quieter duties of home to per- 
form those demanded by her public work, her executive ability developed and the 
steady and successful growth of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union during 
the years she held office bore testimony to the strength of her work. Her re-elec- 
tion year by year was practically unanimous. 

Mrs. Mary Torans Lathrop was licensed to preach in Michigan in 1871, 
and was laboring as an evangelist when the woman's crusade swept over the 
state. She took an active part in the crusade, was one of the founders of the 
Woman's Christian Temperance Union, and in 1882 was made president of the 
state union of Michigan. Gradually her work became that of organization and 
she labored in various states as a strong helper in securing scientific instruction 
laws, in Michigan, Nebraska and Dakota amendment campaigns. In 1878 she 
secured the passage of a bill in the Michigan legislature appropriating thirty 



682 Part Taken by Women in American History 

thousand dollars for the establishment of the Girls' Industrial Home, a reformatory 
school in Adrian, Michigan. Mrs. Lathrop's lectures have always been successful 
and she is equally at home on the temperance platform, on the lecture platform, 
or at the author's desk. Her memorial ode to Garfield was widely quoted and her 
brilliant oratory won for her the title "The Daniel Webster of Prohibition." 

Mrs. Olive Moorman Leader, on her marriage in 1880, going to live in 
Omaha, Nebraska, immediately identified herself with the active work for the 
temperance cause. She introduced the systematic visiting of the Douglas County 
jails and she was one of the first workers among the Chinese, being first state 
superintendent of that department. For twelve years she was identified with the 
suffrage cause and an adherent and devout believer in the efficacy of Christian 
Science. 

Mrs. Harriett Calista Clark McCabe, in April, 1874, wrote the constitution 
of the Woman's Temperance Union of Ohio, which was the first union organized. 
After serving the union for nine years she withdrew from public life but in time 
yielded to earnest persuasion to aid in the National Woman's Indian Association, 
and then in the Woman's Home Missionary Society, becoming the editor of 
Woman's Home Missions the official organ of that society. 

Mrs. Caroline Elizabeth Merrick, wife of Edwin T. Merrick, chief justice 
of the Supreme Court of Louisiana at the time of the Civil War, began her work 
for the Woman's Christian Temperance Union at a time when the temperance 
cause was widely agitated in the South, though its reception on the whole was a 
cold one. She was for many years state president for Louisiana. She has written 
extensively on the subject but her chief talent was impromptu speaking and she 
developed into a very successful platform orator, holding an audience by the force 
of her wit and keen sarcasm. Her sympathies were also aroused upon the ques- 
tion of woman's suffrage and for years she stood comparatively alone in her ardent 
championship of the cause. She was the first woman in Louisiana to speak pub- 
licly in behalf of her sex. She addressed the state convention in 1879, and assisted 
in securing an article in the constitution making all women over twenty-one years 
of age eligible to hold office in connection with the public schools. It required 
considerable moral courage to side with a movement so derided in the South at 
that time, but Mrs. Merrick never faltered in her work for the emancipation of 
women ; moreover, she always took active part in the charitable and philanthropic 
movements of New Orleans, her native city. 

Mrs. Mary Clement Leavitt after being prominent in New England tem- 
perance work for years was elected president of the Woman's Christian Temper- 
ance Union of Boston, and national organizer of the society. In 1883 she accepted 
from the president of the National Woman's Christian Temperance Union, Miss 
Willard, a roving commission as pioneer for the temperance union which was 
organized in that year. Thenceforth Mrs. Leavitt's work has been without parallel 
in the records of labor in foreign missions and for temperance. When volunteers 
were asked for a canvas of the Pacific Coast states she was the first one to answer, 
and she was also the first to go abroad in the interests of the new organization. 
The association offered to pay her expenses but she decided not to accept it. 
She bought her ocean ticket with her own money and in 1883 sailed from Cali- 



Women as Temperance Workers 683 

fornia for the Sandwich Islands. In Honolulu the Christians and white rib- 
boners aided her in every way, and after organizing the Sandwich Islands she 
went on to Australia where she promptly established the new order. Leaving 
Australia she visited all the other countries of the East and completed her tour 
over all the lands in the European continent. She organized eighty-six Woman's 
Christian Temperance Unions and twenty-three branches of the White Cross, 
held over one thousand, six hundred meetings, traveled nearly a hundred thousand 
miles and had the services of two hundred and twenty-nine interpreters in forty- 
seven languages. After her return to the United States in 189 1, she published a 
pamphlet, The Liquor Traffic in Western Africa. During her great tour of the 
world she never in seven years saw a face she knew and only occasional letters 
from her enabled the home workers to know where she was laboring. 

Mrs. Addie Dickman Miller, while teaching at Philomath College in Philo- 
math, Oregon, where her husband was also a professor, the temperance movement 
in that state became a critical issue and she and her husband identified themselves 
with the cause. Mrs. Miller indeed gave up teaching and devoted herself to the 
work of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. After moving to Portland, 
Oregon, and while caring for her children, she found time to serve several terms 
as president of the Portland Temperance Union arraying the motherhood of the 
city against the evil of intemperance. Besides her platform work she for years 
edited the woman's department in the West Shore, a Portland periodical. She 
also published "Letters to Our Girls" in an Eastern magazine — a series of articles 
containing many valuable thoughts for the young women to whom they were 
addressed. 

Mrs. Cornelia Moore Chillson Moots knew the state of Michigan in its 
pioneer days, her parents taking her there in 1836. Abigail Chillson, the grand- 
mother, went with them and as the new settlements were without preachers this 
elderly woman and ardent Methodist even supplied the itinerary by preaching in 
the log cabins and the schoolhouses of the early pioneers. Mrs. Moots' father 
was a temperance advocate also and staunch anti-slavery man, and the Chillson 
home was often the refuge of the slave seeking liberty across the line. With 
such inheritance and under such influence it was only natural that Mrs. Moots 
should become a forceful evangelist herself. After years of activity in exhorting 
and organizing new branches, a new field opened to her as a temperance worker 
and like her father she turned her force into the broad channel of temperance 
reform. She served many terms as state evangelist in the Woman's Christian 
Temperance Union and in spite of her radical views on temperance, equal suf- 
frage and equal standard of morals for men and women, she was one of the most 
popular and most beloved speakers in the cause. 

Miss Ellen Douglas Morris was reared according to the strictest sect of the 
Presbyterians and never dreamed of becoming a public speaker, until happening 
to attend a district convention of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union in 
Savannah, Missouri, where she was teaching, the state president believed she saw 
the latent power in the quiet looker-on and said to the local union, "Make that 
woman your president." After great entreaty on their part and great trepidation 
on hers this was done. The next year saw her president of the district, which 



684 Part Taken by Women in American History 

she quickly made the pioneer of the state. When a state's secretary was needed 
Miss Ellen Morris was unanimously chosen and installed at headquarters. Her 
success in every position she held in the Woman's Christian Temperance Union 
was due to the careful attention she gave to details and the exact fulfillment of 
her service. 

Mrs. Josephine Ralston Nichols, a popular lecturer, was attracted to the 
temperance movement by an address delivered in Maysville, Ky., her home, 
by Lucretia Mott. She was soon drawn into the movement and added to her 
lectures a number devoted to temperance. The scientific aspect of the work 
received her special attention and some of her lectures have been published by the 
Woman's Temperance Publishing Association. Her greatest triumphs, however, 
have been won in her special department as superintendent of the exposition 
department of the National Woman's Christian Temperance Union, where she 
worked for years, beginning in 1883. In state and county fairs all over the 
country she aided the women in making them places of order, beauty, and sobriety 
instead of scenes of disorder and drunken broil. In many cases she entirely 
banished the sale of intoxicants either by direct appeal to the managers or by 
securing the sole privilege of serving refreshments and in all cases banners and 
mottoes were displayed, and cards, leaflets and papers and other literature given 
away. So general was the satisfaction that several states passed laws prohibiting 
the sale of intoxicating drinks on, or near the fair grounds. In 1885 the Woman's 
Christian Temperance Union of Indiana made her its president, but she continued 
her practical work for the national society, extending and illustrating knowledge 
of the aims of the cause. 

Mrs. Martha B. O'Donnell's work for temperance was accomplished through 
the society of Good Templars. It was most effective and she became president 
of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union of her county in New York State. 
Having long been identified with the independent order of Good Templars she 
began in 1868 the publication of the Golden Rule, a monthly magazine in the 
interest of this order. In 1869 she was elected one of the board of managers of 
the Grand Lodge of the state of New York. In 1870 she was elected grand 
vice-templar and was re-elected in 1871. At her first attendance in the right 
worthy grand lodge of the nation she was elected right grand vice-templar. 
Interested deeply in the children she was the moving spirit in securing the adoption 
of the "Triple Pledge" for the children's society connected with the order. She 
had charge of introducing the juvenile work all over the world. Her activity in 
this direction led her to visit Europe as well as many parts of the United States 
and always with success. Late in her life she became president of the Woman's 
Christian Temperance Union of her own county and passed many quiet years at 
her home in Lowville, New York. 

Mrs. Hannah Borden Palmer, of Michigan, accompanied her husband to the 
front in the Civil War, camping with his regiment until the muster-out in Sep- 
tember, 1865, and returning home she was elected president of the Woman's 
Christian Temperance Union of Dexter, Michigan. Under her guidance this 
union organized a public library and reading room in the town. It was mainly 
through her efforts, too, that a lodge of Good Templars was organized in Boulder. 



Women as Temperance Workers 685 

Colorado, where her husband's business had called him. Her love for children 
induced her to organize a Band of Hope which grew to an immense membership. 
During that time she was, moreover, presiding officer of the Woman's Christian 
Temperance Union of Boulder. Yet another move in her life brought her fresh 
opportunity for temperance work. In Buffalo, New York, she united with the 
Good Templars, serving as chaplain, vice-councillor, and select councillor. Her 
council sent her as its representative to the grand council in February, 1890, and 
on her introduction into that body she was made chairman of the committee on 
temperance work and was elected grand vice-councillor, being the first woman to 
hold that position in the jurisdiction of New York. In the subsequent sessions 
of the grand council in February, 1891, and February, 1892, she was re-elected 
grand vice-councillor, being the only person ever reelected to that office. 

Mrs. Florence Collins Porter's early surroundings were those incidental to 
the new country, her father, Honorable Samuel W. Collins, being one of the early 
pioneers in Aroostook County, Maine. Later she left the little town of Caribou, 
where she had been writing for newspapers and periodicals, since she was fifteen 
years of age, and in Ohio she became greatly interested in public temperance 
reform with considerable success as a lecturer. At the formation of the non- 
partisan Woman's Christian Temperance Union in Cleveland, Ohio, she was 
chosen national secretary of literature and press work and in that capacity she 
worked for many years. 

Miss Esther Pugh of Ohio, early became interested in moral reforms and 
she was one of the leaders in the crusade joining the Woman's Christian Tem- 
perance Union in its first meetings. She was an officer of the Cincinnati Union 
from the beginning, giving the best years of her life to the work. She was pub- 
lisher and editor of Our Union for years, and her management as treasurer 
of the national society repeatedly aided the organization in passing through 
financial difficulties. She traveled on temperance work through the United States 
and Canada, lecturing and organizing unions by the score. She was called "The 
Watch-dog of the Treasury." 

Mrs. Lulu A. Ramsey of South Dakota is exceptionally broad in her aims 
and charities, and a firm believer in woman's power and influence, yet for the 
field wherein to exert her best energies and benevolences, she chose the Woman's 
Christian Temperance Union. She was for years president of the local union, 
took an active part in the work of her district for which she filled the office of 
corresponding secretary and which selected her as its representative in the national 
convention in Boston, in November, 1892. Her ambition was to found an indus- 
trial school which should be so broad and practical in its aims and methods that 
each pupil should be self-supporting while there and leave the institution as master 
of some occupation. For years she labored to organize such a school and make it 
the special charge of a National Woman's Christian Temperance Union. 

Mrs. Mary Bynon Reese came to Alliance, Ohio, just before the breaking 
out of the temperance crusade, and led the women of the city to a prohibition 
success. While lecturing in Pittsburgh and visiting the saloons with the represent- 
ative women of the place, she was arrested and with thirty-three others imprisoned 
in the city jail, an event which aroused the indignation of the best people and 



686 Part Taken by Women in American History 



made countless friends to temperance. After the organization of the Woman's 
Christian Temperance Union, she was identified with the state work of Ohio as 
lecturer, organizer and evangelist. She was the first superintendent of the Depart- 
ment of Narcotics and in 1886 she was made one of the national organizers and 
sent to the North Pacific Coast, where her work was very successful. She after- 
wards made her home a few miles from Seattle, which city became her head- 
quarters as state and national organizer. 

Mrs. Anna Rankin Riggs has won many honors in the white ribbon army, 
her principal field being Portland, Oregon. On her coming to the Northwest, 
Portland had no home for destitute women and girls and in 1887 the Portland 
Temperance Union, under the auspices of Mrs. Riggs and a few noble women, 
opened an industrial home. The institution was kept afloat by great exertion and 
personal sacrifice until it was merged into a refuge home and incorporated under 
the laws of the state. Mrs. Riggs was almost continuously in office as president 
of the Oregon Woman's Christian Temperance Union. In 1891 she started the 
Oregon White Ribbon which proved a successful publication. A prominent 
feature of her work in Oregon was a school of methods which proved an inspira- 
tion to the local unions in their department work. Mrs. Riggs has also represented 
Oregon at conventions and was president of the International Chautauqua Asso- 
ciation for the Northwest Coast. 

Mrs. Ellen Sergent who has held the highest office open to a woman in the 
order of Good Templars, was a member of the board of managers of the first 
state Woman's Christian Temperance Union, established in Syracuse, N. Y., and 
was one of a committee sent from that convention to appeal to the Albany legis- 
lature for temperance laws. But for all these honors she is best remembered in 
the white ribbon ranks for her children's stories on temperance. These were 
published in the Sunday School Advocate and Well Spring, and are delightful 
and poetic as well as instructive. 

Mrs. Jennie E. Sibley of Georgia showed such courage in temperance work 
that she gained a reputation throughout the land. It has been said of her that 
"She worked with her hand, her purse, her pen, her eloquent tongue, with all 
the force and ferver of a crusader, and the most purifying and regenerating 
results followed her efforts in every field." 

Mrs. Henneriette Skelton's name was associated in the minds of thousands 
of German citizens of the United States of her time as one of the most inde- 
fatigable workers in the cause of temperance. Born in Giessen, Germany, she 
with her brothers emigrated parentless to America. The energy and zeal with 
which she devoted her life as a young woman to temperance work were recog- 
nized by the national executive board of the Woman's Christian Temperance 
Union and she was appointed one of its national organizers. In that capacity 
she traveled all over the United States, lecturing both in English and her native 
tongue and leaving behind her local unions of women well organized and per- 
meated with earnestness. For a time she edited the temperance paper known as 
Der Bahnbrecher, besides writing three books published in the English language, 
"The Man Trap." a temperance story, "Clara Burton," and "The Christmas Tree," 
a picture of domestic life in Germany. Her platform efforts were marked by 
breadth of thought, dignity of style and the very essence of profound conviction. 



Women as Temperance Workers 687 

Mrs. Emily Pitt Stevens devoted her life to educational and temperance 
work on the Pacific Coast. She started an evening school for working girls; she 
organized the Woman's Co-operative Printing Association, and edited the 
Pioneer, a woman's paper produced entirely by women on the basis of equal 
pay for equal work. She was aided by prominent men in placing the stock of the 
company and through it she exercised great influence in advancing the cause of 
women in California. After the organization of the Woman's Christian Tem- 
perance Union in California she labored earnestly in that society. She contributed 
to the columns of the Bulletin, Pharos, and Pacific Ensign, and served as 
state lecturer. She joined the prohibition party in 1882 and she led the movement 
in 1888 to induce the Woman's Christian Temperance Union to endorse that party. 
As far back as 1874, she instituted the Seaman's League in San Francisco, and in 
1875 the old Seaman's Hospital was donated by Congress to carry on the work, and 
the institution became firmly established. The inception of this splendid work 
together with many other California reforms in those days was from the mind of 
Mrs. Stevens. 

Mrs. Lillian M. N. Stevens of Maine, co-worker with Neal Dow for the 
prohibition of Hquor traffic, her first attempt as a speaker was made in Old 
Orchard, Maine, when the Woman's Christian Temperance Union for the state 
was organized. This movement fired her soul with zeal and she threw her whole 
heart into reform work. She was treasurer of the Maine union for the first 
three years of its existence and then was made its president. She was also one 
of the secretaries of the National Woman's Christian Temperance Union and 
corresponding secretary for Maine of the national conference of charities and 
corrections, treasurer of the National Woman's Council of the United States 
and was one of the commissioners of the World's Columbian Exposition in Chi- 
cago is 1893. She was one of the founders of the temporary home for women 
and children near Portland and one of the trustees of the Maine Industrial School 
for Girls. In all these manifold lines of work she proved herself an honorable 
daughter of a state noted for its distinguished sons. 

Mrs. Eliza Daniel Stewart, a leader in all movements, whose purpose was 
the happiness and upholding of humanity, in 1858 became a charter member of 
a Good Templar Lodge organized in her town of Piketon, Ohio, and she remained 
a warm advocate of the order for the rest of her life. She delivered her first 
public temperance address before the Band of Hope in Pomeroy, and continued 
thereafter to fight for the temperance cause with voice and pen. When the boom 
of cannon upon Sumter was heard she devoted her time to gathering and for- 
warding supplies to the field and hospital, and at length she went South herself, 
to aid in the hospital work. She remained at the front during the Civil War and 
became convinced that in the appetite for drink that had come to so many of the 
soldiers the country was fostering a foe even worse than the one which the 
soldiers had conquered by force of arms. On the twenty-second of January, 
1872, she delivered a lecture on temperance in Springfield, which was her first 
step into crusade movements. Two days later a drunkard's wife prosecuted a 
saloon keeper under the Adair law and Mrs. Stewart, called Mother Stewart 
since the war, going into the courtroom, was persuaded by the attorney to make 



688 Part Taken by Women in American History 

the opening plea to the jury. And to the consternation of the liquor fraternity, 
for it was a test case, she won the suit. It created a sensation and the press 
sent the news over the country. Thereafter Mrs. Stewart was known to the 
drunkard's wives, if not as attorney, at least as a true friend and sympathizer in 
their sorrows and they sought her aid and counsel. Her next case in court was 
on the sixteenth of October, 1873, an d a large number of the prominent women 
accompanied her to the courtroom. She made the opening charge to the jury, 
helped examine the witnesses, made the opening plea, and again won her case 
amid great excitement and rejoicing. Next, in order that the intensity of interest 
already awakened should not die down, Mrs. Stewart, with the co-operation of 
the ministers of the city, held a series of weekly mass meetings which succeeded 
in keeping , the interest at white heat. On the second of December, 1873, she 
organized a woman's league that was the first organization ever formed in what 
came to be known as the Woman's Christian Temperance Union work. Soon 
after she went to a saloon in disguise on Sunday, bought a glass of wine and 
had the proprietor prosecuted and fined for violating Sunday ordinance. That 
was an important move because of the attention it called to the open saloon on 
the Sabbath. Then the world was startled by an uprising of women all over the 
state in a crusade against the saloons, and Mother Stewart was kept busy in 
addressing immense audiences and organizing and leading out bands through her 
own and other states. She was made president of the first local union of Spring- 
field, formed January 7, 1874. The first county union ever formed was organized 
in Springfield in 1874 with Mother Stewart as president. In June, 1874, the first 
state union was organized in her state, her enthusiastic labors throughout the 
state contributing duly to that result. In the beginning of the work Mrs. Stewart 
declared for legal prohibition and took her stand with the party which was work- 
ing for that end. In 1876 she visited Great Britain by invitation of the Good 
Templars. There she spent five months in almost incessant work, lecturing and 
organizing associations. A great interest was awakened throughout the kingdom, 
her work resulting in the organization of the British Woman's Temperance Asso- 
ciation. In 1878 she was called to Virginia and there introduced the Woman's 
Christian Temperance Union and the blue ribbon work. Two years later she 
again visited the South and introduced Woman's Christian Temperance Union 
work in several of the Southern states organizing unions among both the white 
and the colored people. Age and overwork necessitating rest, she wrote, "Memories 
of the Crusade," a valuable and interesting history, also "A Crusader in Great 
Britain," an account of her work in that country. Her long work finished, though 
still young of heart, she passed her last years in Springfield, Ohio. 

Mrs. Anna Elizabeth Stoddard going South in 1883 to engage in Christian 
work she stayed for several years, laboring in various parts of that country along 
lines of reform. Always an advocate of temperance she had united at an early 
age with the Good Templars in Massachusetts, and had occupied every chair 
given a woman in that association, but feeling a desire for more practical aggres- 
sive work against the liquor traffic she severed her connection with the order and 
gave her energies to the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, just then coming 
to the front. It was this reform that she actively espoused in the South, organiz- 



Women as Temperance Workers 689 

ing in different parts Woman's Christian Temperance Unions and Bands of Hope. 
Having been located in Washington, D. C, for a year or more she was led to 
establish a mission school for colored children, to whom she taught the English 
branches, with the addition of work in an industrial department. Later she 
returned to Boston, Mass., where her labors were numerous and her charities 
broad and noble. She believed that "To oppose one evil to the neglect of others 
is not wise or Christian." 

Miss Missouri H. Stokes, while in charge of the Mission Day School in 
Atlanta, and very successful in that missionary field, found herself drawn into 
the crusade for temperance which invaded even the South. She became a member 
of the first Woman's Christian Temperance Union organized in Georgia, and in 
1881 was made secretary, going in 1883 to be corresponding secretary of the state 
union organized that year. She worked enthusiastically in the good cause, writing 
much for temperance papers and she was for years the special Georgia correspond- 
ent of the Union Signal. She took an active part in the struggle for the pas- 
sage of the local option law in Georgia, and she made a most valiant attempt 
to secure from the state legislature scientific temperance instruction in the 
public schools, a state refuge for fallen women, a law to close the barrooms 
throughout the state, and she fought on for these acts of legislation for years 
despite the fact that she and her co-workers were everywhere met with the 
assertion that all these measures were unconstitutional. After being a conspicuous 
figure in the temperance revolution in Atlanta, Mrs. Stokes made several success- 
ful lecture tours in Georgia paying her expenses from her own slender purse 
and never allowing a collection to be taken in one of her meetings. 

Mrs. Lucy Robins Messer Switzer is one of the most prominent temperance 
workers which Washington Territory, now State, has ever known. In 1882 she 
was appointed vice-president of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union for 
Washington Territory, and before Miss Willard's visit in June, and July, 1883, 
she had organized unions in Spokane Falls, Waitsburg, Dayton, Olympia, Port 
Townsend and Tacoma. She arranged for the eastern Washington convention in 
Cheney, the twentieth to the twenty-third of July, 1883, and she acted as presi- 
dent for the Eastern Washington State Union, then formed, for many years. Her 
work in the campaign of 1885-1886 for scientific instruction and local option and 
constitutional campaigns for prohibition are matters of record, as representing 
arduous work and wise generalship. She traveled thousands of miles in the 
work, having attended the national conventions in Detroit, Philadelphia, Minne- 
apolis, Nashville, New York, Chicago and Boston. She was active during the 
years from 1883 to 1888, when women had the ballot in Washington, voting twice 
in territorial elections and several times in municipal and special elections. She 
wrote many articles in forceful and yet restrained style on all the phases of 
woman's temperance work and woman's suffrage, and it is safe to conclude 
that the present equal suffrage law in Washington State was made easier of 
accomplishment through the earlier works of such strong, thoughtful women as 
Mrs. Switzer. 

Mrs. Eliza J. Thompson was early led into temperance work both by her 
own inclination and by the influence of her father, the late Governor Trimble of 
44 



690 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Ohio. In her youth she accompanied her father to Saratoga Springs, New York, 
to attend a national convention and was the only woman in that meeting. On the 
twenty-third of December, 1873, in her own town, Hillsborough, Ohio, she opened 
the temperance movement that in a few weeks culminated in the Woman's Tem- 
perance crusade, and the great success of that movement as it swept from city 
to town throughout the state is accorded to Mrs. Thompson. 

Mrs. Anna Augusta Truitt was one of those who marched, sang and prayed 
with the crusaders in that remarkable movement in Indiana, and she remained 
a faithful worker in the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. President of 
the Delaware County Woman's Christian Temperance Union for many years, she 
was selected by the union to represent them in state and district meetings, as well 
as in the national conventions. Her addresses, essays and reports proved her a 
writer of no mean talent. She was an advocate of woman's suffrage, believing 
that women's votes would go far towards removing the curse of intemperance. 
In the Woman's Christian Temperance Union she adhered always to the prin- 
ciple of non-partisan, non-sectarian work, and in spite of various hostile attacks 
she fought on until the temperance union in her city of Munsey, Indiana, was so 
strongly established, and so influential that no criticism nor persecution could turn 
the workers she left in the field from their path of duty. 

Mrs. Mary Evalia Warren, for many years prominent in temperance reform, 
was a member of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union from its first organi- 
zation and she had a field of her own for propagating the work at Wayland Uni- 
versity, Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, where she had furnished money to erect a 
dormitory for girls called the "Warren Cottage." She joined the Good Templars' 
order in 1878 and filled all the subordinate lodge offices to which women usually 
aspire, and as grand-vice-templar she lectured to large audiences in nearly all parts 
of the state. 

Mrs. Lucy H. Washington was a leader in the crusade movement, and when 
temperance organization was sought in her town of Jacksonville, Illinois, in 
response to the needs of the hour she was brought into public speaking. Her 
persuasive methods, Christian spirit, and her eloquence made her at once a speaker 
acceptable to all classes. Her first address in temperance work outside her own 
city was given in the Hall of Representatives in Springfield, Illinois. Com- 
mendatory press reports on this led to repeated and urgent calls for further lec- 
ture work and opened the door of service which was never closed during her 
life. During succeeding years she was in various official capacities largely engaged 
in Woman's Christian Temperance Union work giving addresses in twenty-four 
states and extending her labors from the Atlantic to the Pacific. In the great 
campaigns for constitutional prohibition in Iowa, Kansas, Maine and other states 
she bore a helpful part and in difficult emergencies, when great interests were 
imperiled, her electric utterances often produced a decision for victory. Her 
temperance hymns have been sung throughout the country. 

Mrs. Margaret Anderson Watts, always a deep thinker on the most advanced 
social and religious topics, occasionally published her views on woman, in her 
political and civil relations. She was the first Kentucky woman who wrote and 
advocated the equal rights of women before the law. During the revision of the 



Women as Temperance Workers 691 

constitution of Kentucky she was chosen one of six women to visit the capital, 
and secure a hearing before the committees on education, and municipalities, and 
on the Woman's Property Rights Bill then pending. When the woman's crusade 
movement was initiated she happened to be living in Colorado where business 
affairs called her husband for several years, but her sympathies were with the 
women of Ohio who formed the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and as 
soon as she returned to Louisville she joined the union there. She worked actively 
in various departments of that organization, her special work being given to 
scientific temperance instruction in the public schools. In this and in many benevo- 
lences for her city Mrs. Watts accomplished much positive good. 

Mrs. Delia L. Weatherby, inheriting the same temperament which made her 
father an abolitionist, became an active worker in the order of Good Templars. 
She could endure no compromise with intemperance and in the various places 
she lived she was always distinguished as an advanced thinker and a pronounced 
prohibitionist. She was a candidate on the prohibition ticket in 1886, for county 
superintendent of public instruction in Coffey County, Kansas, and she was elected 
a lay delegate to the quadrennial meeting of the South Kansas Lay Conference 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1888. In 1890 she was placed in nomina- 
tion for the office of state superintendent of public instruction on the prohibition 
ticket. In 1S90 she was unanimously elected clerk of the school board in her home 
district. She was an alternate delegate from the fourth congressional district 
of Kansas to the national prohibition convention in 1892, and also secured the 
same year for the second time by the same party, the nomination for the office 
of public instruction in her own county. All this experience in political life 
greatly enhanced her value as a member of the white ribbon army, in which cause 
she has always been prominent. She was president of the Coffey County Woman's 
Christian Temperance Union for several years and as superintendent of the Press 
Department of the Kansas Woman's Christian Temperance Union, and state 
reporter for the Union Signal she proved herself one of the strongest women 
that this enterprising state has ever given to the temperance cause. 

Miss Mary Allen West of Galesburg, Illinois, was a wise practical leader of 
the temperance cause. When the Civil War came she had worked earnestly in 
organizing women into aid societies to assist the Sanitary Commission, and after 
the war she accomplished a remarkable piece of editorial work, editing in Illinois 
the Home Magazine, which was published nearly one thousand miles away in 
Philadelphia, but later she left pen and desk for active work in the temperance 
cause. When the woman's crusade sounded the call of woman, the home and 
God against the saloon her whole soul echoed the cry, and after the organization 
of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union had been effected she became an 
earnest worker in its ranks, giving efficient aid in organizing the women of 
Illinois and becoming their president. In that office she traveled very extensively 
throughout Illinois and became familiar with the homes of the people. It was 
that knowledge of the inner life of thousands of homes that made her work for 
temperance direct, practical and efficient. She was often called upon to help in 
the editorial labors of Mrs. Mary B. Williard, the editor of the Signal, pub- 
lished in Chicago, and later whom it had been merged with our Union, into the 



692 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Union Signal and Mrs. Willard gone to Germany to reside, the position of 
editor-in-chief was given to Miss West who moved to Chicago to accept it. As 
editor of that paper, the organ of the National and the World's Woman's Chris- 
tian Temperance Union, her responsibilities were immense but they were always 
carried with a steady hand and an even head. She met the demands of her 
enormous constituency with a remarkable degree of poise. A paper having a 
circulation of nearly one hundred thousand among earnest women, many of them 
in the front rank of intelligence and advancement of thought and all of them on 
fire with an idea, needs judicious and strong, as well as thorough and comprehen- 
sive editing. This the Union Signal under Miss West has had and the women 
of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union repeatedly, in the most emphatic 
manner, endorsed her policy and conduct of the paper. Soon after she went to 
Chicago some women of that city, both writers and publishers, organized the 
Illinois Woman's Press Association, its avowed object being to provide a means 
of communication between women writers and to secure the benefits resulting 
from organized efforts. Miss West was made president and filled the position 
for several consecutive terms. Her work in that sphere was a unifying one. She 
brought into harmony many conflicting elements and helped to carry the associa- 
tion through the perils which always beset the early years of an organization. 
She had an unusual capacity for vicarious suffering; the woes of others were her 
woes and the knowledge of injustice or cruelty wrung her heart. That made her 
an effective director of the protective agency for women and children, but the 
strain of that work proved too great and she stepped outside its directorship, 
although remaining an ardent upholder of the agency. Miss West in 1892 visited 
California, the Sandwich Islands, and Japan in the interests of temperance work. 
She died in Kanazawa, Japan, first of December, 1892. 

Mrs. Dora V. Wheelock of Nebraska was one of the earliest women tem- 
perance workers of that state. In 1885 she became an influential worker for the 
Woman's Christian Temperance Union, serving for several years as local presi- 
dent in Beatrice, and three years as president of the Gage County Union. She 
was state superintendent of press work and reporter for the Union Signal for 
Nebraska. She has written much, her articles appearing in the Youth's Com- 
panion, Union Signal and other publications, and in every way she has accom- 
plished all that a variously gifted woman might, as one of the advance guard in 
the cause of temperance. 

Mrs. Mary Bannister Willard, sister-in-law of Francis Willard, was called 
to assume the editorship of the Signal, the organ of the Illinois Woman's 
Christian Temperance Union and during years of successful work for it she dis- 
played remarkable ability both in the editorial sanctum and as organizer and plat- 
form speaker. The Signal under her leadership came quickly to the front and 
it was said that no other paper in America was better edited. But Mrs. Willard's 
health had become impaired from the constant strain of overwork and with her 
two daughters she went to Europe. In the autumn of 1886 she opened in Berlin, 
Germany, her American Home School for Girls, unique in its way and which for 
years she managed on the original plan with much success. It combined the 
best features of an American school with special advantage in German and 



Women as Temperance Workers 693 

French and the influence and care of a refined Christian home. In the years of 
her residence in Europe Mrs. Willard's gifts and wide acquaintance have ever 
been at the service of her countrywomen and she stood there as here as a represent- 
ative of the best phases of total abstinence reform. 

Mrs. Alice Williams during years of suffering and invalidism read, studied 
and thought much on temperance subjects, and when restored to health the 
Woman's Christian Temperance Union was formed in her state of Missouri. 
She became an active local worker. In 1884 she went with her husband to Lake 
Bluff, 111., to a prohibition conference there. At the request of Missouri state 
president, Mrs. Williams' voice was first heard from the platform in a two minutes' 
speech. She was appointed superintendent of the young woman's work in Mis- 
souri and was called to every part of the state to speak and organize. She always 
commanded large audiences and her lectures presented the truth of the temperance 
question and social purity in an unusually strong, yet not offensive manner. 

Mrs. Jennie Fowler Willing's father was a Canadian "patriot," who lost 
all in an attempt to secure national independence, and was glad to escape to the 
States with his family to begin life again in the New West, so that this inherited 
love of freedom and a mixture of heroic English, Scotch and Irish blood in 
her veins, naturally brought Mrs. Willing to the fore when the great temperance 
crusade swept over the land. For several years she was president of the Illinois 
State Woman's Temperance Union, and with Emily Huntington Miller she issued 
the call for the Cleveland convention, presiding over that body in which the 
National Woman's Christian Temperance Union was organized. For a few years 
she edited its organ now the Union Signal. Mrs. Willing was drawn into public 
speaking by her temperance zeal and soon found herself addressing immense 
audiences in all the great cities of the country. As an evangelist she held many 
large revival services with marked success, and after moving to New York City 
in 1899, her life was as full of good works as it would seem possible for any 
human being's to be. She was interested in foreign mission work conducting her 
evangelistic services, was superintendent in an Italian mission and the bureau of 
immigration with its immigrant girls' homes in New York, Boston and Philadel- 
phia. Her English sturdiness, Scotch persistence, and Irish vivacity, her altogether 
usefulness made her an ideal type of an American woman. 

Mrs. Annie Wittenmyer, although originally famous for her work in the 
Women's Relief Corps, has done no less efficient service for the temperance cause. 
When the Civil War broke out she became Iowa's volunteer agent to distribute 
supplies to the army and was the first sanitary agent for the state, being elected 
by the legislature. She received a pass from Secretary of War Stanton, which was 
endorsed by President Lincoln and throughout the Civil War she was constantly in 
the field ministering to the sick and wounded in the hospital and on the battlefield. 
She was personally acquainted with the leading generals of the army and was a 
special friend of General Grant and accompanied him and Mrs. Grant on the 
boat of observation that went down the Mississippi to see six gunboats and eight 
wooden steamers run the blockade. While in the service she introduced a reform in 
hospital cookery known as the special diet kitchens, which was made a part of the 
United States Army system and which saved the lives of thousands of soldiers who 



694 Part Taken by Women in American History 

were too ill to recover on coarse army fare. But after the war she turned to 
temperance work with the same courage and zeal that kept her coolly working even 
while under fire during the war. She was the first president of the Woman's 
Christian Temperance Union, in Iowa, and beginning without a dollar in the 
treasury she won the influence of the churches and the support of the leading 
people until her efforts were crowned with success. She established the Christian 
Women, in Philadelphia, and was editor for eleven years. She also contributed 
lectures, articles in periodicals, and a numerous collection of hymns to the cause 
of temperance. 

Mrs. Mary Brayton Woodbridge was one of the most prominent women in 
the Ohio temperance movement. She joined the Woman's Christian Temperance 
Union and filled many important offices in that organization. She was the first 
president of the local union in her own home town, Ravenna, then for years 
president of her state union, and in 1878 she was chosen recording secretary of the 
National Woman's Christian Temperance Union, a position which she filled with 
marked ability. Upon the resignation of Mrs. J. Ellen Foster, in the St. Louis 
National Woman's Christian Temperance Union Convention, in October, 1884, Mrs. 
Woodbridge was unanimously elected national superintendent of the department of 
legislation and petition. Her crowning work was done in conducting a constitutional 
amendment campaign. She edited the Amendment Herald, which gained a 
weekly circulation of a hundred thousand copies. From 1878, she was annually 
reelected recording secretary of the national union. She was secretary of the 
World's Woman's Christian Temperance Union and in 1889 attended the world's 
convention in England. She died in Chicago, Illinois, October 25, 1894. 

Mrs. Caroline M. Clark Woodward entered the field of temperance in 
1882 as a temperance writer and she proved herself a consistent and useful worker 
for the cause. In 1884 she was elected treasurer of the Nebraska Woman's Christian 
Temperance Union and in 1887, vice-president at large of the state. In 1887 she 
was appointed organizer for the National Woman's Christian Temperance Union 
and was twice reappointed. In the Atlanta convention she was elected associate 
superintendent of the department of work among railroad employees. She was a 
member of each national convention of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, 
including the memorable St. Louis convention of 1884. She was a delegate to 
the national prohibition party convention in 1888, held in Indianapolis and as a 
final and well-earned honor she was nominated by that party for regent of the 
state university of Nebraska and led the state ticket by a large vote. 

The roll call of temperance workers in America further includes : Mrs. Mary 
L. Doe; Mrs. Martha M. Frazier; Mrs. Elizabeth P. Gordon; Mrs. Clara Cleghorn 
Hoffman; Mrs. Eliza B. Ingalls; Mrs. Lide Meriweather, well known for her work 
to obtain constitutional prohibition in Tennessee ; Mrs. Ann Viola Neblett, 
indefatigable worker for temperance in Greenville, South Carolina, and the first 
woman in her state to declare herself for woman suffrage over her own signature 
in public print, which was an act of heroism and might have meant social ostracism 
in the conservative South ; Mrs. Sarah Mariah Clinton Perkins, Mrs. Laura Jacinta 
Rittenhouse, of Illinois; Miss Mary Scott, an earnest advocate in Canada, whose 
writings on temperance have had wide circulation among our Woman's Christian 



Women as Temperance Workers 695 

Temperance Unions; Miss Mary Bede Smith, state reporter of Connecticut for the 
Union Signal; Mrs. Mary Ingram Stille, to whose efforts the success of the first 
Woman's Christian Temperance work in Pennsylvania was largely due; Mrs. Lydia 
H. Tilton; Mrs. Harriett G. Walker, one of the first to take up the work of the 
Woman's Christian Temperance Union and to whom Minneapolis is indebted for 
the introduction of police matronship; Mrs. Mary Williams Chawner Woodey, 
who was for years president of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union in North 
Carolina, and who made notable addresses in several state conventions. 



Woman's Work for the Blind. 

There are eighty public libraries which have embossed lit- 
erature for circulation, and there are also many state commis- 
sions and associations for the welfare of the blind. The 
Misses Trader, of Cincinnati, Ohio, have accomplished wonders 
through their Library Society for the Blind and their Clover- 
nook Industrial Home for the Blind. (Miss Georgie Trader 
is without sight.) 

Mrs. Andrew Cowan, of San Francisco, Cal, organized an 
auxiliary for the blind before the disastrous earthquake in that 
city, and had a delightful library, where books were circulated 
and entertainments and readings given by volunteers. 

The work in Dayton and Cleveland, Ohio, was started by 
ladies, and the Women's Educational and Industrial Union, of 
Boston, began the work which is now done by the Massachu- 
setts Commissioners. Mrs. Hadder, of Brookline, Mass., 
did splendid work in this connection. Mrs. Fairchild and Miss 
Chamberlin and Miss Goldthwaite and Miss Trader, of the New 
York State Library, are well known in this work. Miss Bubier 
(blind) of the Lynn, Mass., Library, and Beryl Ghuhac, of the 
Brookline Library (also blind), are among the well-known 
women workers. Matilda Zeigler, of New York City, spends 
more than $25,000 annually on the fine publication which she 
founded, with Mr. Walter G. Holmes as managing editor, for 
the benefit of the blind. Miss Winifred and Miss Edith Holt, 
of the New York Association for the Blind, have done some 
particularly good work in the New York Association for the 
Blind, Department of Blind Home Teachers. Mrs. Laborio 
Delfino, formerly Miss Emma R. Neisser, is in charge of the 

(696) 



Woman's Work for the Blind . 697 

Library for the Blind connected with the Free Library, of Phil- 
adelphia, and the Pennsylvania Home Teaching Society and 
Library for the Blind. The Aid Association for the Blind of 
Washington, D. C, was organized about 1898 by Mrs. Hearst 
and Mrs. John Russell Young, the latter being its first president. 
At present Mrs. Charlotte Emerson Main is president. 

Mrs. Rebecca McManes Colfelt and her late mother, Mrs. 
James McManes, have given large sums of money to pay the 
blind for copying books into English braille for the Library of 
Congress, and these ladies, by their generosity and interest in 
this work, made it possible for Miss Giffin, late librarian for 
the blind, Library of Congress, Washington, D. C, to be sent 
as a delegate to the International Congress held in Brussels 
in 1902; that held in Edinburgh, in 1905; at Manchester in 
1908; Vienna in 19 10, and Cairo, Egypt, in 191 1. During 
these various trips Miss Giffin has visited schools and institu- 
tions and libraries for the blind in all the principal cities of 
Great Britain, Europe, Oriental Europe and Egypt. Miss Gif- 
fin has aroused the interest of prominent people in Washington 
to the immediate necessity of rescuing this library from ultimate 
destruction. Mr. Thomas Nelson Page has been made presi- 
dent of an organization, and Miss Giffin the director, with the 
hope of interesting friends all over the country to aid in this 
splendid work. There are eighty thousand blind in the United 
States, 82 per cent, beyond the school age, and two-thirds of 
them are dependent for their sole recreation on books. This 
movement is American in its spirit, and thoroughly in accord 
with the practice of our government. We have always prided 
ourselves on recognizing the rights of every class of citizens, 
and no woman has done a greater and more needed work bet- 
ter and more unselfishly than has Miss Giffin. 



698 . Part Taken by Women in American History 

LAURA DEWEY BRIDGMAN. 

Miss Bridgman was born in Hanover, N. H., December 
21, 1829, and died in South Boston, Mass., May 24, 1889. 
When but three years of age she lost, through scarlet fever, 
her sight and hearing, becoming a blind deaf mute. In 1837 
she was placed in the Institution for the Blind in Boston. Here 
Dr. S. G. Howe was director. He developed a special system of 
training for her, and in a short time she had acquired a consid- 
erable vocabulary, and so successful was the course of training 
used by Dr. Howe in her case that she became well known 
throughout the country, and this was successfully applied in the 
cases of other similarly unfortunate persons. 

ETTA JOSSELYN GIFFIN. 

Librarian for the blind; formerly in the Library of Con- 
gress, Washington, D. C. In 1897 Miss Giffin was appointed 
assistant librarian in the Library of Congress by John Rus- 
sell Young, librarian at that time. A number of blind citi- 
zens had made a personal appeal to the librarian for a reading 
room, which was granted, and Miss Giffin placed in charge. 
When the new building was opened to the public, October 1, 
1897, a room for the blind was appropriated and everything 
done to adapt this room to the use of the blind. So much inter- 
est was immediately shown by all visitors to the new library 
that it was decided by Mr. Young to collect not only books, 
music, maps and periodicals, but also devices for reading tan- 
gible print, guides for keeping pencil and pen in straight lines, 
games and every device for instructing and entertaining the 
blind. One of the important things which was commenced by 
Mr. Young was the collection of the reports from schools and 
institutions for the blind in American and foreign countries, 



Woman's Work for the Blind 699 

also books on the care of the eye and the prevention of blind- 
ness, and all books concerning the education and employment of 
the blind. The idea was to build up a special library on all 
subjects connected with the blind and that most important 
organ, the eye, which was and would have been in the future 
most helpful to the blind of the district and those all over the 
country, and even of international use. Unfortunately, Mr. 
Young could not be spared to carry out his splendid ideas. This 
collection has been removed by the present librarian, but the 
effort is now being made to have it returned to the Library of 
Congress, where it is more accessible and will be properly cared 
for and continued and enlarged. Miss Giffin is now actively 
at work endeavoring to accomplish this end. As the literature 
in tangible print is limited it was decided on the opening of 
the reading room in the new library to have oral readings by 
sighted volunteers for one hour daily, and Mr. Young invited 
Thomas Nelson Page, F. Hopkinson Smith, Henry Van Dyke, 
and many others of prominence to read, and, if possible, give 
an address to the blind. Miss Giffin was particularly active in 
bringing about and conducting these delightful entertainments. 

HELEN ADAMS KELLER. 

Miss Keller was born at Tuscumbia, Ala., June 27, 1880. 
She is the daughter of Captain Arthur H. and Kate Adams 
Keller, and is descended, on her father's side, from Alexander 
Spottswood, colonial governor of Virginia, and through her 
mother is related to the Adams and Everett families of New 
England. Helen Keller has been deaf and blind since the age 
of nineteen months, as a result of illness. She was educated 
by Miss Ann M. Sullivan (now Mrs. Macy) from the beginning 
of her education to the present time. She entered Radcliffe 
College in 1900, graduating with the degree of A.B. in 1904. 



700 Part Taken by Women in American History 

She was formerly a member of the Massachusetts Commission 
for the Blind, and is a member of advisory boards for the vari- 
ous societies for the blind and deaf. She has contributed 
articles in the Century Magazine, Youth's Companion, and 
has written "The Story of My Life" and 'The World I Live 
In," etc. 

Miss Keller stands forth as a shining example of overcom- 
ing almost insurmountable obstacles. To-day she is a well- 
educated, keen-minded, cultured woman, equally enthusiastic 
over a walk in the woods or a sail on the water as over the 
treasures of Homer and Shakespeare. She converses in two 
or three languages, and writes as many more. She counts 
among her friends the most eminent contributors to the intellec- 
tual life of the day, and her own literary efforts compare favor- 
ably with those of women possessed of all their faculties. 

In the face of what she has had to overcome Miss Keller's 
achievements are marvelous. She is one of the most remark- 
able American women of our day. 



Christian Science. 

MARY BAKER EDDY. 

BY ALFRED FARLOW. 

Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy was born at Bow, N. H., a few 
miles distant from Concord, the Capital City of the state. 
Her home commanded a charming view of the picturesque valley 
of the Merrimac River. She was the daughter of Mark and 
Abigail Ambrose Baker. Her great-grandfather was Captain 
Joseph Baker, among her ancestors were Captain Joseph 
Lovewell and General John Macneil, of Revolutionary fame. 
Her father was a well-to-do farmer and gave his daughter 
Mary all the school privileges that his neighborhood afforded. 
Besides school advantages, Mary Baker's educational oppor- 
tunities were enhanced by private tutors, among whom were 
Rev. Enoch Corser, of Sanbornton Bridge Academy, and Pro- 
fessor Dyer H. Sanborn, the author of Sanborn's grammar. 

In her youthful days Mrs. Eddy wrote both prose and 
poetry which were acceptable for publication in the periodicals 
of their day. Letters written to members of her family in her 
early girlhood, which have recently been published in Munsey's 
Magazine, give evidence of her close observation and depth of 
thought, as well as of her piety. These letters show that 
peculiar fondness for her home and the members of her family 
which is always in evidence in a deeply spiritual nature. 

Samuel B. G. Corser, A.M., her boyhood friend, referred 
to her as the "brightest pupil" in his father's class, and declared 
that, "intellectually and spiritually, she stood head and shoul- 

(701) 



yo2 Part Taken by Women in American History 

ders above any girl in the community," that "she discussed 
philosophical and religious subjects" with his father which were 
oftentimes too deep for his comprehension. 

In 1843 she was united in marriage with George W. 
Glover, a contractor and builder of Charleston, N. C. Mr. 
Glover was at one time a member of the governor's staff, and 
thus received the title of colonel. He was a man of large 
affairs. The records of Charleston show that between 1839 
and 1844 he transferred thirteen pieces of real estate, while two 
were transferred to him in that city. Most of his property, 
however, consisted of slaves, which Mrs. Eddy was unwilling 
to own, and which she allowed to go free after Colonel Glover's 
death. During her early widowhood Mrs. Eddy earned some 
means by her pen. She possessed advanced ideas, and found 
ready acceptance for her writings with progressive thinkers. 

At the early age of twelve she had pronounced religious 
Opinions, some of which conflicted with those of her father 
and his co-religionists, notably a disbelief in the doctrine of 
eternal punishment. She contended that if her brothers and 
sisters, none of whom had made any public profession of 
religion, but all of whom were honorable, trustworthy and 
commendable citizens, were to be debarred from the heavenly 
estate, she wished to remain outside also. While wrestling 
over this religious problem she became ill. In her book, "Ret- 
rospection and Introspection," she states that on this occasion 
her mother "bathed" her "burning temples," bade her "lean 
on God's love, which would give" her "rest, if" she "went to 
Him in prayer, as" she "was wont to do, seeking His guidance." 
She further states, "I prayed; and a soft glow of ineffable joy 
came over me * * * * the 'horrible decree' of predesti- 
nation — as John Calvin rightly called his own tenet — forever 
lost its power over me. When the meeting was held for the 
examination of candidates for membership, I was, of course, 



Christian Science 703 

present. The pastor was an old-school expounder of the strict- 
est Presbyterian doctrines. He was apparently as eager to 
have unbelievers in these dogmas lost, as he was to have elect 
believers converted, and rescued from perdition ; for both salva- 
tion and condemnation depended, according to his views, upon 
the good pleasure of infinite Love. However, I was ready for 
his doleful questions, which I answered without a tremor, 
declaring that I could never unite with the church, if assent 
to this doctrine was essential thereto * * * * To the 
astonishment of many, the good clergyman's heart also melted, 
and he received me into their communion, and my protest along 
with me." Mrs. Eddy continued a member of the Congrega- 
tional Church until after she organized a church of her own. 
It was in 1866, after many disappointments and sorrows 
which culminated in invalidism, that she met with an accident 
while living in Lynn, Mass. As a result she found herself 
in a critical condition, and in her extremity her thoughts turned 
to God, and, as she afterwards more fully realized, she thus 
came in touch with the divine influence, and was instantly 
healed. This experience caused her to ponder upon the sub- 
ject of spiritual healing. She was impressed that what she had 
experienced on the momentous occasion above mentioned might 
be repeated in all cases of sickness and disorder, if mortals could 
but understand how to approach the infinite Spirit. For the 
next three years she made a constant study of this subject, 
searched the Scriptures night and day, and finally arrived at the 
conclusions which, in 1875, she set forth to the world in her 
text-book, "Science and Health, with Key to the Scriptures." 
She attached the name "Christian Science" to her teaching, and 
at once began to put her ideas to a practical test by healing the 
sick. The propaganda of her system of thought was effected 
by the circulation of her book and also by the personal instruc- 
tion which she gave to those who sought it. In 1879 she estab- 



704 Part Taken by Women in American History 

lished the Christian Science Church, of which the name was 
afterwards changed to First Church of Christ, Scientist. This, 
the mother church of the denomination has at the present time 
a membership of tens of thousands, and it has branch churches 
in all parts of the United States and in many foreign countries. 
In this dissemination of her healing apprehension of Truth, 
Mrs. Eddy has contributed very largely to the health, happiness 
and general well being of mankind. 

Christian Science is founded upon the Scriptural declara- 
tion that God is Spirit, Mind, Truth, Love, Good; that man is 
made in God's own image and is, therefore, spiritual, and not 
material, a point which accords with the generally accepted 
truism that "like begets like," and that, in accordance with the 
Master's teaching, "the flesh (matter) profiteth nothing," 
material sense is false, a deception wtiich will vanish from con- 
sciousness through spiritual awakening. This teaching of 
Christian Science does not mean that the universe is unreal, 
but that it is not what it seems to be to uneducated human 
thought, to that quality of understanding which does not per- 
ceive objects from the spiritual viewpoint. Christian Science 
teaches that when one has attained to that spiritual perfection 
which St. Paul denominated "the measure of the stature of the 
fullness of Christ," the creations of God will be recognized as 
spiritual, and will appear infinitely more wonderful and beauti- 
ful than are the projections of our present material concept of 
being. This corrected view of man and the universe, the 
Christ-idea, destroys the false foundation of human woe and 
thus heals the sick. Christian Science reforms the sinner by 
destroying his false belief of life, substance and intelligence in 
matter, and of pleasure or benefit in sin, and thereby removes 
the incentive to do wrong. 

Mrs. Eddy was an indefatigable worker. Although her 
books brought her a liberal income she spent relatively little 



Christian Science 705 



money on herself, her whole aim in life being to advance the 
cause of Christian Science and to do good. She made her 
church the principal legatee of her fortune. She was an elo- 
quent and fluent speaker, an inspiring teacher and a brilliant 
and convincing conversationalist. 

In the early part of her life as leader of the Christian 
Science Church, she resided in Boston, Mass. In 1889 she 
removed to Concord, N. H., where she resided until 1908, when 
she returned to Boston, taking up her residence in the beauti- 
ful suburb of Chestnut Hill, where she remained until her 
demise, December 3, 1910. 

Mrs. Eddy was not only much beloved by her own follow- 
ers, but was highly respected by the community at large, and on 
the event of her passing away the newspapers of the country 
spoke in appreciative terms of the character which she had 
attained and of the good which she had accomplished. 

SUE HARPER MIMS. 

Mrs. Mims was one of the most prominent women in the 
Christian Science movement in America, and a social leader of 
Atlanta, Ga. She was born in Brandon, Mass., May, 1842, 
and was the daughter of the late Colonel William C. Harper and 
Mrs. Mary C. Harper. Her father was a lawyer of great 
learning and distinguished ability. She became the wife of 
Livingston Mims in 1866, one of the most prominent business 
men of Atlanta, a gentleman of aristocratic lineage and culture. 
For many years he was president of the Capital City Club, by 
which President and Mrs. Cleveland were entertained while 
on a visit to that city. Mrs. Mims gathered about her a circle 
of literary, artistic and musical people, exerting a wide influence 
for intellectual and ethical culture. She is a devoted follower 
of Mrs. Eddy, and has been one of the prime movers and teach- 
ers of Christian Science in the South. 
45 



Women Educators. 

EMMA WILLARD. 

Emma Willard, born in Berlin, Conn., in February, 1787, 
was one of the women whose names received votes for a place 
in the Hall of Fame. Her biographer, Dr. John Lord, in sum- 
marizing her claim for immortality in the hearts of her fellow- 
citizens, declares that her glory is in giving prominence to the 
cause of woman's education. -In this cause she rendered price- 
less service. When we remember the institution she founded 
and conducted ; the six thousand young women whom she edu- 
cated, many of them gratuitously ; when it is borne in mind the 
numerous books she wrote to be used in schools and the great 
favor with which these books have generally been received; 
when we think of the zealous energy in various ways which she 
put forth for more than half a century to elevate the standard 
of education of her sex, it would be difficult to find a woman 
who, in her age or country, was more useful or will longer be 
remembered as both good and great. Not for original genius, 
not for immortal work of art, not for a character free from 
blemishes and blots, does she claim an exalted place among 
women, but as a benefactor of her country and of her sex. In 
this influence she shed luster around the home, and gave dignity 
to the human soul. 

Emma Willard was deeply religious, and never lost sight of 
the highest and noblest influence in her educational work. Beau- 
tiful hymns which she composed were sung by her pupils in the 
"Troy Female Seminary," of which, for many years, she was 
the head. 

(706) 



Women Educators 707 



An interesting occasion in her life occurred in connection 
with a visit of General La Fayette to this country in 1825. His 
services in the cause of American Independence, in upholding 
the constitutional liberty in France and his mingled gallantry 
and sentiment early gave him prominence and fame, and made 
him an idol of the American people. 

All this feeling Mrs. Willard had nobly imbued in the 
verses with which she celebrated this distinguished visitor's 
coming to her school in Troy. The young women of her 
school sang this poem before General La Fayette, who was 
affected to tears by this reception, and at the close of the singing 
said: "I cannot express what I feel on this occasion, but will 
you, madame, present me with three copies of those lines to be 
given by me as from you to my three daughters ?" 

Emma Willard was a woman of loftiest patriotism, and 
her "National Llymn" deserves at least equal appreciation with 
Doctor Smith's "Columbia." Her prose displays uncommonly 
strong mental powers and endowments. She published a large 
book or treatise on the motive powers which produce a circula- 
tion of the blood, which gained her great praise both at home 
and abroad. In 1849 she published "Last Leaves From Amer- 
ican Llistory," giving a graphic account of the Mexican War, 
and later appeared her "History of California" and a small 
volume of poetry. 

In Emma Willard's case the promise of the Psalmist, "That 
the righteous shall bear fruit in old age," was splendidly 
realized. To the close of her long and useful life she main- 
tained her youthful vivacity, her enthusiasm of spirit and her 
power of work. Every Sunday evening she gathered around 
her hospitable board her children, grandchildren and great- 
grandchildren, as well as her friends, and heard them repeat 
passages of Scripture. This was a habit of many years. 
Beautiful were those family reunions, but the most beautiful 



708 Part Taken by Women in American History 

thing among them was the figure of the benignant old lady. 
Entering into every subject of interest with the sympathy of 
youth, she received from all the profoundest reverence and 
respect. 

She died April 15, 1870, at the age of eighty- three. A 
distinguished educator said of her at the time of her death, "In 
the fullness of age she approached the termination of life 
with the calmness, Christian philosophy and faith of a true 
believer." The place of her death was the old seminary built 
at Troy where, half a century before, she had founded an insti- 
tution which was an honor to the country, and where she taught 
the true philosophy of living and dying — works done in faith 
made practical in works. 

MARY LYON. 

While still very young, Mary Lyon, who was afterwards 
to become the foremost woman in America in the mental and 
spiritual training of young girls, wrote a letter to her sister 
revealing not only the strength of her thought and the intensity 
of her patriotism, but the deep bed rock of Christian faith 
which undergirded all her thinking. "This day," she wrote, 
"completes half a century since the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence. How interesting must be the reflections of those few 
who remember that eventful day. Who on the face of the 
earth fifty years ago could have expected such results? It is 
true that Washington and almost all Americans who lived in 
the days of Washington hoped for independence, but did they 
look forward to this time and expect such a nation as this? 
Must not all believe that self-promotion comes neither from 
the east nor from the west nor from the south, but God is the 
Judge who putteth down one and setteth up another. Must net 
all exclaim, 'This is the finger of God !' ' This same spir- 



Women Educators 709 



ituality of her mind was made manifest later in her influence 
over all those whom she taught. As time went on and Mary 
Lyon became more and more intrenched in her life work of 
teaching, her spiritual life deepened and her activities were 
intensified in two or three very important ways. She was 
deeply imbued with the importance of instruction in Bible 
truths, and in the conversion of her pupils, and more and more 
impressed with the importance of loyalty and self-sacrifice for 
the promotion of foreign missions. I think she was the pioneer 
in what is now quite common in Christian colleges — a definite 
laboring for the conversion of students as an important part 
of the college work. It was her custom to write to Christian 
friends in all parts of the country and enlist their prayers for 
the spiritual condition of her school. She had wonderful faith 
in prayer, and the results justified her faith. Mary Lyon's 
power in developing Christian character in her pupils lay in the 
fact that she not only lived a Christian life herself, but regularly 
taught it to her pupils. Her manner was simple ; there was not 
the slightest pretense of speaking for effect or trying to speak 
eloquently, but her intense faith and earnestness made her a 
powerful speaker. Doctor Hitchcock, at one time president of 
Amherst College, says that the vividness with which she 
evidently saw and thought the truths she was telling was only 
second to her power. If she ever had a fleeting doubt of the 
certainty of future retribution that doubt was never known or 
suspected by her most intimate friends. The foundations of 
faith never wavered. The principles of the Christian religion 
seemed interwoven in the fibres of her soul. The world to 
come was as present to her thoughts as this world to her eyes. 
Her confidence in God was as simple and true as a child's in 
its mother. 

Mary Lyon had broad and noble ideas concerning the 
necessity for the education of woman and the possible bless- 



yio Part Taken by Women in American History 

ings that would come from it to the world. One one occasion, 
when she was under the strain of great effort to obtain needed 
help for Mt. Holyoke Female School (the institution of which 
she was the founder is now known as Mt. Holyoke College) 
she wrote a letter to a leading minister, in the course of which 
she said: "Woman elevated by the Christian religion was 
designed by Providence as the educator of our race. From her 
entrance into womanhood to the end of her life this is to be her 
great business. By her influence not only her friends, her 
scholars and her daughters are to be affected, but also her sons, 
her brothers, the young men around .her, and even the elder 
men, not excepting her father and his peers. Considering the 
qualifications which the mothers in our land now possess is 
there not a call for special effort from some quarter to render 
them aid in fitting their daughters to exert such an influence 
as is needed from this source in our infant Republic, on our 
Christian country ?" Such a letter would not seem daring now, 
but it took a prophetess to write it twenty years ago. Miss 
Lyon's work in behalf of foreign missions was so immense that 
it can only be referred to in this short sketch of her life. So 
many missionaries went out from her seminary that worldly 
families became afraid to send their daughters there to school 
lest they should give themselves to Christian work. After her 
death, in 1849, one writer suggested the breadth of her mis- 
sionary work in these words, "Is she missed? Scarcely a state 
in the American Union but contains those she trained. Long 
ere this, amid the hunting grounds of the Sioux and the villages 
of the Cherokees the tear of the missionary has wet the 
page which has told of Miss Lyon's departure. The Sandwich 
Islander will ask why his white teacher's eyes dim as she reads 
her American letters. The swarthy African will lament with 
his sorrowing guide, who cries, 'Help, Lord, for the Godly 
'ceaseth !' The cinnamon groves of Ceylon, and the palm trees 



Women Educators 711 



of India overshadow her early deceased missionary pupils, 
while those left to bear the heat and burden of the day will 
wail the saint whose prayers and letters they so prized. Among 
the Nestorians of Persia, and at the base of Mount Olympus 
will her name be breathed softly as the household name of one 
whom God hath taken." 

SOPHIA SMITH. 

Sophia Smith, educationist, was born in Hatfield, Massachusetts, August 27, 
1796, daughter of Joseph and Lois (White) Smith, granddaughter of Lieutenant 
Samuel and Mary (Morton) Smith, and of Lieutenant Elihu White; niece of 
Oliver Smith, philanthropist, and first cousin once removed of Benjamin Smith 
Lyman, geologist. Her early education was extremely meagre. She attended school 
in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1810, for three months, and in 1814 was for a short 
time a pupil in the Hopkin's Academy, Hadley, Massachusetts. She was an 
extensive writer, and in 1861 inherited a large fortune ($450,000) from her 
brother, Austin Smith. In later years she conceived the idea of building a college 
for women, defined the object and general plan of the institution, appointed the 
trustees and selected Northampton, Massachusetts, as its site. The college, which 
bears her name, and which was the first institution for the higher education of 
women in New England, was opened in September, 1875, with L. Clark Seelye as 
president. Miss Smith bequeathed for the founding of the college, $365,000 and 
also $75,000 for the endowment of Smith Academy, at Hatfield, Massachusetts, 
where she died, June 12, 1870. 

MARY L. BONNEY RAMBAUT. 

Miss Bonney was born June 8, 1816, in Hamilton, Madison County, New York. 
Her father was a farmer in good circumstances. Her mother had been a teacher 
before her marriage. Religion and education were prominent in their thoughts and 
directed the training of their son and daughter. Miss Bonney was a pupil for 
several years of the Female Academy in Hamilton and also under Mrs. Emma 
Willard, in Troy Seminary, at that time the best institution for young ladies in 
this country. Her father's death occurred when she was quite young, obliging 
her to take up the profession of teaching. In 1850 she decided to establish a school 
of her own and provide a home for her mother. In connection with Miss 
Harriette A. Dillaye, one of the teachers in Troy Seminary, and a friend of her 
earlier days, she founded the Chestnut Street Seminary, located for thirty-three 
years in Philadelphia and later, in 1883, enlarged into the Ogontz Seminary, in 
Ogontz, Pennsylvania, one of the famous schools for girls in the United States. 
Here, for nearly forty years, Miss Bonney presided. Her attention was first 
attracted to the cause of the Indians through a newspaper article in regard to 



712 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Senator Vest's efforts to have the Oklahoma lands opened to settlement by the 
whites. It was at this time Miss Bonney formed the friendship with Mrs. A. S. 
Quinton, and these two women began their task of aiding in righting the wrongs 
done by the government to the Indians. Miss Bonney gave freely from her own 
income to this cause. She became the first president of the society and devoted the 
latter years of her life to this work. While in London, in 1888, as a delegate to 
the World's Missionary Conference, Miss Bonney met and married Rev. Thomas 
Rambaut, D.D., LL.D., a friend of many years and also a delegate to the conference. 
Mrs. Rambaut died in 1900. 

LOUISE POLLOCK. 

With all the time and attention now given to the study of psychology in 
America it is interesting to review the career and work of a pioneer in this line 
of work. Mrs. Pollock was born in Erfurt, Prussia, October 29, 1832. Her father, 
Frederick William Plessner, was an officer in the Prussian army, but retiring from 
active service was pensioned by the emperor and devoted the rest of his life to 
literary labors. He seems to have taken special delight in directing the education 
of this young daughter, who at an early age showed a marked preference for 
literary pursuits. On her way to Paris, where she was sent at the age of sixteen 
to complete her knowledge of French, she made the acquaintance of George H. 
Pollock, of Boston, Massachusetts, whose wife she became about two years later 
in London. Her own five children started her interest in books treating of the 
subject of infant training, hygiene and physiology, and in 1859 she first became 
acquainted with the philosophy of the kindergarten by receiving from a German 
relative copies of everything that had been published upon the subject up to that 
time. Her first work as an educator was naturally enough in her own family, but 
her husband being overtaken by illness and financial reverses, Mrs. Pollock turned 
her ability to pecuniary account and began her literary work in earnest. Executing 
a commission from Mr. Sharland, of Boston, she selected seventy songs from 
German melodies for which she wrote the words ; then she translated four medical 
works, a number of historical stories, besides writing for several periodicals. In 
1861 her "Child's Story Book" was published and among the kindergarten works 
which she received from Germany was a copy of Lena Morganstern's "Paradise of 
Childhood," which she translated in 1862, into English. She had become so 
enthusiastic over adopting the kindergarten system in her own family that she 
sent her daughter Susan to Berlin, where she took the teacher's training in the 
kindergarten seminary there. In 1862, upon the request of Nathaniel T. Allen, 
principal of the English and Classical School, of West Newton, Massachusetts, 
Mrs. Pollock opened a kindergarten in connection therewith, the first pure kinder- 
garten in America. During 1863, she wrote four lengthy articles on the 
kindergarten, which were published in the Friend of Progress, New York, and were 
the earliest contributions to kindergarten literature in this country. Tn 1874, Mrs. 
Pollock visited Berlin for the purpose of studying the kindergarten system in 
operation there, and upon her return to America she moved her family to the 
City of Washington where her "Ledroit Park Kindergarten" was opened, and 



Women Educators 713 



her series of lectures to mothers was commenced. The sixty hygienic and fifty-six 
educational rules which she wrote in connection with those lectures were afterwards 
published in the New England Journal of Education. Other works from her pen are : 
"The National Kindergarten Manual," "The National Kindergarten Songs and 
Plays" and her song book, "Cheerful Echoes." In 1880 through President Garfield, 
she presented a memorial to Congress, asking an appropriation to found a free 
national kindergarten normal school in Washington. But, although it was signed 
by all the chief educators of the country, it was unsuccessful. Then she turned 
from Congress to Providence and with better success, for after giving a very 
profitable entertainment in 1883, the "Pensoara Free Kindergarten," with the motto, 
"Inasmuch as ye have done it to the least of these, ye have done it unto me," was 
opened. In order to raise the necessary funds for its continuance a subscription 
list was started at the suggestion of Mrs. Rutherford B. Hayes, who during her life 
was a regular subscriber. In connection with that kindergarten, Mrs. Pollock 
had a training class for nursery maids in the care of young children, and in 
San Francisco, Boston, Chicago and other places, nursery maids' training classes 
were soon opened upon the same plan. Mrs. Pollock with her daughter was for 
years at the head of the National Kindergarten, a kindergarten normal institute 
for the training of teachers, hundreds of whom went out to fill positions throughout 
the country. 

MARY LOWE DICKINSON. 

Mary Lowe Dickinson was born in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, in 1839. "We 
read of all-round women. They are of two kinds. There is the little all-round 
woman, smooth and small, like a bird's egg, holding infinite unfolded possibilities 
that never had the proper warmth and brooding for adequate development. And 
there is the other all-round woman, big as the world, with all sorts of excrescences 
and deficiencies, mountains and valleys of character, with rivers of thought and seas 
of sympathy, and forests of varied feeling crowned with abundant leaves for the 
healing of the nations, and with plains of experience and deserts of sorrow, and 
inside a burning heart of love that penetrates all, and now and then shows itself 
in some volcanic outburst that reveals the real passion and fervor of its inward life. 
And yet, with all this infinite variety, the all-round nature holds all in such true 
balance and poise, develops in such fine proportion, as never to seem to be all 
sympathy or all sense, or anything but a rounded and symmetrical whole." 

Perhaps if the writer of the above paragraph had dreamed that the day 
would come when her own words would be chosen as perhaps the most fitting 
description of her own development she would have hidden them, as she has 
hidden most of her best thoughts, from the world. 

From a primary school in a Massachusetts country town, the step to the 
head assistant principal's place in the Hartford Female Seminary brought her to the 
opening of Vassar, which occurred in her twenty-fourth year. The lady principal 
chosen to be the mother of Vassar was sixty years old. From among the younger 
educators of that day, it was proposed that this teacher should take, in the new 
college, the vice-principal's or elder sister's place. But an opportunity opening for 



714 Part Taken by Women in American History 

three years of life and study abroad with one of her own pupils, the teaching was 
interrupted, to be resumed with still greater eagerness after three years of travel 
and student life in the great European centers. After one year as principal of what 
was then one of the most flourishing of New York City boarding schools, came the 
marriage with John B. Dickinson, a prominent banker of New York, and after 
that the social and philanthropic life which was interrupted only by periods of 
European travel until her husband's death. 

Being recognized as one who had watched the development of every new 
educational movement, the opportunities to put personal touch upon one institution 
after another came to this busy woman's life. Boards of trustees conferred with 
her in reference to plans; philanthropists desiring to found educational institutions, 
and heads of schools and colleges, sought her co-operation, and invited her to aid 
in the development of their work. One after another, many institutions of 
prominence for the education of girls invited her to a place on their faculty. 
Wellesley, the Woman's College of the Northwestern University, Lasalle Seminary, 
Vassar, the Universities of Denver and Southern California, invited her to 
positions of honor and trust. Having made a specialty of the study of literature, 
keeping abreast constantly of the changes and advancement made in that department 
both in American and European colleges and universities, Mrs. Dickinson was quite 
ready when the opportunity offered to undertake the chair of literature in the 
University of Denver, Colorado. Here for two years she worked earnestly, 
especially for the advancement of young Western womanhood, which she insisted 
was the coming womanhood of our day. The work involved many outside demands, 
much lecturing upon literary and philanthropic topics, and heavy responsibilities, 
under which her health gave way; but the work had been so well done that the 
board of trustees continued to hold her position open for her. When return to 
that altitude was impossible, she was honored by the board of trustees, who named 
the chair of literature for her. Of this chair they made her emeritus professor, 
conferring upon her also a lectureship in English. 

In the lecture field, one of Mrs. Dickinson's strong characteristics has been the 
combination of womanliness that never rants, with the earnestness that never fails 
to present the truth as she sees it with uncompromising directness and power. Much 
of her speaking has been before educational and philanthropic societies, in colleges 
and schools and before literary and historical clubs. She has been too busy a woman 
for much distinctive club life, but she is a member of the Barnard, Patria, and 
several other clubs. 

Aside from her general interest in the development of all phases of woman's 
education and the special interest in the study of literature, no one subject has more 
engrossed her attention than that of education in citizenship. So far as possible, she 
has tried to avoid representing the work of organizations, believing that individual 
influence over individuals was the surest basis of help. Nothwithstanding this 
preference for individual labor, she has at one time been secretary of the Bible 
Society, one of the oldest organizations in New York ; the superintendent of a 
department of higher education in the Woman's Christian Temperance Union; the 
president of the National Indian Association ; the general secretary from its 
beginning of the International Order of the King's Daughters and Sons, and she 
is now an honorary president — having served as president for several years — of the 



Women as Educators 715 

National Council of Women of the United States, an organization composed of 
twenty national societies, whose aggregate membership numbers more than half a 
million women. 

Nor have the educational and philanthropic phases made the entire life of 
this working woman. Her work has been threefold. Teaching in schools or living 
a life crowded more or less with women and girls to whom she was teaching some 
one thing or another that they needed most to know; giving instruction or lectur- 
ing in schools and putting her hand to the wheel in charitable societies, there 
has been another life of work, in which the amount of labor done would have 
sufficed alone, it would seem, to fill one busy life. 

Never fancying herself possessed of any special talent, nevertheless, when the 
fortune went and troubles came, Mrs. Dickinson turned to account the use of her 
pen, a facility in the use of which had marked her from a child. After her 
misfortunes, she began scattering about, at the solicitation of her friends, bits of 
verse written at one time or another. 

Mrs. Dickinson's first book was a gathering up of these little verses, which 
made a home for themselves in the hearts of many people, and made a way for the 
author to such fields of journalistic work as would have kept her busy without 
her other tasks. From that time until this she has been an active writer along all 
journalistic lines. Never believing in her own talent, always saying that if she had 
any genius or great ability she would never have needed the spur of necessity, 
holding steadily to her early resolution never to write anything that should harm 
or belittle human nature, she pursued the work of reviewer, novelist, poet, 
biographer, essayist, and educator, never permitting her name to be used if by any 
means it could be avoided. Thus, enormous amounts of work that have issued from 
this pen were never recognized as her own. She wrote for the cause which 
interested her, for the object to be obtained. Her first novel, "Among the Thorns," 
was an expression of her thought as to the responsibilities of wealth and the best 
methods for alleviating the woes of the poor. "The Amber Star," printed first in 
England, and reprinted in America, deals with the problem of waif-life and the 
question of caring for dependent and orphan children. "One Little Life" is the 
expression of her thought as to the true significance of The King's Daughters' 
character and work in the world. Various smaller works have been issued from 
her pen, one called "Driftwood," including fifteen or twenty of the smaller stories, 
of which she has given the world more than three hundred, but few of which, 
however, appeared under her own name. These stories, short or long, reveal 
unquestionably the true story-teller's gift. The power of characterization, the power 
of making the individuals live the tale out before one's eyes, the unquestioned plot 
power, have long ago had their recognition, and opened the way for whatever 
work in this direction her busy life can do. Her latest novel, "Katherine Gray's 
Temptation," is said to be the strongest analytical work and the best character-study 
that has yet appeared from her pen. 

CAROLINE HAZARD. 

Caroline Hazard, educator, was born at Oakwoods, Peace Dale, Rhode 
Island, June 10, 1856, daughter of Rowland and Margaret (Rood) Hazard, grand- 



yi6 Part Taken by Women in American History 

daughter of Rowland Gibson and Caroline (Newbold) Hazard and of the ninth 
generation from Thomas Hazard, the founder of the town of Newport, Rhode 
Island. She was liberally educated primarily in a private school, and for ten 
years as a member of a class of twenty women conducted by Professor Jeremiah 
Lewis Diman, D.D., of Brown University. She was elected president of the board 
of trustees of the South Kingston High School; maintained the kindergarten in 
Peace Dale; was president of a King's Daughters circle in Peace Dale and became 
a member of the "Society of Colonial Dames." She also is listed as organizing the 
Narragansett Choral Society in 1889, and instituted free Sunday afternoon concerts 
held in the Hartford Memorial Building, Peace Dale. This building was erected 
as a memorial to her grandfather, Rowland Gibson Hazard. During her tour of 
the old world 1876-77, she added to her knowledge of political economy, art and 
literature. In 1899 she was elected president of Wellesley College, Wellesley, 
Massachusetts, as successor to Mrs. Julia J. Irvine. She was elected a member of 
the Rhode Island Historical Society and of the New England Historical and 
Genealogical Society. The University of Michigan conferred upon her the degree 
of M.A., and Brown University the degree of Litt.D., in 1899. She published 
"Memoirs of Professor J. Lewis Diman" (1886) ; "College Tom"; "A Study of Life 
in Narragansett in the Eighteenth Century by his Grandson's Granddaughter," 
(1893); "Narragansett Ballads, with Songs and Lyrics," (1894); and "The Narra- 
gansett Friends' Meeting in the Eighteenth Century," (1899); she also edited 
philosophical works of her grandfather, Rowland Gibson Hazard, (1899) ; and 
contributed to magazines. 

LOUISE KLEIN MILLER. 

Miss Louise Klein Miller was born in Montgomery County, Ohio. When 
she was two years old, the family moved to Miamisburg, Ohio, where she attended 
the village school. Inefficient and uninteresting teachers gave direction and color to 
her whole life. At times they were so deadly dull she "took to the woods" and 
there from the Great Teacher she learned the songs and nesting habits of the birds, 
the color of the butterflies' wings, when and where the first spring flowers bloomed 
and was unconsciously absorbing the great truths Nature has in store for those who 
love her. The training at Central High School, Dayton, Ohio, organized the 
knowledge she had been accumulating from original sources. After graduation, she 
attended the Normal School and taught in the city schools. 

In 1893 she went to the Cook County Normal School, where she came under 
the influence of Colonel Parker and Mr. Jackman, who were the exponents of 
rational nature study. After a post-graduate course, she went to East Saginaw, 
Michigan, as supervisor of nature study in the schools and assistant in the train- 
ing school. This position was occupied for two years, when she was called to fill 
a similar position in Detroit, Michigan, and remained there four years. 

During the summer months she taught at the Bay View, Michigan Summer 
School, and with Doctor John M. Coulter, of Chicago University, studied the 
evolution of plants under the most favorable conditions. At Cornell University, 
Professor L. H. Bailey gave a more practical direction to her work in agriculture 



Women as Educators 7 t 7 

and horticulture. Here she studied forestry, geology, entomology, chemistry, and 
other subjects which are fundamental in the work she was later to pursue. 

From Cornell University she was called to Briarcliff Manor, New York, where 
some of the millionaires of New York City had established a School of Practical 
Agriculture and Horticulture. Later she was called to Lowthorpe, a school of 
horticulture and landscape gardening for women, Groton, Massachusetts. This 
afforded an opportunity for study at the Arnold Arboretum. 

The work of the children of the Village Improvement Association, of Groton, 
was placed under her direction and she began school gardens. After two years at 
Groton, she went to Cleveland, Ohio, where she occupies her present position. 
She established school gardens and the Board of Education created the position of 
curator of school gardens and appointed her to fill the position which is unique, 
being the only one of its kind in the country. The duties are to supervise the 
school gardens, give illustrated lectures on gardening in the public schools, extend 
the home garden work, arrange for autumn flower shows and superintend the 
improvement of school grounds. Under her leadership, this school garden work 
is recognized as being among the best in the country. The influence of her work 
in the city is marked. Each school yard and garden has become a radiating center 
for civic improvement. Disease breeding and fly breeding places have been cleaned 
up and the city made more sanitary and more beautiful. Children are being taught 
the yielding capacity of a small plot of ground, succession of crops and harmonious 
color effects; they are becoming interested in gardening and many are seeking 
the suburb and country life. She has always emphasized the physical, mental and 
moral influence of this work in the fresh air and sunshine. 

Miss Miller is a lecturer of wide experience, appearing at Chautauquas, before 
Civic Associations, Women's Clubs, Teachers' Associations in many parts of the 
United States and Canada. She is the author of "Children's Gardens," a "Course 
in Nature Study for the Pennsylvania Schools," and is also contributor to many 
magazines. 

She is interested in all movements for the constructive upbuilding of 
humanity; is Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; 
member of the Executive Board of the American Civic Association ; vice-president 
of the National Plant, Flower and Fruit Guild ; vice-president of School Gardening 
Association of America ; and honorary member of the Iowa State Audubon Society. 

LUELLA CLAY CARSON. 

Miss Carson was born in Portland, Oregon, March 12, 1856. Is the daughter 
of John Crosthwaite and Elizabeth Talbot Carson. Graduated from one of the 
private schools of Portland, receiving a state diploma in 1888 and a life diploma in 
1890. Studied in Boston at one of the schools of expression of that city ; Harvard 
College ; University of Chicago ; University of California, and Cambridge, England. 
Was preceptress of the Taulatin Academy and Pacific University; vice-president 
of the Couch School, Portland, Oregon ; professor of rhetoric and elocution, English 
literature, American literature, and dean of women of the University of Oregon; 



718 Part Taken by Women in American History 

president of Mills College, California since 1909. Is the author of "Public School 
Libraries," and "A Reference Library for Teachers of English," "Handbook of 
English Composition," and is one of the conspicuous educators of the country. 

SARAH PLATT DECKER. 

President of the Woman's College of Denver and ex-president of the 
General Federation of Woman's Clubs. One of the most important women in 
the country. 

HESTER DORSEY RICHARDSON. 

Born in Baltimore. Is the daughter of James Levin and Sarah Ann Webs- 
ter Dorsey. Married Albert Leverett Richardson January 27, 1891. Has written 
on Maryland history and is engaged in historical and genealogical research. 
Represented the Executive Department of Maryland in the historical work at 
the Jamestown Exposition in 1907. Was the founder of the Woman's Literary 
Club of Baltimore ; member of the Colonial Dames ; historian of the Baltimore 
Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution ; incorporator of the Maryland 
Original Research Society and was secretary of the General Federation of Women's 
Clubs from 1901 to 1905. 

ANN LOUISE WOLCOTT. 

Was born in Providence, Rhode Island, May 25, 1868. Student at Wellesley 
College. At one time principal of Wolfe Hall, Denver, Colo. Founder of Wol- 
cott's School, Denver. A member of the Archaeological Institute of America; 
also of the State Forestry Association of Colorado, Colonial Dames, National 
Congress of Mothers, and prominent in the school of American Archaeology. One 
of the leading educational women of the West. 

KATHERINE ELIZABETH DOPP. 

Born at Belmont, Wisconsin, March 1, 1863. Daughter of William Daniel 
and Janet Moyes Dopp. Student of the schools of Wisconsin and of the Univer- 
sity of Chicago. Principal and teacher in several of the normal schools of Wis- 
consin and Illinois. Principal of the Training Department of the State Normal 
School, Madison, South Dakota, in 1896, and of the training department of the 
Normal School of the University of Utah in 1898. Instructor in Correspondence 
Study Department of Philosophy since 1902; lecturer in Educational Extension 
Division since 1894 of the University of Chicago. Has written several educa- 
tional works, industrial and social histories, "The Tree Dwellers," "The Early 
Cave Men," and "The Later Cave Men," articles and reviews in educational and 
sociology journals. 

FLORENCE AMANDA FENSHAM. 

Born in East Douglass, Massachusetts, May 25, 1861. Daughter of Hon. 
John and Sarah Alice Fensham. Student of the Chicago Theological Seminary, 



Women as Educators 719 

Mansfield College, and at Oxford and Cambridge, England and Edinburgh. 
Teacher in the American College for Girls in Coustan, Turkey, in 1893. Was 
professor of Biblical literature and dean until 1905, and instructor in Christian 
Instruction of the Chicago Theological Seminary in Chicago from 1906 to 1909, 
and dean of the training school for women in Chicago since October, 1909. 

MARY ELIZABETH LITCHFIELD. 

Born at Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, May 9, 1854. Daughter of Lawrence 
and Sarah Minot Litchfield. Author of "The Nine Worlds; Stories from Norse 
Mythology." 

ELLA LYMAN CABOT. 

Born in Boston. Daughter of Arthur Theodore and Ella Lowell Lyman. 
Graduated from Harvard College in 1904, and took a special course in logic and 
metaphysics. Married in 1894 to Richard Clark Cabot. Teacher of ethics in private 
schools and member of the State Board of Education, many reform associations, 
council of Radcliffe College, Massachusetts Society Civic League and German 
Educational Department of the Boston Woman's Municipal League. Has written 
books entitled "Every-Day Ethics," "Teachers' Manual of Ethical Training," and 
other educational works. 

NINA ELIZA BROWNE. 

Born at Erving, Massachusetts, October 6, i860. Daughter of Charles 
Theodore and Nancy Smith Brown. Assistant librarian of the Columbia Uni- 
versity Library, New York, also the State Library; librarian of the Library 
Bureau, Boston, in 1893 ; assistant secretary, then secretary, of the publishing 
board of the American Library Association, and the Massachusetts Free Public 
Library Commission. Is a compiler and bibliographer of Hawthorne; editor of 
the catalogue of graduates and non-graduates of Smith College. 

MARY DANA HICKS PRANG. 

Born in Syracuse, New York, October 7, 1836. Daughter of Major and 
Agnes Amelia Livingston Johnson Dana. Took a post-graduate course at Har- 
vard ; also student of the school of music and fine arts of Boston. Married in 
1856 to Charles S. Hicks, who died in August, 1858. Married to Louis Prang, 
April, 1900, who died June 14, 1909. President of the Social Art Club, of 
Syracuse, and director of the Prang Normal Art classes. Contributor to various 
art and educational journals. In connection with John S. Clark and Walter S. 
Perry, wrote "The Prang Complete Course in Form Study and Drawing," "Form 
Study without Clay," "The Prang Elementary Course in Art Instruction," "Sug- 
gestions for Color Instruction," "Art Instruction for Children in Primary Classes," 
and many books on drawing and art for use in the schools. Is active in teachers' 
associations, prison work, suffrage associations, art leagues, and women's educa- 
tional associations. 



720 Part Taken by Women in American History 



AMY MORRIS ROMANS. 

Born at Vassalboro, November 15, 1848. Daughter of Harrison and Sarah 
Bliss Bradley Homans. Prominent educator. Principal of the Hemenway School 
and McRae and Chadbourn private school; in charge of the educational work 
founded by the late Mrs. Mary Hemenway from 1877 to 1909. Organized and 
directed the Boston Normal School of Household Arts, Boston School of Gym- 
nastics ; director of Hygiene and Physical Education in Wellesley College since 
1909. 

MARY AUGUSTA SCOTT. 

Daughter of Abram McLean and Julia Anne Boyer Scott. Has received 
degrees from Vassar and Cambridge, England ; student in Romance languages 
at Johns Hopkins, and the first woman fellow of Yale, Ph.D., 1894. Professor 
of English language and literature at Smith College. Author of "Elizabethan 
Translations from the Italian." Editor of "Operative Gynecology," by Dr. Howard 
A. Kelly, "Walter Reed and Yellow Fever," by Dr. Kelly, "Bacon's Essays," and 
contributor to the Dial for many years. Writer of reviews and criticisms in 
literature for academic journals, American and foreign. 

ELLEN BLISS TALBOT. 

Born in Iowa City, Iowa, November 22, 1867. Daughter of Benjamin and 
Harriet Bliss Talbot. Professor and head of the department of philosophy of 
Mount Holyoke College. Author of "The Fundamental Principles of Fichte's 
Philosophy." Contributor to philosophical and psychological journals and reviews. 

MARY VANCE YOUNG. 

Born in Washington, Pennsylvania, May 22, 1866. Daughter of John 
Seavers and Jane Vance Young. Was instructor of the Romance languages of 
Smith College; professor of Romance languages at Mount Holyoke College since 
1901 ; Ofticier dAcademie, French Government ; member of the Modern Language 
Association of America; Societe Amicale Gaston, Paris, and author of Moliere's 
"Kunst Komodien," also an Italian grammar. 

KATHERINE COMAN. 

Born at Newark, Ohio, November 23, 1857. Daughter of Levi P. and Martha 
Seymour Coman. Was professor of economics since 1900 at Wellesley College; 
author of "The Growth of the English Nation," "History of England," "History of 
England for Beginners," "Industrial History of the United States" and other 
books. 

ELLEN HAYES. 

Born in Granville, Ohio, September 23, 185 1. Daughter of Charles C. and 
Ruth Wolcott Hayes. Was lecturer and writer on astronomy and other scientific 



Women as Educators 721 

subjects; professor of mathematics, applied mathematics and astronomy since 
1904 of Wellesley College. Author of "Elementary Trigonometry," "Algebra," 
"Calculus with Applications," etc. 

MARY EMMA WOOLLEY. 

Born in South Norwalk, Connecticut, July 13, 1863. Daughter of Rev. 
Joseph J. and Mary E. Ferris Woolley. Was instructor and associate professor 
of Bible history for several years in Wellesley College. President of Mount 
Holyoke College since 1900. Member of the Board of Electors for the Hall of 
Fame; member College Entrance Examination Board. Director of the Woman's 
Educational Industrial Union of Boston. Member of the Executive Committee of 
the American School Peace League; vice-president of the American Peace Society. 
Member of the Moral Educational Board of Ethical-Social League ; vice-president of 
the National Consumers' League; trustee of the American International College; 
vice-president of the Third National College Playground Association of America; 
member of the Advisory Committee American Scandinavian Society; member of 
Hellenic Travelers Club; Rhode Island Society for Collegiate Education of 
Women ; Salem Society for Higher Education of Women ; Daughters of the 
American Revolution ; member of the Sorosis ; Boston College ; Northeast 
Wheaton Seminary Club; Pawtucket Woman's Club; Springfield College Club, 
and Lyceum of London, England. 

SARAH LOUISE ARNOLD. 

Born in Abington, Massachusetts, February 15, 1859. Daughter of Jonathan 
and Abigail Noyes Arnold. Taught in the public schools of Massachusetts, New 
York, and Minneapolis. Dean of Simmons College since 1902. Author of books 
for teachers, "Stepping Stones to Literature," "Reading: How to Teach It," 
"Waymarks for Teachers." 

ELEANOR COLGAN. 

Enjoys the distinction of having had conferred upon her by the Pope, for 
her excellent work among the Italian children of this country, the order of Knight- 
hood of the Church and the Papacy, and is the first woman in America entitled 
to wear the gold cross of the order. She is an instructor in the Brooklyn Train- 
ing School for Teachers. 

MARY BERNARDINE CORR. 

Was born October 3, 1858, in Dubuque, Iowa. Is a teacher in the Boston 
Grammar and Normal Schools, and is a contributor to the Sacred Heart Review 
and Donahoe's Magazine. 

46 



722 Part Taken by Women in American History 



MARY ISABEL CRAMSIE. 

Was born in Friendsville, Pennsylvania, May 5, 1844. President for ten 
years of the Sacred Thirst Total Abstinence Society. Superintendent of the 
Catholic division, Newsboys' Sunday School for some years ; secretary of the 
Diocesan Union for many years, and organized one of the first total abstinence 
societies for boys and girls under twenty years of age. Is the author of poems 
and has written for the Catholic World, the Northwestern Chronicle and local 
newspapers. 

MARY HICKEY DOWD. 

Was born at Manchester, New Hampshire, January 22, 1866. Daughter of 
John and Mary Joy Hickey, and in 1889 married Dr. John F. Dowd. Taught in 
the public schools of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Delivered lectures on 
her travels in England. Associate editor of the Guidon for years, and author 
of "Life of Rt. Rev. Denis Bradley." Contributor to the various Catholic journals. 

MOTHER KATHERINE DREXEL. 

Daughter of Francis A. Drexel of the well-known Philadelphia family. 
She early became interested in the welfare of the Indians and negroes, and 
through Bishop O'Connor of Omaha she was lead to the founding of the com- 
munity for these people and became its first superioress. She was for a while 
with the Sisters of Mercy in Pittsburgh, but gave her entire fortune to the new 
order which she had founded. The first novitiate of this order was located tem- 
porarily at the Drexel homestead at Torresdale, Pennsylvania, and she established 
also a boarding school and home for colored children at St. Elizabeth's, Corn- 
wells, in 1892, and a boarding school for Pueblo Indians in Santa Fe, New 
Mexico, in 1894; an industrial boarding school for colored girls at Rock Castle, 
Virginia, in 1899; a boarding school for Navajo Indians in Arizona, in 1903, and 
an academy for the higher education of colored girls in Nashville, Tenn., in 1905, 
with a preparatory annex school in 1906, and a day school for colored children 
at Carlisle, Pa. The order which Mrs. Drexel established is known as the 
Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, of which she is at present superioress. 

REV. MOTHER MARY AGNES HINES. 

Was born in Avon, New York. Is of French and German ancestry. In 
1869 she entered the Order of the Sisters of St. Joseph, in Rochester, N. Y., being 
received into the order in 1871. She is a woman of most remarkable character, 
notable business ability, and a great talent for art. She was made assistant 
superior in 1882. Through her active efforts the Nazareth Convent and Mother 
House, and the academy were gradually enlarged ; a Nazareth Normal School, 
the community's house of studies, was erected. 

The Nazareth Hall and Preparatory School for boys under twelve years 
of age, the St. Agnes Conservatory of Music and Art, the Home for the Aged, 



Women as Educators 723 

and St. Joseph's Hospital in Elmira, all owe their existence to Mother Agnes' 
untiring efforts and interest in the cause of education. The schools of this 
sisterhood are under the regents of the University of New York, and many of 
their teachers have had their course of instruction in the art centers of Europe. 

MOTHER IRENE (LUCY M. T. GILL). 

Was born in Galway, Ireland, March, 1858. Her father, Joshua Paul 
Gill, was secretary of the Galway branch of the Bank of Ireland, and came to 
this country in 1864. In 1876 Miss Gill entered the Ursuline Convent and was 
later transferred to the Convent of St. Teresa, New York City, where for twelve 
years she was teacher and principal of the parish school. From this school many 
of the teachers in the public schools in New York City have graduated. In 1893 
she was made superior of the community and established the Normal School at 
Teresa's Academy. 

SISTER MARY JULIA (ELIZABETH ANN DULLEA). 

Was born April 8, 1886, in Boltonville, Wisconsin. Her father and mother 
were natives of Ireland. Sister Julia has spent her life in teaching in Catholic 
schools. Is a writer of prose and poetry. She is an accomplished musician and 
linguist. Is very active in work for children, especially in the advancement of 
their physical, mental, and spiritual interests. 

MATILDA THERESA KARNES. 

Was born in Rochester, New York. Daughter of James Karnes of Middle- 
ton, England, and his wife, Ellen Brady, a native of Ireland. She taught indus- 
trial drawing and later astronomy, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and is head 
teacher of the mathematical department in the high schools of Buffalo, New York. 
For many years Miss Karnes' classes in English composition have won the medals 
offered by the Sons of the Revolution for original essays on Revolutionary sub- 
jects. Miss Karnes is the first vice-president of the Buffalo Women's Civil 
Service Reform Association, a subject to which she has given much study. Also 
on the committee of the Buffalo Humane Society. Is president of the Catholic 
Women's Saturday Afternoon Club, a literary, musical, and social organization of 
the Catholic women of Buffalo. 

ELIZABETH BLANEY McGOWAN. 

Daughter of James D. Blaney and Mary A. McCourt Blaney. Her grand- 
father was Colonel Patrick McCourt of the British Army. She taught in the 
grammar school of Buffalo for years. Was a member of the board of managers 
of the Pan-American Exposition, and organizer of the Ladies' Catholic Benevolent 
Association. 



724 Part Taken by Women in American History 



ELIZA MARIA GILLESPIE. 

Eliza Maria Gillespie, educator, was born near West Brownville, Pa., 
February 21, 1824. She removed with her parents to Lancaster, Ohio, while quite 
young, and was educated by the Sisters of St. Dominic at Somerset, Perry County, 
and at the Convent of the Visitation, Georgetown, D. C. Thomas Ewing, Secre- 
tary of the Treasury under Harrison, was her godfather, and James Gillespie 
Blaine, Secretary of State, under Garfield, was her cousin. While in Europe she 
was a leader of society and with Ellen Ewing, afterward wife of General W. T. 
Sherman, collected large sums of money for the aid of the sufferers from the 
famine in Ireland, adding to the fund by their tapestry, handiwork and magazine 
stories, which they wrote in collaboration. She was received into the congrega- 
tion of the Sisters of the Holy Cross in 1853 under the religious name of Mother 
Mary of St. Angels and made her novitiate in France, taking her vows from 
Father Moreau, founder of the order of the Holy Cross. She returned to 
America in 1855 an d was made Superior of the Academy of St. Mary's, Bertrand, 
Michigan, which in 1856 was removed to Terre Haute, Indiana, where it was 
known as St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception, and she became the Mother 
Superior of the Sisters of the Holy Cross. She obtained for the institution the 
shelter from the legislature and added to the immediate curriculum of the 
Academy, foundation for a professor's conservatory of music. She multiplied 
academies of the order to the number of thirty and upwards in different parts 
of the United States. When the Civil War called for nurses in the army, she 
left her home, organized at Cairo, 111., the headquarters, enlisted a corps of 
sisters, established temporary and permanent hospitals and used her influence at 
Washington to further the comfort of the sick and wounded soldiers and with 
the help of her corps she cooked gruel and even fed the moving army as well as 
those detained in the hospital. Her labors broke down her health, and at the close 
of the war she was an invalid. The order in the United States was separated 
from the European order in 1870, and she was made Mother Superior, filling 
the office two terms, when she retired to become Mistress of Novices. She con- 
tributed to the Catholic periodicals, notably war sketches for the Ave Maria. 
She died at the Convent of the Holy Cross, Notre Dame, Indiana, March 4, 1887. 

JANE KELLEY ADAMS. 

Was born in Woburn, Massachusetts, October 13, 1852. She has always 
been active in the educational work of her city and state. Was one of the foun- 
ders of the Woburn Home for Aged Women, president of many clubs and societies, 
and chairman of the Equal Suffrage League. Was president of the school board 
and is active among the various societies of college women in the cities near 
Boston. 

SUSAN LINCOLN MILLS. 

Was born November 18, 1826, at Enosburg, Vermont. Daughter of John 
and Elizabeth Tolman. A graduate of Mount Holyoke Seminary and one of the 



Women as Educators 725 



teachers under Mary Lyon, its founder. She accompanied her husband, Cyrus 
T. Mills, D.D. to Ceylon, and they were both engaged in educational work in 
Batticotta College of that country. In 1865 they moved to California and opened 
as a college for girls what had been one of the oldest Protestant schools of that 
state, and in 1885 this was the only college for women in California, known as 
Mills College, of which Mrs. Susan Lincoln Mills was president. 

CLARA BRADLEY BURDETT. 

College woman and active worker in women's club organizations, and federa- 
tions, and in philanthropic work. First president of the California Federation of 
Women's Clubs, and first vice-president of the General Federation of Women's 
Clubs. Was the builder and donor of the Pasadena Maternity Hospital, trustee 
of the Polytechnic Institute of Pasadena, California, vice-president of the finance 
committee of the Auditorium Company, Los Angeles; member of the Social 
Science Society, Archaeological Institute of America, and National Geographic 
Society. Lectures on educational and social questions. She was born in Bloom- 
field, New York, July 22, 1855. Daughter of Albert H. and Laura C. Bradley. 
Married N. Milman Wheeler Burdett in 1878. 

CATHERINE ESTHER BEECHER. 

Author and educator. Was born in Easthampton, Long Island, September 
6, 1800, and died in Elmira, New York, May 12, 1878. She was the oldest child 
of Lyman B. and Roxanna Foote Beecher. Her early education was received 
from her mother and a devoted aunt. When but nine years of age her parents 
removed to Litchfield, Conn. She early began to write and was a frequent con- 
tributor to the Christian Spectator under the initials C. D. D. Some of her 
poems interested one of the young professors of mathematics in Yale College, 
whom she later married. Her life was greatly saddened by his death. He 
perished in a storm off the Irish coast. She opened, with her sister, a select 
school in Hartford, Conn. Soon it became a question for the proper housing of 
the many students which applied for admission and her friends of Hartford 
assisted her in the purchase of the land and the erection of the buildings for the 
Hartford Female Seminary. Miss Beecher became its principal and they opened 
with a corps of eight assistant teachers. One of her writings "Suggestions on 
Education" attracted attention and brought additional interest in the Hartford 
Seminary. She wrote an arithmetic which she used as one of her own text- 
books; also a text-book, "The Mental Philosopher." Later when her health broke 
down, she and her sister removed to Cincinnati and opened a school. Her later 
years she devoted to authorship and has written quite a good many books on 
domestic economy and other subjects, which are used as text-books in schools. 

GERTRUDE S. MARTIN. 

Gertrude S. Martin occupies the novel and interesting position of "adviser 
of women" at Cornell University, and as such is in a measure responsible for the 



726 Part Taken by Women in American History 

physical, moral and social development of 400 young women. She realizes the 
responsibilities and possibilities of her task and regards every girl in the Uni- 
versity as a daughter, or a sister, to be cared for and directed in the path that 
\vill lead to the greatest happiness and usefulness in life. 

ESTELLE REEL. 

Miss Estelle Reel is a woman who has done a great work in the United 
States. She was for many years superintendent of the Indian schools established 
by the United States Government in the various states. The fact that she served 
under different secretaries of the Interior Department and Commissioners of 
Indian Affairs is a guarantee that her work was satisfactory. Miss Reel is a 
practical woman, possessed of great executive ability and business capacity. She 
traveled many miles on horseback and endured hardships in the conscientious 
pursuance of her duties. After finishing her education in St. Louis and the 
East, Miss Reel was obliged to go to Wyoming for her health. Here she became 
a teacher and the climate proved all she had desired. She was a resident of 
Laramie County, the largest county of that state and its political center. During 
the absence of one of her friends, who was county superintendent, Miss Reel 
felt it her duty to look after her friend's interests, and so impressed were the 
political leaders of that section by her ability that Miss Reel was nominated for 
county superintendent, which was her introduction into politics. Her campaign 
was made solely on the school question in that section of the country. She was 
elected by a large majority and re-elected. During her services as county superin- 
tendent of Laramie County she brought about many improvements in the school 
system. Every school was comfortably housed and conditions were brought up 
to a much higher standard. She was then named for state superintendent of 
schools and was the first woman to occupy this position in any state of the 
union. She became very much interested in the leasing and disposition of the 
state school land with the object of securing a good school fund. The result of 
her efforts in this direction was that the state of Wyoming in a few years enjoyed 
a most satisfactory school fund and the best possible system of schools. Her 
duties as state superintendent took her all over the state. Many of these journeys 
were made on horseback. Her work in this position brought her to the attention 
of the officials when the Indian schools were established. They believed she 
would bring practical common sense into the management of these schools, an 
important factor in the education of the Indian. Her work has proven most 
satisfactory to the government. Miss Reel believed in a practical education 
and the Indians were first taught English, then industrial training as well as 
education from books. She was equally popular with her "charges," who fre- 
quently requested her to take entire care of their children. Miss Reel left the 
government service June 30, 1910, to marry Mr. Curt L. Meyer, of Toppenish, 
Washington. 

NELLIE O'DONNELL. 

Born June 2, 1867, in Chillicothe, Ohio. Her father was a native of 
Auburndale, Mass., and her mother of Brookline, Mass. They removed when 



Women as Educators 727 

Miss O'Donnell was but a child, to Memphis, Tenn. Miss O'Donnell was a 
teacher in the public schools of that state and was elected superintendent of 
public schools for Shelby County, Tenn. When elected, there were but 148 schools 
in the county. She has increased the number and brought them to the high 
standard of the present day. 

HELEN ALMINA PARKER. 

Was born in Salem, Oregon. Is a near relative of Commodore Oliver 
H. Perry. Her family is one of patriots; her grandfathers fought entirely 
through the Revolutionary War, and her father and only brother were in the 
Union Army during the Civil War. Her mother was one of the active leaders 
in the great temperance crusade. She is widely known as a philanthropist, having 
organized the first home for the friendless in Nebraska and was for many years 
state president of the same. Through her efforts a home was established in 
Lincoln. She was graduated from the Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, 
in 1885, and immediately entered upon her work as teacher and reader, and for 
years occupied the chair of oratory and dramatic art in the Cotner University of 
Lincoln, Nebraska. 

ELEANOR LOUISE LORD. 

Miss Lord, dean (1907) of the Goucher College, a girls' educational institu- 
tion of Baltimore, Md., is the. daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Clay Lord, of 
Maiden, Mass. She is a graduate of Smith College, and was at one time a 
teacher there. She pursued a course of study at Cambridge University, England, 
and was the holder of a scholarship given by the Boston Women's Educational 
and Industrial Union in 1894. She received in 1898, at Bryn Mawr College, the 
Ph.D. degree. Miss Lord was for four years a professor at the Goucher College. 
She is a member of the American Historical Association and the author of 
several valuable historical works. As a college educator, trained especially in 
the needs and essentials which aid the modern education of the girl, Miss Lord 
has had an experience which admirably fits her for the position which she now 
holds. 

ELIZABETH POWELL BOND. 

Mrs. Bond was born in Clinton, New York, January 25, 1841. Is dean of 
Swarthmore College. Daughter of Townsend and Catherine Macy Powell. Her 
mother was a descendant of the "Goodman Macy" of whom Whittier writes. In 
1660, he was driven from his home on the mainland to the Island of Nantucket. 
Mr. and Mrs. Powell made their home at Ghent, New York, and here Elizabeth 
spent her youth. She commenced her work as a teacher when but fifteen years 
of age in a Friends' school in Dutchess County. She taught in the different 
schools of the neighborhood, and at one time had a school in the home of her 
parents. She was connected with the abolition movement and the work done by 
the anti-slavery leaders. She taught gymnastics in Boston, and was in 1865 



728 Part Taken by Women in American History 

appointed instructor of gymnastics in Vassar College. About 1866, Miss Powell 
married Henry H. Bond, a lawyer of Northampton, and with him edited the 
Northampton Journal. After her husband's death in 1881, she returned to Flor- 
ence, Massachusetts, and devoted herself to the education of her son, gathering 
about her a class of children. Later she accepted the position of matron in 
Swarthmore College, and in 1891, that of dean of this well-known school. She 
has written tracts on social purity, and has lectured quite extensively. 

EDNA CHAFFEE NOBLE. 

Born August 12, 1846, in Rochester, Vt. After a course in elocution under 
Professor Moses True Brown, of Boston, she was invited to the chair of oratory 
in the St. Lawrence University, where she taught until her marriage to Dr. Henry 
S. Noble. Her most important step was the opening of the training school of 
elocution and English literature in Detroit, Mich., in 1878. This proved a most 
fortunate venture. Aside from her work in the one school, her personality has 
been felt in the schools which she founded in Grand Rapids, Mich., Buffalo, N. Y., 
Indianapolis, Ind., and London, England. 

ANNE EUGENIA FELICIA MORGAN. 

Was born October 3, 1845, in Oberlin, Ohio. Her father, Rev. John Morgan, 
D.D., was one of the earliest professors in Oberlin College. Miss Morgan's mother 
was a Leonard of New Haven. The Leonard family removed to Oberlin in 1837. 
Miss Leonard married during her sophomore year at Oberlin College, Professor 
John Morgan, and graduated in 1866. In 1869 she received the degree of M.A 
from this same institution. For three years she conducted in New York and 
Newark, N. J., classes in philosophy and literature, devoting considerable time to 
music and the study of harmony with her brother, the distinguished musician, 
John Paul Morgan, at that time director of music in Trinity Church, New York. 
In 1875 she taught Greek and Latin in Oberlin College. In 1877 she accepted an 
appointment to teach in the classical department of Vassar. In 1878 she was 
appointed to the professorship of philosophy in Wellesley College. In 1887 Pro- 
fessor Morgan published a small volume entitled "Scripture Studies in the Origin 
and Destiny of Man." Her little book entitled "The White Lady" is a study of 
the ideal conception of human conduct in great records of thought and is a presen- 
tation of lecture outlines and notes on the philosophical interpretation of literature. 

SARAH F. COLES LITTLE. 

Was born March 6, 1838, in Oberlin, Ohio. Daughter of Professor Henry 
Coles of Oberlin Theological Seminary. Her mother, Alice Welsh, a woman of 
superior character and education, was for several years principal of the ladies' 
department of Oberlin College. Her education was obtained in Oberlin. from 
which college she graduated in 1859, with the degree of B.A. After graduating 
she taught school for several years. In 1861 she was principal teacher in the 



Women as Educators 729 

Wisconsin School for the Blind at Janesville, Wisconsin, of which Thomas H. 
Little was superintendent. In 1862 Mr. Little and Miss Coles were married. On 
the death of her husband in February, 1875, Mrs. Little was chosen by the board 
of trustees as his successor. At this time no other woman in the United States 
was in charge of so important an institution as the Wisconsin School for the 
Blind, and during her superintendency it was one of the best managed institutions 
of the country, and Mrs. Little is recognized as a leading educational authority 
in this particular line of work. Mrs. Little was a zealous Christian and thorough 
Bible student. One of her daughters was a missionary, and on the opening of 
the Oberlin Home for Missionary Children in 1892, Mrs. Little assumed charge. 
In this school the children of missionaries are educated. 

FLORENCE RENA SABIN. 

Dr. Florence R. Sabin, associate professor in the Johns Hopkins Medical 
School, is the only woman professor in that institution and is a distinguished 
physiologist. She was born in Central City, Colorado, November 9, 1871, and is 
the daughter of George Kimball and Rena Miner Sabin. Received her degree of 
B.S. from Smith College in 1893, and that of M.D. at the Johns Hopkins Univer- 
sity in 1900. She is the author of several works, among them being "An Atlas 
of the Medulla and Mid-Brain." Dr. Sabin has written articles for medical 
journals and magazines on medical and anatomical subjects. 

JANE SHERZER. 

Was a graduate of the University of Michigan; has been a student of 
languages in Paris, Jena and Munich; she studied for three years in the Berlin 
University taking the degrees of M.A. and Ph.D., in English, German, old Scan- 
danavian and Philosophy, and is one of the very few women who have attained 
to the great scholastic distinction of winning the Doctorate of Philosophy at 
Berlin. 

HELEN ALMIRA SHAFER. 

Was born September 23, 1839, in Newark, New Jersey. Her father was a 
clergyman. He gave his daughter a thorough and liberal education. She gradu- 
ated from Oberlin College in 1863. In 1865 she became a teacher of mathematics 
in the public schools at St. Louis. Mrs. Shafer ranked as the most able teacher 
in her line at that time and was one of the most potent educational forces in the 
city of St. Louis. In 1877 she was called to Wellesley College as professor of 
mathematics filling this chair until 1888, when she was elected president of 
Wellesley. In 1878 Oberlin College had conferred upon her the degree of A.M. 
and in 1893 that of LL.D. As president of Wellesley College she manifested an 
executive ability and faculty for business quite as marked as her talents as a 
teacher. At the time of her death, January 20, 1894, she was considered one of 
the most prominent and successful college administrators. 



730 Part Taken by Women in American History 
elizabeth palmer peabody. 

Was born May 16, 1804, in Billerica, Mass. Her sister, Sophia, became the 
■wife of Nathaniel Hawthorne, and her sister Mary, the wife of Horace Mann. 
She succeeded Margaret Fuller as a teacher of history in Mr. Olcott's school. 
She was among the earliest advocates of female suffrage and higher education 
for women and aided Horace Mann in founding a Deaf Mute School. Among 
her personal acquaintances were Emerson, Thoreau and other prominent men of 
the day. Her literary productions include "Aesthetic Papers," "Crimes of the 
House of Austria," several works on kindergarten study and circulars on educa- 
tion, "Reminiscences of Dr. Channing," "Last evening with Alston" and other 
papers. The latter years of her life she was partially blind; during these years 
she wrote a little, but the loss of her sight and increasing infirmities made all 
literary effort difficult. She was one of the most conspicuous persons in the 
famous literary and educational circles of Boston. Miss Peabody's death occurred 
in Jamaica Plains, Boston, June 3, 1894. 

HELENA THERESA FRANCESCA GOESSMANN. 

Daughter of Charles Anthony Goessmann, the well-known scientist. Was 
born at Syracuse, New York. Received degrees from the Ohio University. Was 
the organizer and first president of the Woman's Auxiliary Catholic Summer 
School, Cliff Haven, New York. Head of the department of history, Notre 
Dame College, Baltimore, from 1897 to 1899; head of the department of Catholic 
higher education, New York, from 1904 to 1907. Has lectured in the United 
School of New Orleans and the Summer Catholic Schools, and lectured before 
non-sectarian organizations on education and culture in New England. She has 
written a number of songs and books on philanthropic Christianity. Contributor 
to the press and magazines of the United States, but is known principally through 
her lectures. After her father's death, she was elected professor of English in 
the State College of Massachusetts, at Amherst. 

LIDA ROSE McCABE. 

Was born in Columbus, Ohio. Was at one time at the Sorbonne in Paris; 
also at Columbia University and Oxford University. She has written a number 
of books, "Occupation and Compensation of Women," etc. Was the author of 
the second act of the "Vanderbilt Cup," and is a contributor to the Popular 
Science Monthly, Lippincott's McClure's, Cosmopolitan, St. Nicholas, Outlook, 
Bookman, and Town and Country. Paris correspondent of the American Press 
Association and the New York Tribune. Has written extensively of Alaska, 
spending several months along the Siberian coast and visiting points of this 
far Northland. Made an extensive study of the life of General Lafayette. Is 
a lecturer on art and travel and was the second woman to lecture before the 
New York Historical Society on a most interesting subject to American women, 
Mme. De Lafayette, America's half-forgotten friend. Opened an ethical lecture 
course to women at St. Xavier's College. 



Women as Educators 731 

julia gorham robins. 

Granddaughter of Samuel Parkman, of Boston, and also a descendant of 
Colonel Thomas Crafts, who is distinguished for having read the Declaration of 
Independence from the balcony of the State House. She was born in Boston, 
Massachusetts, and educated in that city. Author of "Lectures on Greek Sculpture 
and Archaeology," and is a contributor to some of the Catholic publications of 
the day. 

ELIZABETH W. RUSSELL LORD. 

Was born in Kirtland, Ohio, April 28, 1819. Her parents were natives of 
Massachusetts and prominent among the early settlers of the Western Reserve. 
She was a student of Oberlin College, and in 1842 became the wife of Asa D. 
Lord, M.D. In 1847 Dr. Lord removed to Columbus, Ohio, and established the 
first graded school in that state, and Mrs. Lord was the first principal of the 
first high school, to be opened in Ohio. Dr. Lord later assumed charge of the 
Institution for the Blind, a work in which he was greatly interested. In 1868 he 
was induced to go to New York State to organize the State Institution for the 
Blind. Mrs. Lord aided her husband in all this work, and met with great success 
in teaching the adult blind to read. It is believed she has taught more blind 
persons to read than any other teacher in the country, probably in the world. 
On the death of Dr. Lord in 1875, Mrs. Lord was unanimously made superintendent 
of the institution which Dr. Lord had so successfully organized. Later Mrs. 
Lord became assistant principal of the women's department of Oberlin College, 
which position she has held for some 'years. She has given liberally from her 
means for all charitable and educational institutions. Her best gift was that in 
1800 of $10,000 to Oberlin College, to build, with the aid of other friends, the 
"Lord Cottage" for the accommodation of young women. Mrs. Lord may be 
regarded as one of the noble women of America. 

LUCY ANN KIDD. 

Mrs. Lucy Ann Kidd was born June II, 1839, in Nelson County, Kentucky. 
Her father, Willis Strather Thornton, was a descendant of an old English family 
and one of the early residents of Virginia. She was at one time president of the 
North Texas Female College, in Sherman, Texas, being the first woman in the 
South to hold such a position. 

CLARA E. SMITH. 

Was born in Northford, Conn., as were seven generations of her ancestors 
before her. In 1902 she received the degree of B.A. from Mount Holyoke Col- 
lege, having previously taught for several years in the State Normal School at 
Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. In 1904 she received the degree of Ph.D. from Yale 
University for work done in mathematics. Her thesis on "A Theorem of Abel 
and its Application to the Development of Functions in Terms of Bessels' Func- 



7^2 Part Taken by Women in American History 

tions" was pulished in the Transactions of the American Mathematical Society 
for January, 1907. Since 1908 she has been an instructor in mathematics at 
Wellesley College. 

GRACE CHARLOTTE MARY REGINA STRACHAN. 

Was born in Buffalo, New York. Daughter of Thomas F. and Maria Byrne 
Strachan. Has taken several degrees at the New York University. Is superin- 
tendent of the public schools of New York, and well known for her philanthropic 
work in the Young Women's Catholic Association of Brooklyn, teaching classes 
free. Is an ardent worker in the Association for Equal Pay for Equal Work; 
contributor to the Delineator, and is president of the Interborough Association 
of Women Teachers of Brooklyn and New York City. 

VIRGINIA C. GILDERSLEEVE. 

Virginia C. Gildersleeve was born in New York City, October 3, 1877, and 
prepared for college at the Briarly School, and graduated from Barnard College 
in 1899. In 1900 she received the degree of A.M. from Columbia University, and 
that of Ph.D. in 1908. During the years from 1900 to 1907, and from 1908 to 
1910, she was instructor in the department of English, Barnard College, Columbia 
University. In 1910 she was promoted to the rank of assistant professor of 
English, and in 191 1 made dean of the College. Virginia C. Gildersleeve is the 
author of "Government Regulations of the Elizabethan Drama," and has con- 
tributed articles to several of the leading magazines. 

MARY MORTIMER. 

Born December 2, 1816, in Trowbridge, England, and died in Milwaukee, 
Wisconsin, July 14, 1877. In 1849 she taught in a private school in Ottawa, 
Illinois. While Miss Catherine Beecher was on an educational tour in the West 
she became acquainted with Miss Mortimer's power as a teacher, and persuaded 
her to take up with her some educational plans on which she was then engaged. 
In 1850 she began this work in a school which Miss Beecher had purchased in 
Milwaukee, Wis., and adapted to her plans, and which was later known as the 
Milwaukee College. This school met with remarkable success and foremost in 
its faculty was Miss Mary Mortimer. In 1886 she was made principal, a position 
which she held until 1874. After her retirement from active work she gave 
courses of lectures on art and history to classes of women in Milwaukee Wis., 
Elmira, N. Y., Auburndale, Mass., and St. Louis, Mo. She was instrumental in 
founding the Industrial School for Girls in Milwaukee and a leading spirit in 
organizing the Woman's Club of Milwaukee, but her chief monument is the 
Milwaukee College to which she devoted the best years of her life. In this Col- 
lege Mrs. M. B. Norton has placed a memorial to Miss Mortimer in the establish- 
ment of the Mary Mortimer Library. 



Women as Educators 733 

ellen fitz pendleton. 

Is the president of Wellesley College. She was formerly the dean of 
Wellesley College and acting president for some time. Miss Pendleton was born 
at Westerly, Rhode Island, August 7, 1864. Her father is Enoch Burrows and 
her mother Mary E. Chapman Pendleton. She graduated in the class of 1886 
at Wellesley and taught for many years in the department of mathematics before 
assuming the office of dean. 

ELLA FLAGG YOUNG. 

One of the most noted educational women in America 
to-day, being president of State Editors' Association of Illinois, 
the school board of Chicago, having won this latter distinction 
over several men who had long served as public school teachers, 
took her degree of A.B., and later, her Ph.D., at the Univer- 
sity of Chicago. She is the daughter of Theodore and Jane 
Flagg. A graduate of the Chicago High School and the Chi- 
cago Normal School; was married to William Young in 1868; 
has been teacher since 1862, her first position being District 
Superintendent of Schools; professor of educational work in 
the University of Chicago; Principal of the Chicago Normal 
School; Superintendent of the schools of Chicago; member of 
the State Board of Education for Illinois. One of the colleges 
composed of women principals of the elementary schools is 
named the Ella Flagg Young College. President of the Illinois 
State Teachers' Association, and editor of the Educational 
Bimonthly; has written several important papers on school 
work. 

MARY FRANCES FARNHAM. 

Miss Mary Frances Farnham was born in South Bridg- 
ton, and was the daughter of the late William and Elizabeth 
(Fessenden) Farnham. After the death of her parents, in 
her early childhood, the late John Putnam Perley became her 
guardian and his house her home. 



734 Part Taken by Women in American History 

In 1863, after private study at home, she entered Bridg- 
ton Academy, of which the late Charles E. Hilton was princi- 
pal. Here she spent two years in fitting for Mount Holyoke, 
and was graduated with honor from that well-known institution 
in 1868. Returning to South Bridgton, Miss Farnham spent 
several years of quiet usefulness in the home of her childhood. 
It was during these years that she served the town most faith- 
fully as a conscientious member of the school committee, a 
superintendent of schools from 1887 to 1890. During the latter 
year the opportunity came to her which resulted in her accept- 
ing the vice-principalship of the Bloemhof School, in Stellen- 
bosch (thirty miles from Cape Town), Cape of Good Hope. 
This is a large boarding and day .school for the daughters of 
European colonists and, under government supervision, pre- 
pares pupils for higher examinations and degrees of the Univer- 
sity of the Cape of Good Hope. In addition to school duties 
much time was spent in working on the flora of the Cape and 
Stellenbosch districts of Cape Colony. 

Leaving Africa in 1888 and visiting the Island of St. 
Helena, on the way to Europe, she traveled extensively in that 
continent, remained a long time in London, and reached the 
United States the same year. 

We next find Miss Farnham in the capacity of preceptress 
and teacher of English and history in Burr and Burton Semi- 
nary, Manchester, Vt. ; then she accepted a similar position 
in the Forest Park University, St. Louis, Mo. Four years as 
preceptress of Fryeburg Academy, Fryeburg, Me., followed, 
which brought her to 1895. While occupying these last three 
positions Miss Farnham was brought into contact with a very 
large number of boys and girls, and had the great privilege 
of training many for extended courses of study, as well as 
for business life. 

In 1895-96 she was a student at Radclifife College, Cam- 



Women as Educators 735 

bridge, Mass. In addition to general work in colonial and 
United States history (also in literature and sociology), Miss 
Farnham has been carrying on a research course under the 
direction of Dr. Hart, in connection with the Historical Semi- 
nary, on documentary history of Maine. The result is a more 
complete set of documents from original sources conferring 
territory or jurisdiction than has yet been made. The work has 
been done in the archives of Maine and Massachusetts, the 
Harvard, Boston and Athenaeum Libraries. These studies were 
supplemented by courses at the Harvard Summer School, and 
by continued research work the following year. 

In September, 1897, Miss Farnham came to the Pacific 
University, Forest Grove, Ore., as dean of women and instruc- 
tor in English literature; in 1901 she was made full professor. 
Under the titles of "Farnham Papers," "Documentary History 
of Maine," second series, the Maine Historical Society pub- 
lished in two volumes the result of Miss Farnham's researches. 

Miss Farnham is a Daughter of the American Revolu- 
tion ; for twelve years a member of the Young Women's Chris- 
tian Association Board of Oregon, and until the establishment 
of the Territorial. Board of the Pacific Northwest; for fourteen 
years vice-president of the missionary boards of the Congrega- 
tional Church of Oregon ; is a director of the Oregon Audubon 
Society of Oregon; for eight years secretary of the Civic 
Improvement Society of Forest Grove ; in the work of the Ore- 
gon Federation of Women's Clubs, Miss Farnham is vice-chair- 
man of the trustees of the Scholarship Loan Fund; she is also 
the club representative of the Department of School Patrons 
of the National Educational Association, and is chairman of 
the joint committee for Oregon; she had a place on the pro- 
gramme of that department at the recent convention in San 
Francisco — a discussion of the topic, "The Co-operation of 
Informed Citizens." 



Women in Professions. 

MARY GARARD ANDREWS. 

Mrs. Andrews was born in Clarksburg, W. Va., March 3, 1852. Is a Uni- 
versalist minister. Left to struggle with the adverse elements she developed a 
strong character and overcame many difficulties and acquired such education as 
she had wished. In Hillsdale College she completed the English Theological 
course, and during this time she had charge of two churches, preaching twice 
every Sunday for three years. For five years she was in charge of the Free 
Baptist Church, but she severed her connection with this faith and united with the 
Universalist Church. She has been a close student and active worker. Since her 
marriage she has made Omaha her home. 

MARTHA WALDRON JANES. 

Mrs. Martha Waldron Janes was born in Northfield, Michigan, in June, 
1832. Her father, Leonard T. Waldron was a native of Massachusetts. Her 
mother, Nancy Bennett, was a native of New York. She educated herself by 
doing housework at $1.00 a week. She was converted when very young, and by 
her religious zeal and exhortations became so conspicuous that many considered 
her mentally unsound. In October, 1852, she married John A. Sober, who died 
November, 1864, leaving her with two young children. In 1867 she married her 
second husband, H. H. Janes, and though she had preached for some time from 
the pulpits of the Free Baptist Church she was not regularly ordained until 1868, 
being the first woman ordained in that conference. She was actively engaged in 
the work of women's suffrage and temperance. 

MARY C. JONES. 

Mrs. Mary C. Jones was born November 5, 1842, at Sutton, N. H. Her 
husband moved to the Pacific Coast in 1867. They ultimately made their home in 
Seattle, Washington, where she preached her first sermon in August, 1880, in the 
First Baptist Church of that city. She was recognized as a minister and supplied 
the pulpit in the absence of the regular minister. In 1882 she became permanent 
pastor of the First Baptist Church; later that of the First Baptist Church of 
Spokane at that time the second largest church in the state of Washington. For 
some years she has been engaged in evangelical work. Mrs. Jones is the founder 
of the Grace Seminary and School for Girls in Centralia, Wash. She has been 
the founder and organizer of several churches throughout the state and has done 
splendid work for religion in this new country. 

(736) 



Women in Professions j$j 



ANTOINETTE BROWN BLACKWELL. 

Mrs. Blackwell was born in Henrietta, Monroe County, New York, May 
20, 1825. Daughter of Joseph Brown, of Thompson, Conn, and Abby Morse, of 
Dudley, Mass. Her ancestors belonged to the early English colonists of New 
England. When but sixteen years of age, she taught school in order to pay for a 
collegiate course. She was a graduate of Oberlin College. In 1848 she published 
her first essay in the Oberlin Quarterly Review. After she had completed her 
theological course, she found she could not obtain a license, but she preached 
wherever an opportunity offered, and gradually all obstacles melted away, and in 
1852, she became an ordained pastor of the Congregational Church in South 
Butler, Wayne County, New York. In 1856 she married Samuel C. Blackwell. 
Her life as a preacher, lecturer and writer has been a busy and useful one. She 
is the author of "Studies in General Science," "A Market Woman," "The Island 
Neighbors," "The Sexes Throughout Nature" and "The Physical Basis of 
Immortality." 

FLORENCE E. KOLLOCK. 

Miss Florence E. Kollock was born January 19, 1848, in Waukesha, Wis. 
Daughter of William E. Kollock and Anne Margaret Hunter Kollock. Her first 
work was in the missionary field at Waverley, Iowa, in 1875. Later she removed 
to Blue Island, 111., then to Englewood, where she has since made her home. Her 
first congregation was in Englewood. There meetings were held in the Masonic 
Hall until through the efforts of Miss Kollock a church was built. She is recog- 
nized as a woman of great ability as an organizer in various branches of church 
work. She is the possessor of wonderful personal magnetism. In her preaching 
she has gathered about her a large circle. During one of her vacations she 
established a church in Pasadena Cal., which is now the largest Universalist 
Church on the Pacific Coast. She is prominent in all reformatory and educa- 
tional work, the woman's suffrage and temperance movements. 

MARY LYDIA LEGGETT. 

Miss Mary Lydia Leggett was born April 25, 1852, in Sempronius, New 
York. Daughter of the Rev. William Leggett and Freelove Frost Leggett. In 
1887 she was ordained in the Liberal Ministry in Kansas City, Mo. She built and 
dedicated a church in Beatrice, Neb., of which she was the minister until 1891, 
when she became pastor of a church near Boston. This church in Green Harbor, 
Mass., was founded by the granddaughter of the statesman, Daniel Webster, 
whose summer home was in this quaint little town on the old Plymouth shores. 
Miss Leggett has in her study the office table on which the great orator wrote 
his famous speeches. 

ESTHER TUTTLE PRITCHARD. 

Born January 26, 1840, in Morrow County, Ohio. Her father, Daniel Wood, 
was a minister. Her husband, Lucius V. Tuttle, was a volunteer in the Civil 

47 



738 Part Taken by Women in American History 

War, and died in 1881. In 1884 Mrs. Tuttle was chosen by the Woman's Foreign 
Missionary Board to edit the Friends' Missionary Advocate, which was published 
in Chicago. Here she married Calvin W. Pritchard, editor of the Christian 
Worker, and became proprietor of the Missionary Advocate, which, in 1890, she 
presented to the Woman's Foreign Missionary Union of Friends. She was well 
known as a teacher of the English Bible in the Chicago Training School for the 
City, Home and Foreign Missions, and as superintendent of the Systematic- 
giving Department of the National Woman's Christian Temperance Union. 

ANNA WEED PROSSER. 

Born October 15, 1846. An invalid for many years, she believed her 
recovery due to prayer, and immediately entered upon her evangelical work in 
gratitude for her restored health. She worked for some time under the Woman's 
Christian Temperance Union, ultimately establishing a mission of her own, known 
as the Old Canal Street Mission, in Buffalo, of which she took charge and was 
assisted in this work by reformed men whom she had saved from lives of sin. 
After ten years spent in ministry among the poor and unfortunate class, she 
entered the general evangelical work and became president of the Buffalo Branch 
of the National Christian Alliance. 

MARIAN MURDOCH. 

Was born October 9, 1849, in Garnaville, Iowa, and is one of the successful 
ministers of that state. Her father, Judge Samuel Murdoch, was a member of 
the territorial legislature of Iowa, also of the state legislature, a judge of the 
District Court and is well known throughout the state. She was educated in the 
Northwest Ladies' College, at Evanston, 111., and the University of Wisconsin. 
On deciding to take up the ministry she entered the School of Liberal Theology 
in Meadville, Penna., in 1882, receiving her degree of D.D. in 1885. Her work in 
the ministry began while she was yet a pupil. After completing her course, she 
was called to the Unity Church of Humbolt, Iowa, and later to the First Unitarian 
Church in Kalamazoo, Mich. Later she took a course of lectures at Oxford, 
England. Miss Murdoch is essentially a reformer, preaching on questions of 
social, political and moral reform. 

CAROLINE BARTLETT CRANE. 

Mrs. Crane was born at Hudson, Wis., August 17, 1858. Daughter of 
Lorenzo D. and Julia A. Bartlett. She married Dr. Augustus Warren Crane in 
1896. Was first a teacher and newspaper writer and editor, then became a min- 
ister, her first charge being All Souls' Church, Sioux Falls, S. D., which she 
held for three years. She organized the new creedless institution, the "People's 
Church," but resigned her pastorate in 1889. Has since been engaged in social 
and sanitary surveys of cities, but has also found time to lecture, teach and preach. 



Women in Professions 739 

cora belle brewster. 

Miss Brewster was born September 6, 1859, at Almond, New York. She was 
one of the students of the Northwestern University. Later she removed to 
Baltimore, Maryland, and began the study of medicine. In 1886, she graduated 
from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, of Boston. Completing her course, 
she returned to Baltimore, and formed a partnership with her sister, Flora A. 
Brewster, M.D., and in 1889 they began the publication of the Baltimore Family 
Health Journal. This was later changed to the Homeopathic Advocate and Health 
Journal. In 1890 she was elected gynecological surgeon to the Homeopathic 
Hospital and Free Dispensary, of Maryland. She has achieved marked success 
as a medical writer, surgeon, editor and practicing physician. 

HANNAH E. LONGSHORE. 

Was born in Montgomery, May, 1819. She was among the first women 
to practise medicine in this country. Her father Samuel, and her mother Paulina 
Myers were born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and belonged to the Society of 
Friends. When but a small child her family removed to Washington, District of 
Columbia. After her marriage to Thomas E. Longshore she made her home in 
Philadelphia and here read medicine with her brother-in-law, Professor Joseph 
S. Longshore. Her death occurred in 1901. 

JENNIE DE LA MONTAGNIE LOZIER. 

Physician and president of the Sorosis Club, of New York City, where she 
was born. Her father was William de la Montagnie, Junior. Her ancestors were 
Huguenot French. She is a graduate of Rutger's Female Institute, now Rutger's 
Female College, which conferred upon her in 1891 the degree of Doctor of Science. 
She received a very thorough and liberal education and traveled extensively after 
leaving school. When but nineteen years of age she was instructor in the 
languages and literature of Hillsdale College, Hillsdale, Michigan, and was later 
chosen vice-principal of the women's department of this college. In 1872 she 
married Doctor A. W. Lozier, of New York City. Her interest in medicine was 
brought about through her mother-in-law, Doctor Clemence S. Lozier, who was 
founder and for twenty-five years dean of the New York Medical College and 
Hospital for Women. Mrs. Lozier graduated from this college after her first child 
was born and was made professor of psysiology in that institution serving also on 
the hospital staff. Before retiring from her professorshp she was invited to address 
the Sorosis Club on physical culture. She soon became a member and prominent 
in the councils of this club. She is a cultured woman, brainy, broad-minded, and 
forceful speaker. She served on the various important committees of the Sorosis 
Club, and in 1891 was elected president of this organization and re-elected in 
1892. In this year she was sent as a delegate to the council of the Women's 
Federation of Clubs held in Chicago, reading before this gathering an able paper 



74-0 Part Taken by Women in American History 

on "Educational Influences of Women's Clubs." In 1889 she was sent to represent 
the New York Medical Club and Hospital for Women in the International Homeo- 
pathic Congress in Paris, before which she read a paper in French on the "Medical 
Education of Women in the United States." She has been the president of the 
Emerson and Avon Clubs. Was a member of the Association for the Advancement 
of Women and also the "Patria Club." She has read papers of great merit before 
the various literary and reform associations of New York City and the United 
States. She always speaks for the liberal and thorough education of women not 
only in art and music but also in chemistry, social economics, psychology, pedagogy, 
and physiology. Mrs. Lozier has exerted a wide influence among the club women of 
this country and occupies a commanding position in the fields open to women for 
advancement in social, literary and general culture. 

ANNA LUKENS. 

Was born in Philadelphia, October, 1844. Her family were residents of 
Plymouth, Pennsylvania, and belonged to the Society of Friends. She was 
graduated from the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania, in 1870. Was a 
member of the class attending clinics in the Pennsylvania Hospital, November, 
1869, when the students from the Woman's Medical College were hissed by the 
male members of the clinic. Miss Lukens and a Miss Brumall led the line of 
women students who passed out of the hospital grounds amid the jeers and insults 
of the male students, who even threw stones and mud at them, but these brave 
women were not discouraged by such conduct and might be considered to have 
blazed the way for other women who to-day enjoy the privilege. In 1870, Miss 
Lukens entered the Woman's Hospital of Philadelphia, as an interne and in 1871 
she began to teach in the college as an instructor in the chair of physiology. In 
1872 she taught pharmacy in the college by lectures and practical demonstrations 
in the dispensary of the Women's Hospital. She was the first woman to apply 
for admission to the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy. Not meeting with much 
encouragement, owing to the opposition which existed at that time against all 
women taking up this vocation, she entered the College of Pharmacy in New York 
City, and took a course in analytical chemistry in the laboratory of Dr. Walls. 
In 1873 sne became attending physician of the Western Dispensary for Women 
and Children, and at some portions of the time paid the rent for this dispensary 
out of her own pocket in order to keep up the work. In 1873 she was elected a 
member of the New York County Medical Society. In 1877 she was appointed 
assistant physician in the Nursery and Child's Hospital of Staten Island, assuming 
entire charge of the pharmaceutical department. In 1880 she was appointed 
resident physician of the Nursery and Child's Hospital. Two papers which she 
read before the Staten Island Clinical Society were published in the New York 
Journal and copied in the London Lancet and received favorable notice by the 
British Medical Journal. In 1884 she went abroad for study in children's diseases 
in the principal hospitals of Europe, and later opened an office for private practice 
in the city of New York. She was elected consulting physician of the Nursery 
and Child's Hospital of Staten Island, and a fellow of the New York State Medical 



Women in Professions 741 

Society. Was appointed in 1876, one of the vice-presidents of the New York 
Committee for the Prevention and State Regulation of Vice. She is a member of 
the Sorosis Club, and is considered a woman of marked executive ability for 
hospital administration. Her work is of a high standard and she occupies a con- 
spicuous position for a woman in the profession which she has chosen. 

DOROTHEA LUMMIS. 

Was born in Chillicothe, Ohio, November, i860. Her father was Josiah 
H. Rhodes, of Pennsylvania Dutch stock, and her mother, Sarah Crosby Swift 
was descended from a New England Puritan family. Although a successful student 
of music in the New England Conservatory of Music, in Boston, in 1881, she 
entered the musical school of Boston University and graduated with honor in 1884. 
In 1880, she married Charles F. Lummis, and in 1885 removed to Los Angeles, 
California, where she began the practice of medicine. She has served as dramatic 
editor of the Los Angeles Times and also musical editor and critic on that journal. 
She was instrumental in the formation of a humane society which was brought 
about through her observations of the neglect and cruelty to the children of the 
poor, and Mexican families, visited in her practice. She is a writer for Puck, Judge, 
Life, Women's Cycle, San Francisco Argonaut, and the Californian, as well as 
contributing many important papers to the various medical journals of the United 
States. 

MARY PUTNAM JACOBI. 

Dr. Mary Putnam Jacobi was born in August, 1842, in London, England, 
daughter of George B. Putnam, the well-known publisher. Her parents returned to 
this country when she was quite young and she was educated in Philadelphia, 
taking a course in the Women's Medical College of that city; afterwards taking 
a course at the New York College of Pharmacy, being one of the first women 
graduates of that institution. She was the first woman to be admitted to the 
Ecole de Medecin in Paris, and received the second prize for her thesis. On her 
return to America she immediately took up the work of having women students 
placed on the same footing with men and received on these terms in all medical 
societies. In 1872 she read before the American Journal Association an able paper, 
the first ever given by a woman. In 1873 she married Doctor Abraham Jacobi, a 
distinguished physician and specialist of New York City. After her marriage she 
was known by the name of Doctor Putnam-Jacobi. For many years she held the 
chair of therapeutics and materia medica of the Woman's College of the New 
York Infirmary and was afterwards professor in the New York Medical College. 
Mrs. Jacobi, in 1874, founded an association for the advancement of the medical 
education of women and was its president for many years. She has written much 
on medical and scientific subjects. Doctor Putnam-Jacobi takes front rank 
among the women of America, as her knowledge of medicine and its allied sciences 
is profound and accurate and she has won a distinguished position for herself 
among physicians and specialists of note. 



742 Part Taken by Women in American History 

HARRIET B. JONES. 

Miss Harriet B. Jones was born June, 1856, in Ebansburg, Pennsylvania. 
She is of Welsh ancestry. Appreciating the necessity for women physicians, after 
her graduation from the Wheeling Female College she went to Baltimore, to 
take a course as a medical student there, and graduated with honors from the 
Women's Medical College, in May, 1884. Wishing to make nervous diseases her 
specialty she accepted the position of assistant superintendent of the State Hospital 
for the Insane in Weston, West Virginia. In 1892 she established in Wheeling a 
private sanatorium for women and nervous diseases. She is an active worker in 
the temperance cause. 

ANNA M. LONGSHORE POTTS. 

Born April 16, 1829, in Attleboro, Pennsylvania. She was one of the class 
of eight brave young Pennsylvania Quaker girls graduating from the Woman's 
Medical College of Philadelphia, in 1852. This was the first college in which a 
woman could earn and secure a medical degree and at the time mentioned, when 
Miss Longshore graduated, they were received with faint applause from their 
friends and marks of derision from the male medical students. In 1857, she became 
the wife of Lambert Potts, of Langhorne, Pennsylvania. After removing to 
Michigan, she made a tour of the Pacific coast, New Zealand, Sidney, New South 
Wales, England and the United States lecturing on the prevention of sickness. 

ANN PRESTON. 

Born December, 1813, in West Grove, Pennsylvania, and died in Philadel- 
phia, April 18, 1872. She was a daughter of Amos and Margaret Preston, members 
of the Society of Friends. When the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania 
was opened in 1850, Miss Preston was among the first applicants for admission and 
graduated at the first commencement of the college. She remained as a student 
after graduation and in the spring of 1852, was called to the vacant chair of 
physiology and hygiene, of this college. She lectured in New York, Baltimore 
and Philadelphia on hygiene. Miss Preston and her associates obtained a charter 
and raised funds to establish a hospital in connection with the college, and when 
it was opened she was made a member of its board of managers, its corresponding 
secretary and its consulting physician, positions which she held until her death. In 
1866 Doctor Preston was elected dean of the faculty. In 1867, she was elected 
a member of the board of corporators of the college. During the twenty years 
of her medical practice she saw the sentiment towards women physicians 
gradually become more liberal, until they were admitted to hospital clinics with men. 

ELIZABETH BLACKWELL, M.D. 

The first woman physician in the United States was born in England, 
February 3, 1821, but her father brought his family to New York when she was 



Women in Professions 743 

eleven years old. After five or six years in that city, his business failed and 
he moved to Cincinnati. He had been there but a few weeks when he died, leaving 
a widow and nine children in very embarrassed circumstances. Elizabeth, who 
was his third daughter, together with her two oldest sisters opened a Young 
Ladies' Seminary and supported the family. Finding a better opportunity for 
private teaching in South Carolina, she went there in 1845, teaching music and 
French in a few wealthy families, while she read medicine with Doctor Samuel 
H. Dickson, of Charleston. After two or three years of hard labor in South 
Carolina, and about two years more devoted to the study of medicine in Phila- 
delphia and Geneva, New York, she received her medical diploma. In receiving it 
from the head director, she replied, "I thank you sir. With the help of the Most 
High it shall be the effort of my life to shed honor upon this diploma." Nor 
was this resolution in vain. Elizabeth Blackwell may be said to be the dean of the 
corps of splendid women physicians in the United States, and few if any have 
exceeded her in conscientious skill. 

FLORA L ALDRICH. 

Mrs. Aldrich was born in Westfield, New York, October 6, 1859. Her 
ancestors were among the early Dutch settlers of the Hudson Valley. Her 
maiden name was Southard, but little is known of her family. Her great- 
grandfather only remembered that his name was Southard and that he was stolen 
from a port in England. She married Doctor A. G. Aldrich, of Adams, 
Massachusetts, in 1883, and this resulted in her immediately taking up the study 
of medicine and surgery. Later removing to Minnesota, she graduated from 
the Minnesota Medical College and took post-graduate courses in many of the 
best schools of the country. 

SARAH B. ARMSTRONG. 

Miss Armstrong was born in Newton near Cincinnati, on July 31, 1857. 
She was educated in the schools of Cincinnati and later in Lebanon, Ohio, where 
the family made their home. At sixteen she became a teacher. She received the 
degree of B.S., in 1880, from the Lebanon University and the highest honors in a 
class of sixty-six members. She later became a teacher in this school and while 
engaged in this work, obtained her degree of B.A. and later that of M.A. In 
1886 she took her first degree in medicine and was appointed physician to the college. 
Later she spent some time in New York taking a course in the hospitals of that 
city. She inherits the love for the profession from her great-grandmother who 
was the first woman to practice medicine west of the Alleghany Mountains. Miss 
Armstrong possesses a very fine voice and has also literary talents. 

ALICE BENNET. 

Miss Bennet was born in Wrentham, Massachusetts, January 31, 1851. She 
taught in the district schools in her early youth but took up the study of medicine 



744 Part Taken by Women in American History 

in the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania, from which she graduated in 
March, 1876. Spent one year as an interne in the New England Hospital, of 
Boston. After graduating, engaged in dispensary work in the slums of Philadelphia. 
In 1876 she pursued a course of scientific study in the University of Pennsylvania, 
from which she received her degree of Ph.D., in 1880, and that year she was 
elected superintendent of the department for women of the State Hospital for the 
Insane, in Norristown, Pennsylvania. The placing of a woman in charge was 
without precedent and the results were awaited with anxiety by the public and 
the profession. At the end of twelve years the hospital was acknowledged to be 
the leading institution of the kind in the state, if not in the country, and this 
experiment has been the cause of this course being adopted by other states and 
the question is being very generally agitated as to whether this should not be 
generally adopted. When Miss Bennet entered upon this field of her labors she had 
but one patient and one nurse. More than two thousand, eight hundred and 
seventy-five insane women have been cared for, and in 1892 there was a force 
of ninety-five nurses under her. She is a member of the American Medical 
Association, of the Pennsylvania State Medical Society, of the Montgomery 
County Medical Society, of which she was made president in 1890; of the 
Philadelphia Neurological Society, of the Philadelphia Medical Jurisprudence 
Society, and of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. She 
has several times delivered the annual address on mental diseases before the State 
Medical Society and was appointed by Governor Pattison, of Pennsylvania, as a 
member of the board of five commissioners to erect the new hospital for the 
insane of the state. 

MARTHA GEORGE RIPLEY. 

Born November 30, 1843, in Lowell, Massachusetts. She married William 
W. Ripley, June 25, 1867, and removed to Boston, where she entered the Boston 
School of Medicine, in 1880. At her graduation in 1883 she was pronounced by 
the faculty one of the most thorough medical students who had ever received a 
diploma from the university. Soon after she settled in Minneapolis, Minnesota, 
and founded the Maternity Hospital. Mrs. Ripley was always deeply interested in 
the cause of woman's suffrage, and in 1883 she was elected president of the 
Minnesota Woman's Suffrage Association, serving as such for six years. 



CLARA HOLMES HAPGOOD NASH, 

Was born January 15, 1839, in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. Was the daughter 
of John and Mary Anne Hosmer Hapgood. Her mother belonged to the same 
family of Hosmers from which Harriet Hosmer, the noted sculptor was 
descended. Soon after her marriage in 1869 to Frederick Cushing Nash, of Maine, 
she began the study of law and in 1872 was admitted to the Supreme Judicial 
Court of Maine, being the first woman admitted to the bar, in New England. 



Women in Professions 745 

kate pier. 

Was born June 22, 1845, in St. Albans, Vermont. Her father was John 
Hamilton and her mother's maiden name was Meakinn. Mrs. Pier gave the name 
of Hamilton to each of her three daughters. In 1866 she became the wife of C. K. 
Pier, of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. She has accomplished what we believe no 
other woman in this country has — she made lawyers of herself and her three 
daughters. Mrs. Pier began her legal life by managing the large estate left by her 
father so successfully that other business of a like character was attracted to her. 
She was made court commissioner at one time and has enjoyed a successful 
professional career. She has accomplished much for women in her work before 
the legislature of her state in looking after bills in the interest of women. 

ALICE PARKER. 

Miss Alice Parker was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, April n, 1864, and 
was the daughter of the well-known Doctor Hiram Parker, of Lowell, 
Massachusetts. She was admitted to the Massachusetts bar, in 1890. Miss Parker 
published an interesting series of articles in the Home Journal, of Boston, under the 
title of "Law for My Sisters," of great value to women. They contained 
expositions of the law of marriage, widows, breach of promise, wife's necessaries, 
life insurance, divorce, sham marriages and names. She is the author of many 
amendments before the Massachusetts legislature affecting the property rights of 
women, and has made it her special work to procure such legislation at each 
session as will accomplish this end. 

MYRA BRADWELL. 

Lawyer and editor. Mrs. Bradwell was born in Manchester, Vermont, 
February 12, 1831. Daughter of Eben and Abigail Willey Colby. When quite 
young, her parents removed to New York City, and when she was about twelve 
years of age, to Chicago. In 1852, she married James B. Bradwell, whose father 
had been one of the leading pioneers of Illinois. She studied law in her 
husband's office. Passing the required examination, she was the first woman in 
America to ask to be admitted to the bar, but was refused on the grounds of 
being a married woman. This only added indignation to her desire, and she never 
ceased her efforts until this disability was removed, and finally received a certificate 
based upon her original application, and was the first woman to be admitted to the 
Illinois Bar Association. She was the editor of the first legal paper published 
in the Western states, known as the Chicago Legal News, and she remained its 
manager and editor until her death. The legislature of Illinois gave her a special 
charter for this paper, and it became a valuable medium for the publication of 
legal notices. Mrs. Bradwell drew up the bill making the law giving to married 
women their own earnings, and its passage was secured by her efforts in 1869. The 
work of editing and managing her paper became so arduous that her husband, 
Judge Bradwell, retired from the bench to assist her in this work. She was always 



746 Part Taken by Women in American History 

prominent in all charitable and philanthropic work of her home city — Chicago. 
She was a member of several of the prominent associations for literary and 
philanthropic work. Both of her children, a son and daughter, were admitted 
to the bar. 

ELLA FRANCES BRAMAN. 

Mrs. Braman was born March 23, 1850, in Brighton, now a part of Boston, 
Massachusetts. In 1867 she was married to Joseph Balch Braman, a member of 
the Boston bar. She commenced her life as a lawyer by assisting her husband, and 
proved so competent that he decided to ask for her appointment as commissioner 
for different states, and acted as such during her husband's absence. On their 
removal to New York City, she became a full partner with her husband. 



ELLA KNOWLES. 

Miss Ella Knowles was born in 1870 in New Hampshire. When quite 
young she gave dramatic readings. In 1888 she took up the study of law in the 
office ot Judge Burnham, of Manchester, New Hampshire. In 1889 she went to 
Iowa as a teacher of French and German and taught through the West for a 
number of years. While a resident of Helena, Montana, she finished her law 
course. In 1889 she was admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of Montana. 
In 1890 she was admitted to practice before the District Court of the United States 
and also before the Circuit Court of the United States. In 1892 she was named 
for attorney general of Montana, by the Alliance Party She is regarded as a 
woman of great ability, tact and courage and is well known throughout the 
Northwest. 

NELLIE BROWN POND, 

Born May 7, 1858, in Springfield, Massachusetts. Her maiden name was 
Nellie Frank Brown. Mrs. Pond stands in the front rank of the women of 
America who have made their mark upon the platform. Her father was Doctor 
Enoch Brown, an eminent physician of Springfield, Massachusetts. The family 
moved to New York City, where her father died when Mrs. Pond was quite young. 
Later they became residents of Boston, and it was here that Mrs. Pond's dramatic 
talent became known when through friends she was induced to become a member 
of the Park Dramatic Company, and appeared for the first time as Margaret 
Elmore in "Love's Sacrifice," achieving an immediate success. She remained with 
the company during that season, her great dramatic talent securing for her 
extensive popularity, and winning recognition from many prominent professionals. 
Mrs. Thomas Barry, then leading lady of the Boston Theatre, became greatly 
interested in her and through her exertions, Mrs. Pond appeared upon the Lyceum 
platform, and for many years she continued her dramatic readings. In 1880 she 
became the wife of Ozias W. Pond, of Boston, the well-known manager of musical 
and literary celebrities. 



Women in Professions 747 



MARY E. MILLER. 

Miss Miller, a distinguished woman lawyer of Chicago, is a farmer's daughter, 
and was born on a Michigan farm, in Calhoun County, December 28, 1864. Her 
early education was obtained in a country district school. She afterwards attended 
the Marshall High School, and graduated in the Latin course. She then attended 
the Michigan State Normal School located at Ypsilanti, from which she 
graduated in 1886. The following year she taught school at Portland, Michigan. 
The next summer she entered the office of the county clerk, of Calhoun County, 
and there learned to use the typewriter. In the winter of 1888, Miss Miller went 
to Chicago, and entered a shorthand school, and in the following autumn took a 
position as stenographer and typewriter with A. C. McClurg & Co., publishers, 
remaining with them until the following spring. She followed the occupation of 
a stenographer until 1894, occupying places during that period in the offices of 
some of the most prominent lawyers in the city of Chicago. 

Miss Miller began the study of law about the 1st of October, 1893, attending 
the Chicago College of Law, from which college she received her diploma in 
June, 1896, being admitted to the bar at that date. She afterwards took a post- 
graduate course in law, and received the degree of B.L., from the Lake Forest 
University. She commenced the practice of law about the 1st of July, 1895, and 
opened her office in Chicago. 

It is something to have earned a $30,000 fee, but what Miss Mary E. Miller 
has done for the poor is of far more importance to the public. Miss Miller, 
who has been practising law in the Chicago courts for thirteen years, received 
her largest fee for winning a suit in behalf of the heirs of a millionaire and 
secured a court order for the immediate distribution of $3,000,000. It was a 
triumph that attracted attention to her, but what she considers her real success 
at the bar was in a suit in which she received no fee whatever. Miss Miller 
possesses a high sense of eternal justice of right, and when she discovered that the 
Illinois courts had deprived the poor of their rights of "a day in court," she 
forthwith took up the cause of the pauper and fought to restore to him equal 
rights before the law with the rich. The case which brought her into the white 
light was a petition for mandamus, compelling the judge to examine the relator, 
and certain documents presented by her, and to determine whether she could 
sue as a "poor person" under the Illinois statutes. The judges of the Superior 
Court had enacted a rule regulating suits brought under the statute as poor 
persons, whom the rule styled "paupers," which was so burdensome and oppressive 
both to the lawyer and the client, that it was naturally impossible to comply with 
it conscientiously. The rule worked to the benefit of the corporations, traction 
companies, and others against whom personal injury suits were brought, as it 
deprived many of the opportunity of going into court. Miss Miller won her case 
for the "poor person," and the Supreme Court held the unjust rule null and void, 
overruling the law enacted by the eleven judges of the Superior Court. Miss 
Miller thereupon brought suit for her client, a "poor person," and won damages 
of $1,000, the verdict, however, was set aside and a second trial called. 



74-8 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Miss Miller's fee in this case was less than nothing, her client being a poor negress, 
born a slave, but the suit established the right of so-styled "poor persons" to 
fight in court for their right against the rich. "It restored," says Miss Miller, "the 
rights of the poor to sue, a right of which the court had shamelessly deprived 
them." 

She has always been very much interested in procuring suffrage for women, 
and has devoted more or less time to that purpose. For a short time in i8g6 she 
published a little suffrage paper in Chicago. For a number of years she was also 
connected with various women's clubs, but has dropped her membership in all 
save the Chicago Political Equality League. She is the organizer of Cook County 
for the Illinois Equal Suffrage Association, and has devoted considerable time to 
that work. 

Through her acquaintance obtained in the suffrage work, she became 
interested in the Norwegian Danish Young Women's Christian Home, and is now 
vice-president of the executive committee which has this home in charge. The 
home was instituted for the purpose of furnishing Norwegian and Danish servant 
girls in Chicago a safe, clean, and attractive residence. There is also connected 
with it a free employment bureau, which investigates the applications for servant 
girls by employers and ascertains whether they are desirable and safe positions. 
By this means it is hoped to save numerous girls from white slavery, as they are 
frequently lured into dens through the employment agencies. 

Miss Miller has spoken for suffrage in the automobile tours through Illinois, 
and at the parlor and hall meetings in the city of Chicago. 

J. ELLEN HORTON FOSTER. 

For many years the figure of Mrs. J. Ellen Horton Foster was a familiar 
one in Washington. Familiarity did not, however, dull the respect and honor which 
the women of the Capital felt for her. Born in Lowell, Massachusetts, November 
3, 1840, the daughter of Reverend Jotham Horton, a Methodist Minister. She 
was educated in Lima, New York, and subsequently moved with her parents to 
Clinton, Iowa, where in 1869 she became the wife of E. C. Foster, a lawyer. She 
studied law and was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court, of Iowa, in 1872, 
being the first woman to practice before that court. She followed the legal 
profession for years, at first practicing alone but subsequently forming a 
partnership with her husband. 

Her fame as a lawyer in Iowa has been equaled by her work for temperance, 
the Methodist Church, Home and Foreign Missions, Philanthropy, Education, 
Patriotism and other great reforms. She joined the temperance workers with 
such ardor that when her home in Clinton, Iowa, was burned it was suspected 
that it was the work of enemies of the temperance cause. 

As a member of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union she has been 
able to give the most valuable service in the legislative department of that 
organization. Her legal knowledge enabled her to direct wisely the movements for 
constitutional amendments in many states, aimed to secure the prohibition of the 



Women in Professions 749 

sale and manufacture of alcoholic liquors. Maintaining as she did that no 
organization has the right to prejudice the rights of its members to any other 
organization for any purpose, these views led her to affiliate with the non-partisan 
league, and she served that body for several years as corresponding secretary, 
having her office in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1887 she visited Europe, where 
she rested and studied the temperance question. After her return from England, 
she moved to Washington City and rapidly became prominent in public affairs. 
She was sent by Secretary Hay, with Clara Barton, as a delegate to the Inter- 
national Congress of the Red Cross. She was an official member of the Taft 
party to the Philippines, and then went on to other lands to visit branches of 
the Foreign Missions of the Methodist Church. Her last appointment was to 
investigate the conditions of women and children workers, and the condition of 
the Federal prisons. She succeeded in causing a special wing lor women to be 
established in the Leavenworth penitentiary. She continued her activities in 
the cause of humanity until the day of her death, August II, 1910. 

BELL A. MANSFIELD. 

Mrs. Bell A. Mansfield was the first woman admitted to the practice of 
law in the United States. She was admitted to the bar in 1868 in the state of 
Iowa. Her death occurred August 1, 191 1, at the home of her brother, Judge W. 
J. Babb, of Aurora, Illinois. She was in her sixty-fifth year at the time of 
her death. 

ELLEN SPENCER MUSSEY. 

Born at Geneva, Ohio, in 1850. Was the daughter of Piatt R. Spencer, (the 
author of the Spencerian system of writing,) and Persis Duty Spencer. She 
read law in the office of her husband, General Mussey, whom she married June 14, 
1871. She established the Washington College of Law for Women in 1899. In 
1893 she was first admitted to the bar and practiced law even before her husband's 
death. Was counsel for some of the foreign legations, and several national, patriotic, 
and labor organizations. She secured the passage of the bill through Congress 
giving mothers in the District of Columbia the same right to their children as 
their fathers and giving married women the right to do business and to control 
their own earnings, and also an appropriation for the first public kindergarten in 
the District of Columbia. She was one of the founders of the National Red 
Cross, a member of the Legion of Loyal Women, ex-vice-president-general 
Daughters of the American Revolution, and is now a member of the Board of 
Education of Washington, District of Columbia. 

Artists. 

Looking back over the field of art for the past five cen- 
turies, one cannot fail to be impressed by the exceeding scarcity 



75° Part Taken by Women in American History 

of men and women who have attained enduring eminence as 
painters of portraits. Though in every exhibition of current 
work numerous portraits are shown, few are found worthy 
of prominent preservation, and the painters who can be counted 
upon for worthy productions can equally be enumerated. One 
of those who to-day holds pre-eminence is Cecilia Beaux. Com- 
parison is often made between her work and that of Sargent. 
Most critics think her work is more studied but equally strong. 

CECILIA BEAUX. 

Cecelia Beaux is a dramatist in her studies of character 
and her art is probably more subtle and more various than that 
of any woman painter who has devoted her life to portraiture. 
Her work is modern in every way. Her handling is broad and 
strong. Many of her touches seem most accidental, while 
they are of the highest art. Miss Beaux is one of those painters 
who seem to have arrived almost abruptly on a plane of excep- 
tional accomplishment. Few better works has she produced 
than those exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1896, which took the 
French critics by storm, and brought her the honor of Associ- 
ate Membership in the Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts. Her 
portraits of the daughters of Mr. Richard Watson Gilder and 
the portrait of Mr. Gilder were considered of masterly interpre- 
tation. There is one portrait wherein Miss Beaux actually cre- 
ated personality. This was her portrait of John Paul Jones, 
which was presented by the Class of 1881 to the United States 
Naval Academy at Annapolis. 

GERTRUDE O'REILLY. 

Daughter of James William O'Reilly, a member of the famous O'Reilly family 
identified with Irish Nationalism. Her great-uncle, Father Eugene O'Reilly, was 
one of the first promoters of the Irish revival, being the author of the Gaelic 



Women in Professions 751 

dictionary, and a catalogue of the Ancient Manuscripts. Her mother, Susan 
MacDonell, was the only daughter of Colonel Alexander MacDonell, member of a 
famous Irish family. Miss O'Reilly has won great success in decorative work 
and applied design, being a student of the South Kensington School, and has 
received several awards and prizes for leather work design and painting, as well 
as a special prize for the studies from the ancient Irish manuscript. These 
she obtained at the great Irish festival, Oireacthais, which is held in Dublin 
under the auspices of the Gaelic League. In 1900 Miss O'Reilly became first 
superintendent of the house founded by the Dominican families in Dublin for a 
residence house for the business girls in that city. She opened a branch house, 
and originated and established a summer home, managed a large non-residential club" 
in connection with this house, and edited a magazine called The Star for the girls. 
In 1905 while spending the summer in the county of Galway, she did some splendid 
work among the fisher folk of this section in the line of hygiene and the better- 
ment of their condition. She has acted as honorary secretary for the Galway 
Branch of the Irish Industrial Association. In 1907 she came to America and has 
since contributed to the daily press of this country and the leading magazines. 

ALICE CORDELIA MORSE. 

Was born June 1, 1862, in Hammondsville, Jefferson County, Ohio. After a 
common school education she took her first lessons in drawing in an evening class 
started by the Christian Endeavor Society of Doctor Eggleston's Church. That 
little class of crude young people was the beginning of the art education of some 
of the noted competitors to-day in New York Art Circles. Miss Morse submitted 
a drawing from this class to the Woman's Art School, Cooper Union and was 
admitted for a four years' course, which she completed. Entering, later, the 
studio of John La Farge, the foremost artist of stained class designing in this 
country, she studied and painted with great assiduity, under his supervision. Later 
she sent a study of a head, painted on glass, to Louis C. Tiffany and Company, 
which admitted her into the Tiffany studio to paint glass and study designing. 
While there, she was a successful contestant in several designs for book covers, 
which aroused interest in this comparatively new art in this country, and she decided 
to take up this field of designing. She made many covers of holiday editions and 
fine books for well known publishing houses. This she has carried on in connection 
with glass designing, until her name is familiar to the designing fraternity and 
the annual exhibitors in the New York architectural League. She was the designer 
of the glass window in the Beecher Memorial Church, of Brooklyn. 

ISABEL ELIZABETH SMITH. 

Miss Isabel Elizabeth Smith was born in Clairmont County, Ohio, in 1845. 
After studying abroad for three years, Miss Smith opened a studio in Washington, 
District of Columbia, where she met with marked success, painting portraits of 
many prominent persons. She has won quite an enviable reputation as a miniature 
painter and is now doing work on the Pacific coast. 



752 Part Taken by Women in American History 



ROSINA EMMETT SHERWOOD. 

Mrs. Rosina Emmett Sherwood was born in New York, December 13, 1854. 
She was a twin sister of Robert Temple Emmett, direct descendant of Thomas A. 
Emmett, the Irish Patriot She studied under William M. Chase ; also in Paris. 
Her first work was on china, followed by illustrations of juvenile books. In 
1884 she illustrated Mrs. Burton Harrison's "Old Fashioned Tales." She is a 
member of The American Society, and a member of the Society of American Artists. 
In 1887 she married the son of Mrs. John Sherwood. 

CARRIE M. SHOFF. 

Mrs. Carrie M. Shoff was born in Huntington, Indiana, April 2, 1849. She 
invented a method of manufacturing imitation limoges, largely used in the manu- 
facture of advertising signs and in cheaper wares. 

EUGENIA SHANKLAND. 

Is a member of the "Order of the Visitation" in Wilmington, Delaware, 
and is the daughter of Manning R. Shankland. She is an artist of some note, 
painting a number of fine altar pieces for several of the churches of the Capital 
City, and her copy of Washington, in the room of the vice-president at the United 
States Capitol, has attracted much attention. 

ELLEN HARDIN WALWORTH (THE YOUNGER). 

Was born at Saragota Springs, New York, October, 1858. Was the Daughter 
of Mansfield Tracy Walworth. She was a student of art, conducting classes in 
sketching, and was principal of St. Mary's Academy, Albany, from 1888 to 1890. 
Author of "An Old World as Seen Through Young Eyes," "Lily of the Mohawks," 
"Life and Sketches of Father Walworth," and other works. 

JENNIE WILDE. 

Is the daughter of Judge R. H. Wilde a distinguished newspaper writer and 
jurist of New Orleans, her native city. She was a student of designing and paint- 
ing in some of the foremost art schools of Europe. Is a contributor to Northwestern 
periodicals and devotes her time to art and journalism. Owing to her creative 
ability and inventive genius as an artist, Miss Wilde has been invited by the 
Carnival Society of New Orleans to design the tableaux and many of the spectacular 
effects used during the Mardi Gras festival each year in New Orleans. 

AMALIA KUSSNER COUDERT. 

Is a miniature painter. Born March 26, 1873, in Terre Haute, Indiana. 
Daughter of Lorenz Kussner. Married July 3, 1900, in New York City, to Charles 



Women in Professions 753 



Dupont Coudert. In 1896 went to London and painted the portrait of the King 
(then the Prince of Wales) and many of the prominent people of England. In 
1899 was summoned to Russia to paint portraits of the Emperor and Empress and 
of the Honorable Cecil Rhodes, in Africa. 

MRS. WILLIAM HENRY HORNE. 

Mrs. William Henry Home was born at Eliot, Maine, the daughter of Lizzie 
Young and John Harrison Mathes. She was educated in Portsmouth and Boston, 
and studied art in Boston, New York and in the studio of W. D. Tenney, with 
whom she painted for twenty years. 

Mrs. Home is the vice-regent of the John Paul Jones Chapter Daughters of 
the American Revolution, member of the Twentieth Century Club of Boston, The 
Fathers' and Mothers' Club, The Copley Society, and is a well-known artist of 
Boston and New York, where her work is frequently exhibited. 

CANDACE WHEELER. 

Thirty years ago, with a handful of bright, eager New York girls, Mrs. 
Wheeler started the School of Decorative Art, turning out needle and embroidery 
work as artistic as fingers could make it. No other work was done by this school 
until a paper firm in New York offered a $2,000 prize for original wall paper 
designs. Up to this time no wall paper patterns were made in this country; 
even our calico designs were made in England. Mrs. Wheeler and her girls 
decided to compete for this prize. When the exhibition took place, they found 
that of all the designs offered theirs were the only American patterns exhibited, 
and they were hung by themselves. A day or two later information came to the 
School of Decorative Art that they had won the entire award of $2,000. 

Mrs. Wheeler founded the famous Onteora Club, where she wrote the 
greater part of "Principles of Home Decorations," and other books bearing on 
art. Mrs. Wheeler was the artistic genius of the Woman's Building of the 
Columbian Exposition, and her daughter, Mrs. Keith, painted the ceiling in 
the library of that building. Pupils of this School of Decorative Art are 
scattered all over the country. One of the best painters now, is a pupil of this 
school, Miss Jean B. Stearns. Her specialty is Italian art. 

EMMA SCHOLFIELD WRIGHT. 

Mrs. Emma Scholfield Wright, of Pueblo, Colorado, was born in Huns- 
let, near Leeds, England, in 1845, and came to America when very young. She 
was married in 1878 to Henry T. Wright of Morgan Park, Illinois, and is the 
mother of four children. She lived in Minneapolis, Minnesota, from 1881 until 
1897, when she removed to Chicago. Since 1902 her home has been in Pueblo. 

She is prominent as an artist, and while her first work was in oils, it is her 
work in ceramics, which gives her the position she occupies in the world of art. 
Her work is notable for its fine feeling, for color values and harmony, and in 

48 



754 Part Taken by Women in American History 

illusive shadings and blcndings. Her designing is wonderful, enabling her to put 
into form her color schemes. 

Her first original work was exhibited at the World's Columbian Exposition 
in 1893, and received the highest award for original design and coloring. The 
following year she exhibited at Chicago, where her work was so different from 
the rest of the exhibit, that it attracted instant and marked attention from art 
critics and art writers. Each year following her exhibit was larger and finer, 
and art critics recognizing the fact that she had opened up a new thought in 
decorative art, her work won full and complete recognition. 

Mrs. Wright is not the student of any school, and all that she has accom- 
plished is the result of her genius, and her untiring work and continuous study, 
carried on for the most part in her own home. 

One of the notable examples of her work is seen in the decoration of the 
Colorado Fuel and Iron Company's hospital at Pueblo. The decoration includes 
eight panels filled with life-size portraits, done on tiling in monochrome, of some 
of the great workers connected with the history and development of the healing art. 

She has exhibited her work at the Chicago, Buffalo and St. Louis exposi- 
tions, and at art exhibitions the country over. The honors and awards taken 
by her where she has exhibited are many, and she is always spoken of in the 
highest terms of praise by the art critics. They all say of her work, that it is 
absolutely original in design, and beautiful in color, and some of them do not 
hesitate to pronounce her among the greatest of American decorators in ceramics. 

FLORENCE MACKUBIN. 

Born in Florence, Italy. Daughter of Charles Nicholas, of Maryland, and 
Ellen M. Fay Mackubin. Painter of miniatures, and exhibitor at all of the large 
expositions. Selected by Governor Smith and the Board of Public Works of 
Maryland, in 1900, to paint the portrait of Queen Henrietta Maria (after whom 
Maryland was named), to be hung in the State House. This was executed in a 
copy of the portrait by Vandyck, in Warwick Castle, England. Also painted the 
portrait of Governor Lowndes, to be hung in the executive chamber in the Mary- 
land State House ; the portrait of Professor Basil Gildersleeve, for the University 
of Virginia, and a miniature of Cardinal Gibbons ; and portraits of the first 
and second Barons of Baltimore, founders of Maryland. 

SUSAN HALE. 

Born in Boston, December 5, 1833. Daughter of Nathan and Sarah Preston 
Everett Hale. Artist in water colors. Exhibitor of landscapes in Boston and New 
York. Author of "Life and Letters of Thomas Gold Appleton"; also "Family 
Flight," Series of Travels for Young People. She wrote in connection with 
her brother, Edward Everett Hale. 

RHODA CARLETON MARIAN HOLMES NICHOLLS. 

Born in Coventry, England; daughter of William and Marian Holmes; 
studied at Bloomsburg Art School, and at the Circle Artistic, Rome; married to 



Women in Professions 755 

Burr H. Nicholls, in 1884; exhibited at the Royal Academy, London, Dudley 
Gallery, London; also in Rome, Turin, Milan, and all current American exhibitions. 
Received Queen's Scholarship London; medal at Prize Fund Exhibition New York; 
medal at Boston Biennial Exhibition, Chicago World's Fair, 1893 ; medal at Charles- 
ton Exposition, at the West Indian and Interstate Exhibition Nashville, at the 
Pennsylvania Art Exposition, St. Louis Exposition; represented in Boston Art 
Club, Boston Museum of Art; illustrated (in collaboration) Powell's Venetian 
Life; is author of articles in the Art Exchange, Art Amateur and Keramic Studio; 
member of the National Arts Club, New York; was vice-president for nine years 
of the Water Color Club, of New York; member of the American Society of 
Miniature Painters, Pen and Brush Club, Woman's Art Club, (of which she is 
a member of the Art Committee), Art Club, of Canada, Nineteenth Century 
Club. Her address is 913 Seventh Avenue, New York City. 

EMILY MARIA SCOTT. 

Born at Springwater, New York; daughter of Thomas Lawrence and Almira 
Spafard; studied at the National Academy of Design, and at the Art Students' 
League, in New York, and in Paris under Raphael Collin. Married to Charles 
Scott, in i860; exhibited at the Paris salon in 1886, and Paris Exposition in 
191 1. Appears in all the current exhibitions and expositions held in the United 
States. Received gold medal at Atlanta Exposition; honorable mention at the 
Pan-American Exposition in 1901 ; represented in the Erie Public Library ; vice- 
president New York Water Color Club; member of American Water Color 
Society and National Arts Club, New York. 

CHARLOTTE B. COMAN. 

Mrs. Coman was born in Waterville, New York; studied in Paris under H. 
Thompson, and Emille Vernier; exhibited in Paris Salon, St. Louis World's Fair, 
and various exhibitions in the United States Received bronze medal at the 
California Mid-winter Exposition, prize at Woman's Art Club, member of New 
York Water Color Society, Art Workers' Club and Women's Art Club. "A French 
Village" exhibited at the Paris Exposition in 1878, "Near Fontainebleau," "Sunset 
at the Seaside" exhibited in Boston in 1877, "On the Borders of the Marne," 
and "Peasant Home in Normandie," are among her best works. 

VIOLET OAKLEY. 

Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, 1874; studied at the Art Students' 
League in New York, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts under Howard Pyle; 
in Paris, under Raphael . Collin and Aman Jean ; has exhibited extensively 
throughout the United States; received gold medal for illustrations, St. Louis 
Exposition, 1904 ; also medal for mural decoration at the St. Louis Exposition ; 
gold medal of honor at the Pennsylvania Academy in 1905 ; is represented in the 
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts; member of the Society of Illustrators, New 



756 Part Taken by Women in American History 

York Water Color Club, fellowship of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, 
Philadelphia, Philadelphia Water Club, and Plastic Club, of Philadelphia. 

ELIZABETH NOURSE. 

Those who have closely followed the history of American art will be 
interested in the principal facts of Elizabeth Nourse's life. She is a descendant 
of an old Huguenot family who settled in Massachusetts some two or three 
hundred years ago. She was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. At the age of thirteen she 
showed such remarkable talent for painting that she attended the School of Design 
in that city. Her father losing his fortune, at the time of her parents' death, 
she found herself confronted by the necessity of earning money to undergo the 
course in art which she had so long desired. After school hours she taught 
design and decorated the walls in the homes of Cincinnati's wealthiest citizens. 

After completing her four years' course in the School of Design, she was 
offered a fine position there as teacher of drawing, but having more ambitious 
projects in her mind, she refused this position. Aided by her sister, she 
accumulated $5,000 and this, with the little rescued from their father's estate, 
insured them a living abroad for several years. When some of the young artists 
of Paris founded the Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Miss Nourse decided to 
send her pictures to this new salon where they were received with acclamation. 
Three years later she was made an associate. A sincere student of nature, Miss 
Nourse paints only what she sees, but hers is the vision of a noble soul, which 
pierces through conventionalities to the poetry and beauty that underlies all life. 
Her pictures are not portraits of models, but types of human character; all nature 
appeals to her, and some of her most beautiful pictures are landscapes of Brit- 
tany, and bits of the old forest of Rambouillet. 

The art of Elizabeth Nourse has been influenced by no other painter. Years 
of study in Paris have broadened her technique. Her brush work has become 
more firm, her color more beautiful, but the character of her painting remains 
unaltered. In the work of Miss Nourse, is shown the broad, human sympathy 
of a strong woman who believes in art not only for art's sake but for the sake 
of humanity which it can uplift and spiritualize. 

ANNA LEA MERRITT. 

In the front rank of our noted women painters stands Anna Lea Merritt, 
who is as well known in England as in her own country. She was not taught in 
schools, and to this fact is probably attributable the great individuality conspicuous 
in her works. She belongs to no particular religion in art, and attended no 
school or class, but diligently attended Mr. Marshall's lectures on anatomy, a 
subject to which she devoted much attention and study. She had a few lessons 
from Professor Legros and from Mr. Henry Merritt, whom she afterwards 
married ; also from Mr. Richmond, R.A., and from Mr. William Roxall, R.A. 

Much of Mrs. Merritt's work has been in portraiture. She did some 
decorative pictures for the Woman's Building, Chicago World's Fair, and 



Women in Professions 757 

later frescoed St. Martin's Church, at Chilworth. Mrs. Merritt was at one time a 
member of the Painters' Etchers' Society, and has exhibited many original 
etchings. 

ANNIE C. SHAW. 

Born at Troy, New York, 1852; lived for some years in Chicago studying 
art under H. C. Ford ; in that city she was elected an associate of the Chicago 
Academy of Design, in 1873, and an academician, in 1876, the first woman upon 
whom the distinction has been conferred. Among her paintings are "On the 
Calumet," "Willow Island," "Keene Valley," "Ebb Tide on the Coast of Maine," 
"Head of a Jersey Bull," "The Return from the Fair" and "Illinois Prairie." 
She has exhibited in Chicago, Boston. New York and the Centennial Exposition. 

EMILY SARTAIN. 

Born in Philadelphia; daughter of John and Susan Sartain; studied 
engraving under her father; also at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 
Philadelphia; and under Christian Schuessele; and in Paris under E. Luminais; 
exhibited at the Paris Salon and in all prominent exhibitions of the large cities 
of the United States; received medal for oil painting at the Centennial Exhibition, 
Philadelphia, 1876; the Mary Smith Prize at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine 
Arts ; medals for engravings at the Atlanta Exposition and Pan-American 
Exposition ; member of the International Bureau of Awards, the Art Department 
of the Chicago World's Fair, chairman of Artists' Committee officially in charge 
of Pennsylvania State Building, Chicago World's Fair; art delegate to the Inter- 
national Congress of Women in London, in 1899; afterward delegate to represent 
the United States at International Congress on Instruction in Art, Paris, 1900, and 
Berne, Switzerland, 1904; member of the Advisory Committee, Art Section, St. 
Louis Exposition, 1904; for many years was the only woman mezzotint engraver 
in the world ; has been principal of the Philadelphia School of Design for Women 
since 1886; president of the Plastic Club, Philadelphia, and vice-president of the 
Fellowship of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia. 

HARRIET SARTAIN. 

Born in Philadelphia ; daughter of Henry and Maria Sartain ; studied at the 
Philadelphia School of Design for Women exhibited in the Pennsylvania Academy 
of Fine Arts, Philadelphia Art Club, New Y01A. Water Color Club, American 
Water Color Society, Chicago Art Institute, Chicago World's Fair, St. Louis 
Exposition ; instructor of drawing and water color in the Philadelphia School 
of Design for Women since 1893 ; director of the Art Department of Swarth- 
more College 1902; instructor in art at Pocono Pines Assembly, summer schools 
at Naomi Pines, Pennsylvania; member of the Plastic Club, of Philadelphia and 
alumnae of the Philadelphia School of Design for Women. 



■58 Part Taken by Women in American History 



MARY L. MACOMBER. 

Born at Fall River, Massachusetts, August 21, 1861 ; daughter of Frederic W. 
and Mary W. Macomber; studied at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and under 
Dunning, Duveneck, Crowningshield and Grundmann. Exhibited at The Hague, Car- 
negie Institute, Chicago Art Institute, Chicago World's Fair, St Louis Exposition; 
National Academy of Design, Society of American Artists, Pennsylvania Academy 
of Fine Arts, Boston Art Club, Copley Society; received Dodge Prize at the 
National Academy of Design, honorable mention at the Carnegie Institute, medal 
at Massachusetts C. M. Association, 1895; medal at Atlanta Exposition, 1895; is 
represented in the prominent collection at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. 
Her work, accompanied by articles, has been reproduced in the New England 
Magazine and other current periodicals. Member of the Copley Society, Boston. 

KATHARINE AUGUSTA CARL. 

Born in Louisiana; daughter of Francis Augustus Carl, Ph.D., LL.D., and 
Mary (Breadon) Carl. She was graduated from the State College, of Tennessee, 
at Memphis, with the degree of M.A., and afterward studied art in Paris under 
Bcuguereau, Jean Paul Laurens and Gustave Courtois. She first exhibited in 
the Paris Societe des Artists Francais, in 1887, received honorable mention from 
that society in 1890, and was made an associate of the Societe Nationale des Beaux 
Arts,- Paris, in 1894. Miss Carl is a painter of portraits and figure paintings, and 
has painted many notable subjects, among whom was the late Empress Dowager of 
China. The Empress Dowager conferred upon her the orders of officer of the 
Double Dragon and the Manchu Flaming Pearl. She wrote and illustrated an 
account of her life in the Imperial Palace, of China, which was published 
under the title of "With the Empress Dowager of China." Miss Carl is a 
member of the International Society of Women Artists, London ; Societe Nationale 
des Beaux Arts, Paris, and of the Lyceum Clubs, of London, and Paris. 

MARIA LONGWORTH STORER. 

Mrs. Bellamy Storer was born in Cincinnati, in March, 1849. She studied 
especially music and drawing when she was a child, and is greatly interested in 
everything that could help to educate and enlighten other people in both these arts. 
The Cincinnati musical festivals grew out of a conversation with Mrs. Storer's 
friend, Theodore Thomas, when he was visiting her in Cincinnati, ii. 1872. She 
asked him why they might not unite together all their choral societies, and he 
bring his orchestra and create a great festival organization. He liked the idea very 
much and under his great leadership they had musical festivals in Cincinnati which 
have never been surpassed by any in England or Continental Europe. In 1876 she 
was much interested in the exhibition of pottery and porcelain at the Philadelphia 
Centennial Exposition, and became anxious to have a place of her own to make 
experiments in native clays. After working for a while in a pottery where granite 
ware was made she started, in 1879, a pottery of her own in an old schoolhouse 



Women in Professions 759 

she owned on the banks of the Ohio River. She named the pottery "Rookwood," 
after their country place. The first kiln was drawn in February, 1880. For ten years 
after that she worked there almost daily, selecting shapes and artistic designs. 
Her decorators were usually young men and women who had been students at 
the art school, an institution in which her father, Joseph Longworth, was much 
interested, and to which he gave an endowment of three hundred thousand 
dollars. Mrs. Storer was given the patent for the using of a colored glaze over 
colored decoration and the Rookwood pottery of that time was dipped in a very 
thick deep yellow glaze, which gave a rich tone to every color underneath it, 
like the varnish of an old master. This ware obtained a gold medal at the Paris 
Exposition of 1889. In 1891 Mrs. Storer's husband was elected to the House of 
Representatives and, on leaving Cincinnati, she gave the Rookwood pottery to her 
friend, Mr. William Watts Taylor, who had been business manager for four 
years and had put the pottery on a paying basis. In her time it was rather an 
expensive luxury costing her about two thousand dollars a year more than it 
brought in. 

EVELYN LONGMAN. 

Has recently come into prominence through the execution of work for 
Wellesley College. She has already done some of the handsomest bronze work 
in this country. Her work for Wellesley is a set of bronze doors and transoms 
for the Wellesley Library Building, in memory of the late Professor Eben Norton 
Horsford, who died in 1893. Miss Longman's education was acquired entirely in 
America, chiefly at the Chicago Art Institute. Most of her works have been 
portrait busts and works of a similar nature. Three years ago, however, she 
made her first bronze doors, and the circumstances surrounding her first selection 
for her first commission, placed her at once as the most successful young woman 
worker in bronze in America. This commission, she received through competition 
held for a pair of bronze doors and a transom for the entrance to the chapel at the 
United States Naval Academy, at Annapolis. It was open to all American 
sculptors and conducted under the auspices of the National Sculpture Society. 
A jury of five men was selected to pick the winning design. The identity of the 
competitors was kept strictly a secret and the judges had no means of knowing 
whose work they were considering. Miss Longman won the award by unanimous 
decision on the first vote, over thirty-seven competitiors. She is rapidly forging 
to the front as an artist in bronze. She is a member of the American Numismatic 
Society, the American Federation of Arts, and the National Sculpture Society, 
and is one of the few women associates of the National Academy of Design. 

MRS. WILLIAM ASTOR CHANLER. 

Mrs. Chanler has recently become prominent in art circles in New York as 
a sculptor of more than ordinary ability. Two of her works were recently accepted 
by the jury of the National Academy of Design and exhibited at their spring 
exhibition. Mrs. Chanler is a pupil of Victor Salvator, of Macdougall Alley, the 
Latin quarter of New York. 



760 Part Taken by Women in American History 
sally james farnham. 

Sally James Farnham, artist and sculptor. Her father was Colonel Edward 
C. James; her mother, Sarah Perkins. Mrs. Farnham is descended from a long 
line of soldiers and jurists on one side and sailors on the other. She was born 
and reared in Ogdensburg, New York. She gave no indication in her early 
youth of the wonderful talent she possessed. She never received what is ordinarily 
considered essential to ultimate success, art education. She was not a student in 
Paris or Rome nor did she show any special taste for drawing or for things artistic 
during her school days. She was simply a descendant of a cultured race and 
lived among people of strong artistic tendencies; enjoyed the advantage of extensive 
foreign travel, becoming familiar with the masterpieces of ancient and modern 
sculpture. Unconscious of possessing any talent in this line, while convalescing 
after a severe illness, her husband brought her some modeling wax, in the hope 
that it could help her to while away a period of enforced inactivity. From 
this she fashioned a recumbent figure of great beauty and delicacy, representing 
Iris, "Goddess of the Rainbow." This she executed, in the absence of modeling 
tools, by the use of the surgical instruments loaned her by the attending physician 
and the finished result was most charming. The fact that this first effort possessed 
the technique and finish usually found in the works of the trained and experienced 
artists, gave rise to the feeling among those who saw Mrs. Farnham's work, that 
a great future was before her. Her first portrait work was in bronze, a full 
length figure. This was followed by a bust which is a fine example of the sculptor's 
skill. Then followed the spirited bronze called "Cowboy Fun." This group is 
vibrant with life. 

The Great Neck Steeple Chase Cup was modeled by Mrs. Farnham, and 
is considered one of the most artistic pieces of this kind ever produced. Mrs. 
Farnham's most ambitious effort is the soldiers' and sailors' monument in Ogdens- 
burg, her birthplace. Mrs. Farnham's work for the government has met with 
great praise from artists and laymen. She did the frieze in the council room of the 
building of the Pan-American Republics, at Washington, and also designed the 
medal which was given Mr. Carnegie by the government, in appreciation of his 
gift of a large sum of money toward this building as a contribution toward the 
efforts for peace. There is an originality in her work which gives it strength and 
vitality. Mrs. Farnham is destined to become one of the noted artists and sculptors 
in this country. 

ANNE WHITNEY. 

Born in Watertown, Mass., in 1821. Descended from early New England 
colonists. Her first work was a portrait bust of her father and mother. Her 
first ideal work was her conception of Lady Godiva, which was exhibited in 
Boston. This was followed by "Africa," a colossal statue. The "Lotus-Eater" 
was her next work. After this she spent five years of study in Europe during 
which time she executed "The Chaldean Astronomer," and "Roma." After her 
return to America the State of Massachusetts commissioned her to make a statue 



Women in Professions 761 

in marble of Samuel Adams the Revolutionary patriot, for the National Gallery 
in Washington, and one in bronze for Adams Square in Boston. She went to 
Rome to execute this commission. Since these works she has executed a sitting 
statue of Harriet Martineau, of heroic size, for Wellesley College, and another 
ideal statue of Lief Erikson, the young Norseman who, A.D. iooo sailed into 
Massachusetts Bay. Miss Whitney has made many fine medallions, fountains 
and portrait busts, among the latter, one of President Stearns of Amherst Col- 
lege, President Walker of Harvard, Professor Pickering of Harvard, William 
Lloyd Garrison, Honorable Samuel Sewall of Boston, Mrs. Alice Freeman 
Palmer, ex-president of Wellesley College, Adeline Manning, Miss Whitney's 
friend, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Frances E. Willard, Lucy Stone, Mary A. Liver- 
more and others. 

VINNIE REAM HOXIE. 

Was born in Madison, Wisconsin, September 25, 1847. Is the daughter of 
Robert Lee and Lavinia McDonald Ream. Studied art in Washington, and 
afterwards in Paris under Bonnat. Her first work of note was a statue of 
Abraham Lincoln under commission from Congress. This was done from life, 
and later she executed the statue of Admiral Farragut, another commission from 
the government through an act of Congress, and this statue now adorns Farragut 
Square in Washington. She has done many ideal figures : "Miriam," "The 
West," "Sappho," "The Spirit of the Carnival," a bust of Mary Powell, now in 
the state hall of Brooklyn, portraits and medallions of General George B. McClel- 
lan, Thaddeus Stevens, General Sherman, Ezra Cornell, General John C. Free- 
mont, T. Buchanan Read, E. B. Washburn, Horace Greeley, Peter Cooper, also 
Cardinal Antonelli, Pere Surgeon, Franz Liszt, Gustave Dore, and is now 
engaged on a heroic statue of Governor Samuel J. Kirkwood a commission from 
the state of Iowa, which is to be placed in the rotunda of the National Capitol. 
In 1878 Vinnie Ream married Richard Leveridge Hoxie of the United States 
army. 

HARRIET G. HOSMER. 

This famous American sculptor stands out in strong relief among those 
women of America who have attained distinction in this art. Miss Hosmer was 
born in Watertown, Mass., October 9, 1830. Her mother died when she was 
quite young, and a sister also dying with the mother's disease, consumption, 
Dr. Hosmer determined that Harriet should develop physically before any great 
effort was made toward her education. Her early life was accordingly spent 
in the woods and fields about their home and on the Charles River, which flowed 
near. She grew up like a boy. She was an eager reader and so her education 
was largely of self-made manner and opportunity. In the first school in which 
she was placed her brother-in-law, Nathaniel Hawthorne, was principal, but he 
did not hesitate to write her father, that he could do nothing with her, and she 
was placed in the care of Mrs. Sedgwick, who had a school at Lenox, Berkshire 
County. Mrs. Sedgwick was a woman of great tact and breadth of mind, so she 



762 Part Taken by Women in American History 



soon won Harriet's confidence, and she remained under Mrs. Sedgwick's care for 
three years. In her early youth she had shown a great fondness for modeling 
her pets and treasures of the field, and so was permitted to take up lessons in 
modeling, drawing, and anatomical studies in Boston. She applied to the Boston 
Medical School for a course of study in anatomy, but her admittance was refused 
on account of her sex. Later she gained admission to the Medical College of 
St. Louis, and Professor Macdowell spared no pains to give her every advantage. 
The life-size medallion which she cut of Professor Macdowell on the base of 
his bust done by Clevenger, is treasured up to this day by that college. While 
in St. Louis, she made her home with the family of a former friend and com- 
panion at Lenox, Wayman Crow, who proved a most valued friend, and who 
gave her the order for her first statue when she went to Rome as a student. 
On her return home Dr. Hosmer fitted up a studio for her and she did Canova's 
"Napoleon" in marble for her father. Her next work was an ideal bust of 
Hesper. Then she asked her father to permit her to go to Rome to study, as she 
wished to make this her life work, and on November 12, 1852, Dr. Hosmer and 
she arrived in Europe. She desired especially to become a student for a time 
under John Gibson, the leading English sculptor, and when he saw the photo- 
graphs of her "Hesper," he consented to take her as a pupil, and for seven years 
she worked under his direction and encouragement. She copied the "Cupid" of 
Praxiteles, and "Tasso" from the British Museum. Her first original work was 
"Daphne," then she produced her "Medusa." These were both accepted in Bos- 
ton in 1853, and were much praised by Mr. Gibson. She also had the gratifica- 
tion of receiving words of approval from Rauch, the great Prussian sculptor, 
whose work of the beautiful Queen Louise at Charlottenburg is one of the 
famous pieces of sculpture of modern times. Later she did for Mr. Crow, 
"OEnone," and later "Beatrice Cenci," for the St. Louis Mercantile Library. 
Her father having lost his property and no longer being able to bear the expense 
of her studies, she determined to support herself by her own work. She took 
some modest apartments and disposed of all her luxuries and plunged into her 
work, the results of which have added to her fame. One of her pieces of work 
was entitled "Puck." This she duplicated for many crowned heads and dis- 
tinguished people of many of the Continental countries. She did an exquisite 
figure upon the sarcophagus of the sixteen-year-old daughter of Madam Tal- 
connet, who died in Rome. Her statue of Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra, was con- 
sidered one of her greatest works. It was exhibited in Chicago at the Sanitary 
Fair in behalf of the soldiers, and from its exhibition Miss Hosmer received five 
thousand dollars. While on a visit to this country in i860, she received an order 
from St. Louis for a bronze portrait statue of Missouri's famous statesman, 
Thomas Hart Benton, which was unveiled May 27, 1868, in Lafayette Park by 
Mrs. John C. Fremont, the daughter of Benton. For this work Miss Hosmer 
received the greatest praise and a substantial remuneration of ten thousand 
dollars. Orders now crowded upon her. Her "Sleeping Faun" is an exquisite 
piece of work, and was exhibited at the Dublin Exposition in 1865. Her "Siren 
fountain," executed for Lady Marian Alford, is one of her most artistic produc- 
tions, and for many years prior to her death she was engaged in preparing a 



Women in Professions 763 

golden gateway for Ashridge Hall, England, ordered by Earl Brownlow. She 
did the statue of the beautiful Queen of Naples, for which she received royal 
praise and approval. Harriet Hosmer has placed the name of American women 
high among the sculptors of modern times. Her death in 1908 was a loss to 
the artistic world. 

ELIZABETH NEY. 

One of the famous artists of this country, and a worthy follower of Harriet 
Hosmer, enjoys deserved fame as a sculptor. She studied under Bauch and opened 
a studio after his death in Berlin, where her works received the warmest praise 
and admiration. Some of her more conspicuous works are the statues of 
Mitscherlich, Jakob Grimm, and other celebrities. She was summoned to the 
Royal Court of Hanover, where she did "The Blind King," "Joachim the Vio- 
linist of Arcady," "Stockhausen the Singer," and the gloomy features of the 
great philosopher Schopenhauer, and later a statue of Garibaldi. While in 
Munich, she did much of the ornamentation of the interior of some of the public 
buildings. She executed busts of Liebig and Wohler, which now adorn the 
Polytechnic School of Munich. She did also what was considered by Emperor 
William a remarkable bust of Bismarck. This was accepted in the Paris Exposi- 
tion of 1868, and Mrs. Ney's name is justly placed among American sculptors. 

GERTRUDE WHITNEY. 

This distinguished young sculptress is the daughter of the late Cornelius 
Vanderbilt, and the wife of Harry Payne Whitney, of New York. She studied 
abroad, and has executed a number of marbles and bronzes for public places, 
notably, the fountain for the Pan-American Building, Washington, D. C. 

FLORENCE FREEMAN. 

Born in Boston in 1836; she received her earliest instruction in sculpture 
from Richard S. Greenough. In 1861 she went to Italy with Miss Charlotte 
Cushman, remaining a year in Florence under the instruction of Hiram Powers. 
In 1862 she removed her studio to Rome where she spent the rest of her pro- 
fessional life. Among her most important works are a bust ot "Sandalphon," 
bas-reliefs of Dante and the sculptured chimney piece representing "Children 
and the Yule Log, and Fireside Spirits," which was exhibited at the Centennial 
Exhibition in Philadelphia, 1876 and received honorable mention. 

ENID YANDELL. 

Born in Louisville, Kentucky, October 6, 1870 ; is the daughter of Lunsford 
P. and Louise Elliston Yandell ; educated at Hampton College ; received degree 
of B.A. in Louisville, Ky. ; exhibited at the Paris Salon since 1895, and has 
appeared in all of the current exhibitions of the United States; received Designer's 
Medal at the Chicago World's Fair, where she did a great deal of work for the 



764 Part Taken by Women in American History 



Women's Building; Medal at the Tennessee Centennial, Pan-American Exposi- 
tion, St. Louis Exposition; member of the National Sculpture Society, National 
Arts Club, Municipal Art Society, and National Historical Preservation Society 
of New York City. 

One of the -remarkable features of Miss Yandell's career is the brief period 
of time in which she has made her reputation. Thirteen years ago she was a 
member of the Art Students' League. The most imposing product of Miss 
Yandell's genius is the heroic figure of Athena, which stood in front of the 
reproduction of the Parthenon at the Nashville Exposition. It is the best figure 
ever designed by a woman. 

MISS AVIS HEKKING. 

Born in New York City, daughter of J. A. Hekking, the well-known land- 
scape painter, who came to America at an early age. Miss Hekking's great-great- 
grandfather was sergeant-major under General Putnam, and served through 
the Revolutionary War, distinguishing himself in the battles of Trenton and 
Princeton. Her family are all artists, several of her brothers have won world- 
wide reputations as violoncellists. 

Miss Hekking studied in Paris under Pourtois Debat-Ponson and Blanc ; 
became a pupil of M. Lange. Later she accompanied her parents to Florence, 
Italy, where she worked in her father's studio, painting several portraits and 
historical pictures. In her leisure hours she wrote plays. Of late years she 
has worked steadily at painting and literature and sends, annually, a picture to 
the Fine Arts Exhibition in Florence. 

JULIE RIVE KING. 

Madame Julie Rive King was born October 31, 1857, in Cincinnati. Her 
mother, Mrs. Caroline Rive, was a cultured musician and pianist, being a teacher 
of these arts. At quite an early age, Julie became a remarkable piano player, 
appearing in concerts. After studying in New York she returned to her home 
and created great excitement by her remarkable performances as an artist. In 
1873 she went to Europe to study under Liszt, appearing in public in Leipsic and 
other cities, where the musical world ranked her among the great pianists of the 
day. She won a brilliant triumph in all the great cities of Europe. Owing to 
the sudden death of her father, who was killed in a railway accident, she returned 
to the United States and very soon after this married Frank H. King. She 
made a tour of this country in concert, establishing her reputation as the greatest 
pianist in the United States at that time. In 1884, owing to failure in health 
she retired from the concert stage and devoted her life to teaching. 

MRS. ALOYSIUS LOUIS APFELBECK (MARIE LOUISE BAILEY). 

Was born in Nashville, Tennessee, October 24, 1876. She was the daugh- 
ter of Dr. Patrick H. Bailey. She received from the Shah of Persia, in 1902, 



Women in Professions 765 

the Persian medal for art and science, sharing with Mme. Modjeska the dis- 
tinction of being the only women in the world to receive this honor. She has 
also a medal for art from the Court of Coburg, and the honor of "Imperial 
Chamber Virtuoso" from Austria, and from the Emperor Francis Joseph, the 
Elizabethan medal for Art and Science, and the Golden Order of Merit of the 
Cross and Crown. These distinctions have been rarely conferred upon for- 
eigners. She is the wife of Captain A. L. Apfelbeck, of the Austrian army. 

CAROLINE KEATING REED. 

Born in Nashville, Tenn. Is the daughter of Colonel J. M. 
Keating, a newspaper man of prominence in that city; was a 
pupil of Emile Levy; studied in New York under S. B. Mills 
and Madame Carreno; took lessons from Mrs. Agnes Morgan 
and subsequently from Richard Hoffman and JosefTy; is a suc- 
cessful teacher of music in Memphis ; always giving free lessons 
to one or two pupils, as her contribution to charity and the 
advancement and aid of her own sex; has written a primer on 
technique for beginners. 

JULIA ELIDA DICKERMAN. 

Julia Elida Dickerman, daughter of Charles E. and Ellen Louise Dicker- 
man, was born in Carbondale, Illinois, February 21, 1859. Ln 1869 Miss Katie 
Logan — a relation and adopted daughter of General and Mrs. Logan — who pos- 
sessed a fine soprano voice which had been highly cultivated by the best teachers 
of Philadelphia and New York, came to Carbondale to reside in General Logan's 
family, and at the earnest solicitations of friends, among them Mr. and Mrs. 
Dickerman, gave lessons to a few young girls in vocal and instrumental music. 
Elida Dickerman was one of her pupils. Miss Logan soon discovered that Elida 
Dickerman had musical talents of the highest quality, and was exceedingly proud 
of the progress of her young pupil, who so faithfully and indefatigably mastered 
every lesson she gave her. She discovered that Elida's voice had a wide range 
and if properly trained would win her an enviable reputation. At the age of 
thirteen she was taken to New Haven, Conn., to school, and to study music. 
Here her musical education was pursued until, as a young lady, she returned to 
Southern Illinois to practice her chosen musical profession. As a teacher, soloist 
and organist she has ever since been well known throughout Illinois and the 
Middle West. She married Charles A. Sheppard, a merchant of Carbondale. 

Since the establishment of the Southern Illinois State Normal University, in 
Carbondale, Mrs. Sheppard has had charge of the musical department of the 
University. 



766 Part Taken by Women in American History 



GERALDINE FARRAR. 

Born February 28, 1882, at Melrose, Massachusetts. Is the daughter of 
Sydney and Henrietta Barnes Farrar. Musical education was completed in Paris 
and Berlin. Made her debut at the Royal Opera House in Berlin, October IS, 
1901, as Marguerite in Faust. Has been a member of the Metropolitan Opera 
Company since 1906. 

LILLIAN NORDICA. 

Madame Lillian Nordica, born Lillian Norton, was born in Farmington, 
Maine, and spent her early life in Boston where her family lived, on account 
of the educational advantages for their daughters. Madame Nordica's voice was 
never seriously considered until after the death of her next older sister, Wil- 
helmina. 

On the death of her sister, Madame Nordica's mother transferred her 
interest and ambition to the one whose talent had until then gone unrecognized. 
At the age of thirteen she entered the New England Conservatory of Boston with 
a scholarship. Her teacher, John O'Neill, was so severe and exacting that 
Madame Nordica was the only scholar remaining of the class at the end of the 
four years' course. During this period of study she secured an engagement as 
soloist at the Temple Street Church in Boston. Her first appearance was as 
soloist with Gilmore's band, giving two concerts a day and touring through the 
country. Following this American tour, she went with the band for concerts in 
Ireland and Paris, and by the end of this tour she had saved enough money for 
a course of study in Italy under San Giovanni of Milan, who coached her for 
her debut as Violetta in Verdi's "La Traviata." 

Madame Nordica has always prided herself on her American birth, and 
the affection in which her American admirers have always held her was shown 
in the presentation to her of a magnificent diamond tiara, at the Metropolitan 
Opera House in New York some years ago, as a tribute of affection. 

EMMA WIXON NEVADA. 

Born in 1861, in Nevada City, California. Her maiden name was Emma 
Wixon, and in private life she is known as Mrs. Palmer. Her stage name was 
taken from her native town. She received her education in the schools of Oak- 
land, and San Francisco, Cal., and Austin, Texas. In 1877 she went to Europe to 
study for the operatic stage. In 1880 she accepted an offer from Colonel Maple- 
son, to sing in Italian Opera and made her debut in "La Sonambula," in 
London, England, and was at once ranked with the queens of the operatic stage 
and recognized as a star of the first magnitude. She repeated her triumphs in 
Paris and in a tour in the United States also in Portugal, Spain, and a most 
successful season in Italy. 



Women in Professions 767 



CLARA LOUISE KELLOGG. 

Clara Louise Kellogg was born July 12, 1842, at Sumterville, S. C. Her 
father was the well-known inventor, George Kellogg, and her childhood was 
spent in Birmingham, Conn. In i860 she made her debut in the Academy of 
Music in "Rigoletto," and in 1864 she appeared as Marguerite in Gounod's 
"Faust," making a remarkable success, and was considered the greatest imper- 
sonator of that role ever seen in this country. After this brilliant success Miss 
Kellogg went to London, and appeared at her Majesty's Theatre and at the 
Crystal Palace the same year. In 1868 she toured the United States in concert 
under Max Strakosch. In 1869 she sang Italian Opera in New York City, and 
for three years enjoyed a great triumph. She then organized her own company, 
singing in English. In 1876 she organized another opera company, and appeared 
as Aida and Carmen. After this she again sang in concert throughout the 
country for several years. In 1880 she accepted an engagement in Austria to 
sing in opera, and here she sang in Italian with a company of German singers. 
Later the tour was extended to Russia and she sang with marked success in 
St. Petersburg. She was the first American artist to win recognition in Europe. 
Having amassed quite a fortune on the stage, she retired in 1889. She became 
the wife of Carl Strakosch. 

MME. SELMA KRONOLD. 

Was born in Cracow, Poland. Received her musical education at the Royal 
Conservatory of Music in Leipsic, where she won the Mendelssohn prize, and 
at the age of seventeen was engaged by Anton Seidl to sing Wagnerian roles. 
Is a grand opera singer of note both in Europe and America. In 1904 she 
retired from the stage and organized and founded the Catholic Oratoria Society 
and is to-day a director of this society and of the free vocal classes for men and 
women in connection with it. 

JESSAMINE POLAK (BARONESS VON ELSNER.) 

Was born at Burlington, Iowa, in 1869. Daughter of Baron Hugo Bongen- 
slav von Eisner, member of an ancient, noble family of Silesia, and Amanda 
Kate Dimmett, whose family was among the early settlers of Bloomington, 
Illinois. Baroness Von Eisner has been a concert singer both in this country 
and in Europe. 

MARIE VAN ZANDT. 

Born in Texas, October 8, 1861. Daughter of Mrs. Jennie Van Zandt, the 
well-known singer, whose father was Signor Antonio Blitz. Miss Van Zandt 
was trained by her mother, as she had early displayed strong musical tendencies. 
In 1873 she and her mother went to London, where she studied. Adelina Patti 
took a personal interest in her training. Later she studied in Milan, Italy, and 
made her operatic debut in Turin in 1879. In 1880 she appeared in London in 



768 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Her Majesty's Opera Company, winning success. In 1881 she appeared in Paris 
in the Opera Comique in "Mignon" and sang there for four seasons. She sang 
in many of the principal cities of Europe, enjoying a pronounced musical success 
in her own country and was ranked as one of the foremost sopranos of her time. 
Miss Van Zandt married Petrovich TzcherinofF in 1898, and has now retired 
from the stage. 

ANNIE LOUISE CAREY. 

One of the noted svngers produced by America. She was born in Wayne, 
Maine, October 22, 1842. Daughter of Dr. Nelson Howard and Maria Stock- 
bridge Carey. Studied under Lyman Wheeler of Boston, and Giovanni Corsi, 
Milan, Italy, making her debut in Italian opera in Copenhagen. Was afterward 
a member of the opera company under Strakosch, singing the principal contralto 
roles in grand opera both in America and Europe. In 1882 she married Charles 
Monson Raymond, a banker of New York City, and retired from the stage. 

EMMA ABBOTT. 

Born in Chicago in 1850. Her father being a music teacher encouraged her 
musical gift and gave her lessons on the guitar and in singing. At the age of 
thirteen she taught the guitar with success. Her education was acquired in the public 
schools of Peoria, Illinois. At sixteen she joined the Lombard Concert Company of 
Chicago and traveled with them through Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, but at the 
end of the tour found herself friendless and moneyless. She then undertook a 
tour by herself and with a guitar she started out alone and gave concerts in 
Michigan and other states finally reaching New York City, where she gave con- 
certs in the hotel parlors to meet her expenses, but she failed to gain any notice 
and returned to Chicago discouraged by her failure. She gave a concert in 
Toledo, Ohio, to recuperate her fortune, and at this concert as a guest was Clara 
Louise Kellogg, who, recognizing Miss Abbott's merit, gave her money enough 
to go to New York with a letter to Professor Errani. In 1870 she began her 
lessons under this noted teacher and filled an engagement to sing in the choir 
of Dr. Chapin's church, for which she received fifteen hundred dollars a year. 
In 1872, the congregation of this church raised ten thousand dollars to send her 
to Europe. She went to Milan and studied with San Giovanni, afterwards to 
Paris and studied under Wartel, also with Delle Sadie, making a successful 
debut, and during her stay had gained the friendship of Baroness Rothschild. 
She married Eugene Wetherell, who was a member of Dr. Chapin's church, and 
had followed her to Europe, where they were secretly married. On her return 
to the United States in 1876, she organized an opera company with C. D. Hess, 
appearing in the famous role of Marguerite at the Park Theatre in Brooklyn, 
New York. She gained in public admiration constantly and ultimately amassed a 
large fortune. She is among the first famous American singers, and we can 
well be proud of her as a woman and an artist. She died in Ogden, Utah, 
January 4, 1891. 




Women in Professions 769 



SARAH HERSHEY EDDY. 

Daughter of the late Benjamin and Elizabeth Hershey; was born in Lan- 
caster, Penn., and educated in Philadelr *iia, where she received her musical 
training and made her debut as a singer. She sang for some years in a church 
choir. Her voice breaking down, she devoted herself to the study of the piano 
and in 1867 went to Europe and settled in Berlin, where she studied harmony, 
score-reading, piano playing under Professor Stern, and singing under Miss 
Jennie Mayer and others of the best known teachers and artists of Germany. 

After three years she studied in Italy under some of the best Italian 
masters, both in music and language. Later she went to London where she took 
a course in oratorical work with Madam Sainton-Dolby. In 1871 she returned 
to America, and for several months gave private lessons in New York City, 
when she was called to Pittsburgh to fill the post of professor in the vocal depart- 
ment of a female college. In 1875 she went to Chicago, and with W. S. B. Matthews 
founded the Hershey School of Musical Art. The success of this school 
attracted students from all over the United States. Mr. Clarence Eddy was 
eventually made director of this school and in 1879 he married Miss Sarah 
Hershey. Under their joint management the school continued to prosper until 
the duties became so exacting that both resigned and devoted themselves to 
teaching in private classes. In 1887 Mrs. Eddy was elected a member of the 
Board of Examiners in the Vocal Department of the American College of Music, 
and in 1893 she was made vice-president of the Woman's Musical Congress at 
the World's Fair in Chicago, and was one of the Examining Committee of 
Musical Competition, of which Theodore Thomas was the presiding officer. In 
1895 Mrs. Eddy retired from her profession and has since lived in Paris. 

COUNTESS MARIO VENTURINI. 

Was born in New York City where her father, Edward Otto Stern, a 
naturalized American, was Russian Vice-Consul and a great financier. While 
Vice-Consul, Mr. Stern married Maltide Druilhet, daughter of Jules Antoine and 
Emma A. Druilhet, of New Orleans. Miss Stern's maternal great-grandfather 
was proprietor of St. James Parish, New Orleans. At the beginning of the 
Civil War in 1861, her maternal grandfather, Jules Antoine Druilhet, better 
known as Captain Druilhet, was the youngest captain of the Louisiana volunteers. 
He equipped a regiment of St. James Parish at his own expense and was under 
orders of Jones, Jefferson and Beauregard. 

Madam Druilhet, the mother of Countess Mario Venturini, was an accom- 
plished pianist, and her salon was for many years the musical center of New 
Orleans. Left a widow a few years after her marriage, Mrs. Stern left America 
and went to live in Belgium where her home was the center of the best artists 
of the country. Surrounded by such associations during her childhood, Miss 
Stern early developed artistic tastes which eventually became the ruling passion 
of her youth. Miss Stern made her social debut at the Court of Brussels, where 
she was presented by the United States American Minister, Honorable Bellamy 

49 



7/0 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Storer. Miss Stern gave up her social career to enter the Academie Julien to 
pursue her studies in art. While here she became very much interested in the 
American students, young girls studying art in Paris. On the 9th of November, 
1903, Miss Stern married Count Mario Venturini. 

ETHEL ATWOOD. 

Miss Atwood was born in Fairfield, Maine, September 12, 1870. Is a 
musician of note in orchestral work. In Boston she formed the Fadette Ladies' 
Orchestra, which was soon in such demand that she made this her profession. 
She studied prompting, and is to-day considered one of the best prompters, and 
the only lady prompter in the United States. 

MARGARET RUTHVEN LANG. 

Born in Boston, November 27, 1867. Daughter of Benjamin Johnston 
Lang and Frances Morse Burrage Lang. Was a student of the violin under 
Louis Schmidt, Drechsler and Abel of Munich ; Composition, with Victor Gluth 
of Munich ; Orchestration under Chadwick of Boston and Macdowell. Is a 
composer of music for the pianoforte, solos, songs, choruses and orchestral 
works. Her work, "Dramatic Overture," has been performed by the Boston 
Symphony Orchestra, and her "Witichis" was performed several times in Chicago 
under the leadership of Theodore Thomas. She is one of the most prominent 
musical composers of America. 

Actresses. 
CHARLOTTE CUSHMAN. 

It may be said of Charlotte Cushman that she was one 
of those strenuous, noble souls who would have dignified and 
vitalized, as with the vitality of a man, any calling into which 
it might have pleased Fate to place her, and that she would have 
left the world better for her presence. For this mental perti- 
nacity, as we might call it, we can credit the sturdy Puritan 
stock from which she was descended. The best blood of New 
England, the blood which has made both martyrs and honest, 
hopeless bigots ran through her veins. Her father was a 
respected merchant of Boston, and it was in that city that Char- 
lotte Saunders Cushman was born, July 23, 1816. Her strong- 
est characteristics were her imitative power and her wonderful 



Women in Professions 771 

voice. It was this voice that was soon to aid her in the 
struggle for existence. Her father was unfortunate in busi- 
ness, and Charlotte began the study of music, and subsequently 
sang in a Boston church choir, and she was urged to continue 
the cultivation of her voice and not to waste time in the mere 
drudgery of teaching. And thus it came about that Miss Cush- 
man became the pupil of James G. Maeder (afterwards the 
husband of Clara Fisher), and made her appearance under his 
instruction in April, 1835, as the Countess Almaviva, in the 
"Marriage of Figaro," the performance taking place at the 
Tremont Theatre, and was considered a triumph for Miss 
Cushman. Visions of future operatic achievements filled her 
mind, when suddenly her voice failed, from overtraining, and 
through this apparent misfortune Miss Cushman was led to the 
stage, and through Caldwell, the theatrical manager, of New 
Orleans, she was given a part to appear on the stage. Her 
first appearance was as Lady Macbeth, in a benefit perform- 
ance in that city. Of herself at that time Miss Cushman says: 
"I was a tall, thin, lanky girl, about five feet, six inches in 
height." Her rendition of the part was satisfactory, both to 
the audience and manager. For three years, from September, 
1837, to September, 1840, she was at the Park Theatre, New 
York, playing various parts. This, no doubt, was a fine experi- 
ence for her just at this time, and she came out of this ordeal 
a true actress, who was not afraid to play Romeo, Portia, Lady 
Macbeth, Joan of Arc, Belvidera, in "Venice Preserved," Rox- 
ana, in "The Rival Queens," and many other characters. Her 
greatest achievement has always been believed to be Meg Mer- 
rilies. It was said of her first appearance in this part, "There 
was an uncanny charm, a wealth of picturesqueness and, at the 
same time, a depth of senile feeling in her portraiture that 
stamped it at once with the mark of inspiration." No one who 
ever saw Meg Merrilies will ever forget its terrible effective- 



772 Part Taken by Women in American History 

ness. After leaving Park Theatre, she played male characters 
for some time. It was her professional association with 
Macready during the seasons of 1843 and 1844 that provided 
the stepping-stone for which Miss Cushman had been groping. 
After he witnessed her performance of Lady Macbeth he 
showed a sympathy for this aspiring woman which was of 
inestimable value to her. 

Owing to the encouragement given her by Macready Miss 
-Cushman determined to go to England, and although at the 
time it seemed rash the end justified the risk. One writer says 
of her debut in England: "Since the memorable first appear- 
ance of Edmund Kean, in 18 14, never has there been such a 
debut on the boards of an English theatre." Miss Cushman 
returned to America in 1870, and on November 7, 1874, took 
her farewell of the New York stage in Lady Macbeth, at 
Booth's Theatre. Her last appearance of all as an actress, 
although not as a reader, was made in Boston, May 15, 1875, as 
Lady Macbeth. In the autumn of this year she made her resi- 
dence in Boston, where she passed away on February 18, 1876. 

MAUDE ADAMS. 

Born at Salt Lake City, Utah, November 11, 1872. 
Daughter of Annie Adams, a celebrated actress in the United 
States. She made her first appearance on the stage when but 
an infant of nine months, in "The Lost Child." As a little 
girl she made a great success as Little Schneider in "Fritz," 
with the late J. K. Emmett. She made her first appearance 
on the New York stage in 1888, in "The Paymaster." On 
February 4, 1889, she played Louisa, in "The Highest Bidder," 
and was next engaged for the Bijou Theatre, where she 
appeared March 5, 1889, as the minister's sister, in "A Mid- 
night Bell." In 1890 she played Evangeline at Proctor's 
Twenty- third Street Theatre, and on October 21, 1890, appeared 



Women in Professions 773 

as Dora, in "Men and Women." November 16, 1891, she 
played Nell, in "The Lost Paradise." Her next appearance was 
at Palmer's Theatre as leading lady with John Drew, in 1892, 
making a great success in the part of Suzanne, in "The Masked 
Ball." She continued to play with Mr. Drew until 1897. She 
was promoted to the rank of "star" by Charles Frohman in 
1897, and made her first appearance in New York in that capac- 
ity at the Empire Theatre on September 27, when she appeared 
as Babbie, in "The Little Minister." She has played this part 
many hundred times since. This was followed by Mrs. Hilary, 
in "Mrs. Hilary Regrets," which she played with John Drew. 
At the Empire Theatre, on May 8, 1899, she appeared for the 
first time as Juliet, in "Romeo and Juliet," with great success. 
In 1900 she appeared as the Duke of Reichstadt, in "L'Aiglon," 
and in 1901 as Phoebe Throssell, in "Quality Street," one of her 
greatest successes. This was followed by Pepita, in "The 
Pretty Sister of Jose," and on November 6, 1905, she appeared 
at the Empire Theatre, New York, in what has been one of her 
greatest successes, as Peter Pan, in Barrie's play of that name. 
She played in this for two years, relieved by performances of 
"Quality Street," "L'Aiglon" and "The Little Minister." In 
September, 1907, she commenced another tour with "Peter 
Pan." In 1908 she appeared in "The Jesters." Miss Adams is 
probably the most popular actress on the American stage today. 
"The fountain head of her personality is nun-like and virginal. 
Like an instrument of fine silver, she sounds her pure, rare 
notes in the key of the ideal and celestial, and is content with 
the response which they waken." 

ETHEL BARRYMORE. 

Daughter of the late Maurice Barrymore and Georgie 
Drew-Barrymore, and niece of the well-known actor, John 
Drew. She was born in Philadelphia, August 15, 1879, and 



774 Part Taken by Women in American History 

made her first appearance on the stage on January 25, 1894. 
At the Empire Theatre, New York, during the autumn of 1894 
she played the part of Kate Fennell, in "The Bauble Shop," 
with her uncle, John Drew, in the leading part. She has 
appeared in "The Imprudent Young Couple," "The Squire of 
Dames," Priscilla, in "Rosemary," and on May 15, 1897, made 
her debut in England as Miss Kittridge, in "Secret Service," 
with W. H. Gillette. She was then engaged by the late Sir 
Henry Irving for the Lyceum Company, going on a tour with 
this company, playing the part of Annette, in "The Bells." On 
her return to London she appeared at the Lyceum, January 1, 
1896, as Euphrosine, in "Peter the Great." She then returned 
to America, and her next appearance was at the Garrick The- 
atre, October 24, 1898, as Madeleine, in "Catherine," with 
Annie Russell. She appeared later in "His Excellency, the 
Governor," and was promoted to the rank of "star" by Charles 
Frohman, making her first appearance as such in "Captain 
Jinks of the Horse Marines." Since then she has appeared as 
Angela Muir, in "A Country Mouse" ; Kate Curtis, in "Cousin 
Kate" ; Sunday, in the play of that name ; Gwendolyn Cobb, in 
"The Painful Predicament of Sherlock Holes"; Nora Helmer, 
in "A Doll's House"; Mrs. Grey, in "Alice Sit-by-the-Fire," and 
in 1894 returned to London, and appeared as Cynthia, in a play 
by that name, by H. H. Davies. This was followed by another 
season of "Alice Sit-by-the-Fire," "Captain Jinks of the Horse 
Marines," Mrs. Jones, in "The Silver Box," and in September, 
1907, she started on a tour with a new play entitled "Her 
Sister," written by Clyde Fitch. She is the wife of R. Griswold 
Colt. 

MINNIE MADDERN FISKE. 

Was born in New Orleans December 19, 1865. She was 
educated in the convents of Cincinnati and St. Louis. Has been 



Women in Professions 775 

on the stage practically all her life, playing under her maiden 
name of Minnie Maddern, achieving great success all over the 
United States. She first appeared at the early age of three as 
the Duke of York, in "Richard III"; at the age of fifteen was 
a "star." She made her first appearance on the New York 
stage at Wallack's Theatre, July II, 1870, in the part of Little 
Fritz, in "Fritz, Our German Cousin," with the late J. K. 
Emmett. In 1871 she appeared in "Hunted Down," at Niblo's 
Garden. Since then she has played in "Chicago Before the 
Fire," "King John," "Fogg's Ferry," "Caprice," "In Spite of 
All" and "Featherbrain." In 1890 she left the stage on the 
occasion of her marriage with Harrison Grey Fiske, but after 
an absence of four years she appeared in 1894 as the heroine, in 
"Hester Crewe," a play written by her husband. She has 
played the part of Nora Helmer, in "A Doll's House," with 
great success; has appeared in "Frou-Frou," "The Queen of 
Liars" and her own play, "A Light From St. Agnes." One of 
her greatest successes was as Tess, in "Tess of the D'Urber- 
villes." Since 1898 she has appeared in "A Bit of Old Chel- 
sea," "Love Finds the Way," "Little Italy" and "Becky Sharp." 
At the Manhattan Theatre, of which her husband became the 
lessee and manager, she appeared in 1901 in "Miranda of the 
Balcony" and "The Unwelcome Mrs. Hatch." Her perform- 
ance of Mary, in "Mary of Magdala," created a profound 
impression. In 1906 she appeared in a new play, "The 
New York Idea," which was one of Mrs. Fiske's greatest suc- 
cesses. In 1907 she appeared as Rebecca West, in Ibsen's 
"Rosmersholm." Mrs. Fiske is a remarkably gifted woman. 
Not only is she a fine actress, but she is, as well, a stage man- 
ager, and has directed the production of most of the plays pro- 
duced at the Manhattan Theatre during her husband's tenancy. 
She is also the author of the following plays : "The Rose," "A 
Light From St. Agnes," "The Eyes of the Heart," and "Not 



yy6 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Guilty." She has also collaborated with her husband in "Fon- 
tenelle." 

MAXINE ELLIOTT. 

Was born at Rockland, Maine, February 5, 1871. She was 
educated at the Notre Dame Academy, Roxbury, Mass., and 
made her first appearance on the stage at Palmer's Theatre, 
New York, November 10, 1S90, as Felicia Umfraville, in "The 
Middleman," with E. S. Willard, when Mr. Willard made his 
debut on the American stage. She also played with him in 
"John Needham's Double," taking the part of Virginia Fleet- 
wood." She has appeared in "A Fool's Paradise," "Judah," 
"The Professor's Love Story," "The Prodigal Daughter," 
"The Voyage of Suzette," "Sister Mary," "London Assur- 
ance," "Diplomacy," "A Woman of No Importance," and "For- 
get-Me-Not," and in January, 1895, sne was a member of the 
late Augustin Daly's Company, at the Daly Theatre, in New 
York, in "The Heart of Ruby," "The Two Gentlemen of 
Verona," "Nancy and Company," "The Honeymoon," "A Mid- 
summer Night's Dream," and "The Two Escutcheons." Her 
first appearance in London was made at the Daly Theatre, July 
2, 1895, as Sylvia in "The Two Gentlemen of Verona"; and 
she also played during this engagement in "A Midsummer 
Night's Dream". In 1896, she appeared at the Fifth Avenue 
Theatre as Eleanor Cuthbert in "A House of Cards." In 1896 
she was married to Nat Goodwin, and accompanied him on a 
tour to Australia. She appeared in "A Gilded Fool," "An 
American Citizen," "In Mizzoura," "Nathan Hale," and "The 
Cowboy and the Lady." She appeared at the Duke of York's 
Theatre, London, June 5, 1899, in the last mentioned part. At 
the Knickerbocker Theatre, New York, in 1900, she appeared 
in "When We W T ere Twenty-one," and in 1901, as Portia in 
"The Merchant of Venice." At the Comedv Theatre, London, 



Women in Professions yyy 



September, 1901, she played in "When We Were Twenty-one." 
In 1902, she toured the United States in "The Altar of Friend- 
ship." In 1903, she appeared as a "star" for the first time under 
the management of Charles B. Dillingham, in "Her Own Way," 
which after touring several cities in the United States was 
produced at the Lyric Theatre, London, in 1905. In August, 
1905, she played "Jo" Sheldon in "Her Great Match," and was 
seen at the Criterion in this part later. In 1907, she again 
appeared in London at the Lyric Theatre as Mary Hamilton 
in "Under the Greenwood Tree," returning to the United States 
and appearing at the Garrick Theatre, December 25, 1907. 

GERTRUDE ELLIOTT. 

Is the sister of Maxine Elliott, and the wife of Johnston Forbes-Robertson, 
the great English actor. She made her first appearance in 1894 with Rose 
Coghlan's company, in "A Woman of No Importance." She played with her 
sister for some time and made her first appearance on the London stage in "The 
Cowboy and the Lady" at the Duke of York's Theatre, June 5, 1899. In 1900 
she was engaged by Forbes-Robertson, and played Ophelia in "Hamlet," Carrot 
in the play of that name, and Judith Anderson in "The Devil's Disciple." On 
December 22, 1900, she married Forbes-Robertson, and since then has played in 
London with the exception of a brief tour in the United States in 1906. Since 
that time she has played with her husband at the Savoy Theatre, London. 

MARGARET MATHER. 

Was born in Tilbury, near Montreal, Canada, in 1862, but is an American 
by adoption. She is of Scotch descent. In 1868 her family left Canada and settled 
in Detroit, Michigan. Later Margaret was sent to New York to live with one 
of her brothers, who assumed charge of her education. In 1880, this brother 
died, and she was left dependent upon her own efforts. This opened up an 
opportunity for her to satisfy her desire to go upon the stage and she made her 
debut as Cordelia in "King Lear" with such marked success that she attracted 
the attention of Manager J. M. Hill, who made a contract with her for six years' 
engagement, opening as Juliet, August, 1882, in a theatre in Chicago, scoring 
an immediate success. She then played in all the principal cities of the United 
States appearing in the Union Square Theatre in New York City in her famous 
role of Juliet. Her repertoire includes, Rosalind, Imogene, Lady Macbeth, Leah, 
Julia, Peg Woffington, Mary Stuart, Gilbert's Gretchen, Pauline, Julianna, Barbie's 
Joan of Arc, Nance Oldfield, Medea, and many other leading parts. In 1887 she 



yyS> Part Taken by Women in American History 

became the wife of Emil Harberkorn, leader of the Union Square Theatre 
orchestra. 

JULIA MARLOWE. 

Was born in the Village of Caldbeck, England, in 1865. She was christened 
Sarah Frances Frost. Though her family name was Brough, on entering the 
theatrical profession she took the name of Julia Marlowe. In 1872 her family 
came to the United States and settled in Kansas, finally removing to Cincinnati, 
where Miss Marlowe received her early education in the public schools. Her 
first appearance on the stage was in 1874, when but nine years of age in 
"Pinafore." This was followed by children's parts in "Rip Van Winkle," and in 
1879 she made a tour with a company headed by a Miss Dowe. Owing to the 
illness of a member of this company, she was called upon unexpectedly to take 
the part of a page in "Romeo and Juliet," which she did with such marked 
indications of talent that for the next four years she was placed under Miss 
Dowe for study. In October, 1887, she made her debut in New York City as 
Parthenia in "Ingomar" winning a triumph at once. She afterwards appeared as 
Viola in "Twelfth Night" and her success soon led her to enter the ranks as a 
star and she made a tour, appearing in "Ingomar," "Romeo and Juliet," "Twelfth 
Night," "As You Like It," "The Lady of Lyons," and the "Hunchback," taking 
the leading female roles in these plays. Ill health compelled her retirement for 
several years, but since her recovery she has continued her successes. Her art 
is of a high standard. She appears in her various roles true to life and without 
visible effort. In 1894 she married Robert Taber, her leading man, and for a 
number of years they managed together their own company. Julia Marlowe's 
greatest work has been her "Juliet," being recognized as the best "Juliet" on the 
stage to-day. 

MRS. D. P. BOWERS. 

Mrs. Bowers, whose maiden name was Crocker, was born in Stamford, 
Connecticut, March 12, 1830. She was the daughter of William A. Crocker, 
an eminent Episcopal clergyman, who died when Mrs. Bowers was six 
years of age. Her first appearance took place at the Park Theatre in July, 1846, 
as Amanthis, and while playing this engagement she married David P. Bowers, 
March 4. 1847. After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Bowers went to Baltimore, 
where they remained for nearly four years. March 11, 1847, Mrs. Bowers 
appeared in Philadelphia as Donna Victoria in "A Bold Stroke for a Husband," 
at the Walnut Street Theatre. In 1848 she made her first appearance as Pauline 
in "The Lady of Lyons," in the Arch Street Theatre, remaining here for many 
years, a great popular favorite. In 1857 her husband died. Mrs. Bowers retired 
from the stage for some time but appeared again in Philadelphia, December 19, 
1857, at the old Walnut Street Theatre. March 4, 1859, she leased the Academy 
of Music, in Philadelphia, and played a short season. Soon after this she 
married Dr. Brown, of Baltimore, who died in 1867. Mrs. Bowers made her 
debut in England, September, 1861, as Julia in "The Hunchback," in Sadler's 



Women in Professions 779 

Wells Theatre, and made a wonderful impression. She soon succeeded Mrs. 
Charles Young at the Lyceum and was pronounced a decided acquisition to the 
London stage. She returned to this country August 17, 1863, and played at the 
Winter Garden, New York. 

MARY GARDEN. 

Was reared in Chicago, Illinois. Completed her musical education in 
Paris, making her debut there in 1891. Is now one of the great operatic stars 
of the present day. She is recognized by critics, universally, as second to no 
one on the operatic stage in the dramatic rendition of the parts she has taken. 

CLARA MORRIS. 

Was born March 17, 1850, in Cleveland, Ohio. Her mother was a native 
of Ohio, and her father, of Canada. Her father died when she was quite an 
infant, leaving the mother to support a family of young children. Clara under- 
took to support herself by caring for young children in families. Mr. Ellsler, 
the theatrical manager, engaged her to do miscellaneous child work about his 
theatre when but eleven years old. She soon attracted attention by her intensity 
in her work and gradually climbed the ladder from her first occupation to the 
rank of leading lady. In 1868-1869 she played a successful season in Cincinnati, 
and at its close went to New York City and accepted an offer of forty dollars 
a week from Augustin Daly, making her debut in that city as Anne Sylvester in 
"Man and Wife." She has appeared in many other of the more exacting emotional 
characters and in each and all she is a finished, powerful, perfect and impassioned 
actress. Her own sufferings, from an incurable spinal malady, have made her 
success all the more remarkable. In 1874 she became the wife of Frederick C. 
Harriott, but always retained her maiden name, "Clara Morris," on the stage. 
Among her most distinct successes were "Camille," "Miss Multon," "The New 
Magdalen," "L'Article 47" and "Renee." 

MARGARET MARY ANGLIN. 

Was born April 3, 1876, in Ottawa, Canada, and is the daughter of Honor- 
able T. W. Anglin, formerly speaker of the Canadian House of Commons. She 
was educated at convents in Toronto and Montreal, and received her dramatic 
training from the Empire School of Dramatic Acting, in New York City, and in 
1894 made her debut on the stage in "Shenandoah." She has played leading 
parts in the Shakespearean dramas, has acted with Sothern, Richard Mansfield, 
in "Cyrano de Bergerac," her latest effort was in "The Awakening of Helena 
Richie." 

ELEANOR ELSIE ROBSON BELMONT.. 

Came to America when a child from England. She entered upon her 
professional career when but eighteen years of age, appearing as Marjory Knox 



V 



780 Part Taken by Women in American History 

in "Men and Women." Her greatest success has been Zangwill's plays, "Merely 
Mary Ann/' and later she added to this by her performance in "The Dawn of 
a To-morrow." On February 12, 1910, she married August Belmont. 

MAUDE FEALEY (MRS. LOUIS E. SHERWIN.) 

Was born in Memphis, Tennessee, March 4, 1886. Her mother was on the 
stage for many years, and now conducts the Tabor School of Acting in Denver, 
Colorado. Augustin Daly discovered Miss Fealey. He made a five years' 
engagement with her. She played as leading lady with William Gillette for 
many years. While in England with this company, E. S. Willard made an 
engagement with her and she played in his company for some time. She has 
played with R. N. Johnson, but the most important engagement of her career 
was as leading lady with Sir Henry Irving, playing the roles formerly taken by 
Ellen Terry. In 1907 Miss Fealey married Louis E. Sherwin, dramatic critic of 
the Denver Republican, 

GRACE KIMBALL (MRS. M. D. McGUIRE.) 

Was born in Detroit, February 18, 1870. Has played in one of Frohman's 
companies in the Lyceum Theatre, the Garden Theatre, Madison Square, and 
several of the leading New York companies. In 1897 she married M. D. McGuire, 
a prominent New Yorker and retired from the stage temporarily. 

MABEL TALIAFERRO (MRS. FREDERICK W. THOMPSON.) 

Was born in May, 1887, in New York City. Entered upon her stage career 
when a mere child. Has played in various well-known companies, and created 
the role of Lovey Mary in "Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch." Miss Taliaferro 
married F. W. Thompson, a theatrical manager, in October, 1906, and has since 
starred in her own company. 

CORINNE KIMBALL. 

Miss Corinne Kimball was born in 1873 in Boston, Massachusetts. She 
was well known by her stage name of "Corinne." She was the daughter of Mrs. 
Jennie Kimball, who was herself an actress and theatrical manager. Her first 
appearance on the stage was at a baby show held in Horticultural Hall, in Boston. 
She met with success, and exhibiting marked talent she obtained an engagement 
in light opera, singing in the "Mascot," "Olivet," "The Chimes of Normandy" 
and "The Mikado. 

JENNIE KIMBALL. 

Mrs. Jennie Kimball was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on the 23rd of 
June, 1851. She appeared first at the Boston Theatre in 1865. After the success 



Women in Professions 781 

made by her daughter Corinne in "Pinafore," Mrs. Kimball retired from the 
stage herself and became her manager. She was interested in several theatres. 
She was a woman of remarkable business ability. She personally superintended 
all of the work connected with the theatre and the companies in which she was 
interested ; wrote her own advertising matter and superintended the work of 
the scenic artists, occupying a unique position among women. 

SIBYL SANDERSON. 

Was born in 1865 in Sacramento. She was the daughter of the late Judge 
S. W. Sanderson, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of California. In 1884 
she went to Europe to study and at different times renewed her musical studies 
under several of the great teachers. Massenet predicted a brilliant career for 
her. She made her debut February 6, 1888, in Amsterdam. She was selected by 
Massenet to create the role of Esclairmonde and sang that opera one hundred 
times the first year. In November, 1890, she made her debut in Massenet's "Mig- 
non" in Brussels, appearing in London, England, in 1891. She ranked with the 
greatest singers, and was always a great favorite with the American public. She 
died in 1903. 

MARY ANDERSON NAVARRO. 

Madame Navarro is one of the most accomplished 
actresses and gifted women America has ever produced. She 
was born in Sacramento, California, July 28, 1859. Her maiden 
name was Mary Antoinette Anderson. Her parents were of 
foreign descent. She soon decided to make the stage her 
profession, and neither the discouragements of her parents or 
friends deterred her from her purpose. On witnessing the 
performance of Edwin Booth as "Richard the Third," she gave 
a repetition of this in her own home, which so impressed her 
parents that a private performance was given before her friends, 
and here she achieved her first success. She was a student at 
the Ursuline Convent, in Louisville, and was given private 
lessons in music, dancing and literature with a view of train- 
ing her for her dramatic career. Charlotte Cushman advised 
her to study under Vanderhoff, in New York, and ten lessons 
from this dramatic teacher were her only real training; the 
rest she accomplished for herself, which makes her the more 



782 Part Taken by Women in American History 

notable. On the 27th of November, 1875, she made her first 
appearance as Juliet, in the Macaulay Theatre, Louisville, 
Kentucky. She won a most pronounced success. 

After this she had no more difficulties to overcome. She 
was welcomed everywhere, and everyone was now willing to 
acknowledge her great talent and natural genius as an actress. 
Her dignity and high standard as a woman, gave her a most 
enviable social position, which she has held all through her 
life. In 1879 she made her first trip to Europe. In 1880 she 
received an offer to play at the Drury Lane Theatre, London, 
but declined it fearing she was not quite equal, as yet, to such 
heights of fame, also refusing an engagement at the London 
Lyceum, but in 1885 she accepted an offer at the Lyceum in 
"Parthenia." Her triumph was instantaneous. From this 
time on during her entire stage career she knew nothing but 
success until her name was placed at the head of American 
actresses of her day. In 1889 she was obliged to retire from 
the stage owing to a severe illness, and in 1890 withdrew 
permanently to the sincere regret of every American citizen. 
Soon afterward she married M. Antonio Navarro, a citizen 
of New York. They have lived, ever since their marriage, in 
England, where her social position is second to none. 

ADA c rehan. 

Miss Rehan is one of the most noted artists of her adopted country. All 
of her honors having been earned in the United States, Americans rank 
her among the distinguished artists of this country. Miss Rehan was born in 
Limerick, Ireland, April 22, 1859. Her name is Crehan and was accidentally mis- 
spelled in a telegram, when she adopted it as her stage name, and by it she 
will ever be known. Her parents came to the United States in 1864, and settled 
in Brooklyn, where Ada was a pupil of the common schools of that city until 
fourteen years of age. At this time a company was playing Byron's "Across the 
Continent" in Newark, New Jersey, and Ada was asked to take the place of one 
of the members of the company who was ill. This was the beginning of her 
professional career, as her family decided after this performance to have her 



Women in Professions 783 

study for the stage. In 1874 she played in "Thoroughbred" in New York, hardly 
winning notice. She then played in support of Edwin Booth, Adelaide Neilson, 
John McCullough, Mrs. D. P. Powers, John T. Raymond and Lawrence Barrett, 
playing Ophelia, Desdemona, Celia, Olivia and other Shakespearean roles. In 

1878 while she was playing in "Katherine and Petruchio," in the city of Albany, 
New York, Augustin Daly met her and asked her to join his company, and in 

1879 she made her first appearance in Daly's Theatre as Nellie Beers in "Love's 
Young Dream" and Lou Ten Eyck in "Divorce." She immediately took the 
position of leading lady, which she held until Daly's death. In 1888 the Daly 
Company went to England, where she achieved the most remarkable success on 
record, it is stated, in London. She ranks as one of the most intelligent and 
talented comedians of the age. Her best work has been in the female Shakes- 
pearian roles. 

ALICE NIELSEN. 

Was born in Nashville, Tennessee. Daughter of Erasmus I. and Sarah 

A. Nielsen. Received her musical education in San Francisco where she sang 
later in one of the local theatres, her first appearance being at Oakland, Cali- 
fornia, as Yum Yum in "The Mikado." In 1896 she attracted the attention of the 
"Bostonians" then playing in San Francisco, and was engaged by them, taking 
the role of Annabel in "Robin Hood." Has sung nearly all the principal parts 
which this opera company gave : "Maid Marion," "The Serenade," "The Fortune 
Teller," and starred in "The Fortune Teller." Later she studied for grand opera 
in Rome, and has sung in several grand operas both in Europe, and this country, 
touring the United States in 1906- 1907 with the Boston Opera Company. 

ROSE MELVILLE SMOCK. 

Was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, January 7, 1873. Daughter of Rev. Jacob 
and Caroline Puett Smock. Created the role of Sis Hopkins in 1893, and has 
starred in this character in her own company since 1899. 

AGNES BOOTH. 

Was born in Sydney, Australia, October 4, 1846. Daughter of Captain Land 
and Sara Rookes. Commenced her stage career as a dancer when but a small 
child. Her first husband was Harry Perry, an American actor who died in 1863. 
Her second was Junius Booth who died in 1883, and later she married John 

B. Shoeffel. She made her first appearance in New York in 1865, and soon 
thereafter became the leading lady in the company of Edwin Forrest. 

GENEVIEVE WARD. 

Was born March 27, 1833, in New York. She is the granddaughter of Gideon 
Lee. Genevieve Ward was her stage name. Her maiden name was Lucia 
Geneviva Teresa. Her fine voice attracted the attention of Rossini who trained 



784 Part Taken by Women in American History 

her in music. She had a most successful career as a singer, and having lost her 
voice through diphtheria she won equal success as an actress. In 1882 she 
started in a tour of the world. Later became manager of the Lyceum Theatre, 
London, and in 1888 she retired from the stage. 

Lecturers. 

NANCY H. ADSIT. 

Mrs. Adsit was born in Palerma, New York, May 21, 
1825. She was the first woman to enter the insurance field in 
this country, and, as far as is known, in the world. She was 
possessed of an unusual combination in a woman — great 
literary ability and excellent business sense. At the age of 
thirteen she assumed charge of her own affairs and her future 
education. Some of her early writings aroused great 
antagonism, and her identity was withheld by her editor and 
not until many years later did she acknowledge their authorship. 
On the death of her husband, Charles Davenport Adsit, of 
Buffalo, in 1873, Mrs. Adsit assumed entire charge of his 
business and general insurance agency. After a most successful 
career in this line, she sold the business and resumed her writ- 
ing. She contributed to the London Art Journals, writing a 
most interesting series of articles for them on "The Black and 
White in Art" or "Etching and Engraving." This brought 
demands from her friends for lectures, or parlor talks, on art, 
and she began the course of classes for study. For many years 
she has delivered these lectures in the principal cities of the 
United States and her name is prominently connected with art 
education both in this country and abroad. 

JANET ELIZABETH RICHARDS. 

Is a lecturer on current topics. Born at Granville, Ohio; is 
the daughter of William and Helen Ralston Richards. Her 



Women in Professions 785 

mother was a cousin of Judge Salmon P. Chase. Was educated 
at the Convent of the Sacred Heart, Torresdale, Pennsylvania. 
Was a writer on the Washington Post; and in 1895, she 
organized classes on current topics to which she lectures every 
Monday morning in Washington, D. C, also has large 
classes in New York, Philadelphia, Richmond and other cities. 
She lectures also on travel and literature. Her class in Wash- 
ington is composed of the wives of the officials and social 
leaders. She is an able, gifted woman who has taken a con- 
spicuous part in the literary life and field of the Capital city, 
and in the patriotic societies, being a charter member of the 
Daughters of the American Revolution, one of the members of 
the Women's League, National Geographic Society, and 
Audubon Society. She was at The Hague during the Peace 
Conference in 1907. Contributor to the magazines, and an 
active member of the Christ Child Society. 

EMILY MULKIN BISHOP. 

Mrs. Bishop was born in Forestville, New York, Novem- 
ber 3, 1858. After leaving school she taught, as many others 
have done, before starting on her professional career. In 1884 
she became the wife of Coleman A. Bishop, editor of Judge, 
and later they went to Black Hills, South Dakota, to live. She 
was made superintendent of the public schools at Rapid City, 
South Dakota, the first woman to be so honored in that 
territory. She had made the study of Delsarte a specialty and 
became a lecturer on that subject and was invited to establish 
a Delsarte department in the Chautauqua assemblage of New 
York, which she has made a great success. Out of this has 
grown the demand for her to lecture on this subject before 
the public. She has published a book, "American Delsarte Cul- 
ture" — and is to-day recognized as one of the noted editors and 
authors on this subject in the United States. 



786 Part Taken by Women in American History 



ELIZABETH SHELBY KINKEAD. 

Was born in Fayette County, Kentucky. Daughter of Judge William B. 
and Elizabeth De La Fontaine Shelby Kinkead. Lecturer before the Chautauqua 
Assemblies, and on literature before the State College of Kentucky, and author 
of "The History of Kentucky." 



MRS. E. H. STEVENS. 

Mrs. E. H. Stevens was born in Louisiana. Her maiden 
name was Herbert. For some years she was librarian of the 
Agriculture Department, of Washington. She is the widow 
of a graduate of West Point. For many years she occupied 
the position of translator at the desk known as ''Scientific 
Translations" in the Patent Office. During her occupancy of 
the different positions she has held under the government, she 
has frequently contributed to the press. 

MINERVA PARKER NICHOLS. 

Was born May 14, 1863, in Chicago, is a descendant of 
John Doane who landed in Plymouth, in 1630, and took an 
active part in the government of the colony. Seth A. Doane, 
the grandfather of Mrs. Nichols was an architect and went to 
Chicago when it was an outpost and trading settlement among 
the Indians. Her father, John W. Doane, died in Murfrees- 
borough, Tennessee, during the Civil W T ar, being a member of 
an Illinois Volunteer Regiment. Being obliged to support 
herself, she gave her time to the cultivation of her talent for 
architecture, which she had inherited from her grandfather. 
She studied modeling under John Boyle, and finally entered an 
architect's office as draftsman. Later she built the Woman's 
New Century Club, in Philadelphia. Besides her practical work 
in designing houses, she has delivered in the School of Design, 
in Philadelphia, a course of lectures on Historic Ornament and 



Women in Professions 787 

Classic Architecture. Among some of her important commis- 
sions was one for the designing of the International Club 
House, known as the Queen Isabella Pavilion, at the World's 
Columbian Exposition, Chicago, in 1893. She was among the 
first women to enter the field of architecture and some of the 
homes in the suburbs of Philadelphia attest to her ability 
and talent in this line. In December, 1899, she married Rev. 
William J. Nichols, a Unitarian clergyman. 

LOUISE BETHUNE. 

Mrs. Bethune was born in Waterloo, New York, in 1856. 
Her mother's family came to Massachusetts in 1640. Her 
father's ancestors were Huguenot refugees. In 1874 Miss 
Blanchard graduated from the Buffalo High School, and her 
attention having been attracted to the study of architecture, 
she soon took this up seriously. She traveled and studied and 
taught for two years, before taking the architectural course in 
Cornell University. In 1876 the offer of a position as draftsman 
made her relinquish her intention of college study, as she found 
a most valuable library in her employer's office which was at 
her service. In 1881 she was able to open her own office and 
thus became the first woman architect in the United States. 
The partnership formed with Robert A. Bethune resulted in 
her marriage to him, and they have continued their work 
together, having erected many public buildings in Buffalo and 
other cities. She is a member of the Western Association of 
Architects, and is the only woman member of the American 
Institute of Architects. In 1886 she organized the Buffalo 
Society of Architects, out of which has grown the Western 
New York Association. She and her husband were very active 
in securing the passage of the Architects' Licensing Bill, which 
was intended to enforce a rigid preliminary examination and 



788 Part Taken by Women in American History 

to place the profession on a higher plane. Since Mrs. Bethune 
entered this profession as its woman pioneer, there have been 
several others who have taken it up and gained distinction. 

LOUISA DOW BENTON. 

Mrs. Benton was born in Portland, Maine, March 23, 1831, 
and is the daughter of Neal Dow, and Cornelia Durant May- 
nard. On December 12, i860, she married Jacob Benton, of 
Lancaster, New Hampshire, who was later a member of 
Congress, and they spent four years of their life in Washing- 
ton, D. C. She became a confirmed invalid from rheumatism, 
being unable to walk, and lost almost the entire use of her hands, 
but possessed such fortitiude and courage that even this did not 
prevent her from study, and she learned to read Italian, 
Spanish, German, Greek, and Russian without any instruction. 
Then she took up Volapuk, and is well-known as a Volapiik 
scholar. Has carried on correspondence with several linguists 
in Europe and associations for the spreading of this language. 

FRANCES BENJAMIN JOHNSTON. 

Miss Johnston has made a reputation for herself in photog- 
raphy and photographic illustrations, particularly of public 
places and men and women prominent in official and social life 
of Washington ; has done work for the railroads in illustrating 
folders of scenery in the West and Northwest. Born at Graf- 
ton, West Virginia, January 15, 1864; daughter of Anderson 
D. and Frances Benjamin Johnston; studied in Paris at the 
Julien Academy; also charter member of the Washington, D. C. 
Art Students' League; exhibited at the Chicago World's Fair, 
Paris Exposition, Pan-American Exposition, St. Louis Exposi- 
tion; received gold medal at the Paris Exposition in 1900; was 



Women in Professions 789 

decorated by the French Academy in 1904; is a member of the 
Photo Club of Paris, New York Camera Club and the Washing- 
ton Camera Club. 



Playwrights. 

At the organization of the Women's Playwright Club, of 
New York City, there were forty women eligible for admission. 
This vocation for women is especially an American institution. 
In no other country are there so many who have obtained 
recognition in a field where the compensation is the same for 
women as for men. The New Theatre when opened made its 
bow to the public with a play from the pen of an American 
woman. 

Mary Hunter Austin, the newest woman dramatist, has 
spent the greater part of her life in the West, and many of 
her plays deal with the border life. 

Margaret Mayo is another successful playwright, who 
was the author of "Baby Mine" and "Polly of the Circus," 
two of the biggest New York successes. In private life Miss 
Mayo is the wife of Edgar Selwyn, a successful writer and 
playwright of distinction. He is the author of "The Country 
Boy." 

Kate Douglas Wiggin, whose writings we are all familiar 
with, dramatized her "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm." 

Charlotte Thompson made a most successful dramatization 
of "The Awakening of Helena Richie," in which Margaret 
Anglin starred. 

Another successful playwright is the author of "The Nest 
Egg" — Anne Caldwell, who has been an actress, opera singer, 
musician, composer, magazine and newspaper writer. 

The music of "The Top of the World" is her composition, 
position. 



790 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Another talented writer of plays is Rida Johnson Young, 
who in five years has successfully produced "Brown of Har- 
vard," 'The Boys of Company B," "Glorious Betsey," "The 
Lottery Man," as well as two plays for Chauncey Olcott. One 
of the New York successes, "Naughty Marietta," was written 
by her, Victor Herbert writing the music. Mrs. Young is 
the wife of Mr. James Young, leading man, who has appeared 
with E. H. Sothern. He was formerly a newspaper man on 
the staff of a daily newspaper of Baltimore, Md. Mrs. Young 
before her marriage was Rida Johnson. 

Lottie Blair Parker is another successful professional 
woman, whose husband, Harry Doel Parker, attends entirely 
to the production and the leasing of her plays. "Way Down 
East," written in 1897, is still being played throughout the 
country. "Under Southern Skies" is another one from her pen. 
Among others by this same author are "A War Correspondent," 
"The Lights of Home," a dramatization of "The Redemption 
of David Corson," a number of one-act plays, and a novel 
entitled "Homespun." 

Miss Alice Ives, the author of "The Village Postmaster," 
has done every phase of literary work, art criticisms, music 
notes, deep articles for the Forum and similar magazines, as 
well as some light verse. She has written ten plays. "The 
Village Postmaster" was on the road for ten successive seasons. 
Miss Ives wrote a clever one-act play, a satire on women's clubs, 
introducing all the famous women characters of popular plays. 
She is the first vice-president of the Society of Women 
Dramatists, to which all these playwrights belong. 

The pioneer playwright of her sex is Miss Martha Morton. 
Some dozen years ago, the New York World offered prizes for 
the cleverest scenarios to be submitted under assumed names. 
It was a general surprise when a woman secured one of the 
prizes. This successful person was Miss Morton. Some of the 



Women in Professions 791 

most distinguished American actors have appeared in her plays, 
the best known of which are, "Brother John," "His Wife's 
Father," and "A Bachelor's Romance." Miss Morton was the 
first vice-president of the Society of Dramatic Authors. Off the 
stage she is Mrs. Herman Conheim, and is one of the most 
popular dramatists in New York City. 

Another successful prize winner, who ultimately made this 
her profession, was Mrs. Martha Fletcher Bellinger, a graduate 
of Mount Holyoke. The title of her scenario was "A Woman's 
Sphere." 

Mrs. Mary Rider Mechtold, also a college woman and suc- 
cessful winner of newspaper prizes, wrote her first plays when 
she was still a student at the Chicago University. She is the 
author of a clever play, "The Little Lady." 

The thousand-dollar prize offered by the Shakespeare 
Memorial Theatre in England a year or two ago was won by 
an American woman, Josephine Preston Peabody. The contest 
for the best play in English verse dealing with a romantic 
subject was won by a graduate of Radcliffe. It is said that 
this college has long been famous for its unusually clever plays, 
in which its students take part. 

Beulah Dix is also a graduate of Radcliffe. She was 
author of "Hugh Gwyeth." She collaborated with Evelyn 
Greenleaf in a number of successful plays, "The Rose o' Ply- 
mouth Town," and "The Road to Yesterday." 

Another Radcliffe graduate, who has become a successful 
playwright, is Agnes Morgan, who wrote "When Two Write 
History." 

Another is Rebecca Lane Hooper. Miss Hooper not only 
stages these performances herself, but has often played comedy 
roles. 

The exception to the rule of directors for theatrical per- 
formances, which are usually men, is Miss Edith Ellis, author 



792 Part Taken by Women in American History 

of "Mary Jane's Pa," one of the most successful plays produced. 
She began her career as a child actress. She is one of the few 
successful stage managers, and has frequently strengthened 
lines in places and made a possible success from what seemed 
an inevitable failure. 

Rachel Crothers is another who supervises much of the 
rehearsing of her own plays. She began her authorship of 
plays while a teacher in the Wheatcroft School of Acting. 
Among her plays are "The Coming of Mrs. Patrick," "Myself 
Bettina," and "The Inferior Sex," which were written for 
Maxine Elliott. "The Man on the Box" was dramatized by 
Grace Livingston Furniss, who with the late Abby Sage 
Richardson dramatized "The Pride of Jennico." Since then 
she has written a number of other plays, including, "Mrs. 
Jack," "The Colonial Girl," and "Gretna Green." 

Frances Hodgson Burnett writes her books and then 
dramatizes them. This she has done most successfully in the 
case of "Little Lord Fauntleroy," "The Little Princess," "A 
Lady of Quality," "That Lass o' Lowries," "The Pretty Sister 
of Jose," and "The Dawn of a To-morrow." 

Harriet Ford has successfully dramatized many books, 
among them : "The Gentleman of France," "Audrey," and with 
Mr. Joseph Medill Patterson, she wrote the most successful play 
of last season (1910-1911), "The Fourth Estate." This play 
brought forth more favorable comment and discussion from 
the press than any other produced. 

Miss Mary Roberts Rinehart has written three plays, two 
of which were in co-authorship, "Double Life," "The Avenger," 
and "Seven Days." Her husband, Dr. Stanley Rinehart, 
contributed to "The Avenger," and Avery Hapgood to "Seven 
Days." This was one of the season's successes. 

Two successful playwrights, Pauline Phelps and Marion 
Short, have formed a partnership and turned out a number 
of most successful plays. Miss Phelps, a country girl, deals 



Women in Professions 793 

with life in the country, and Miss Short, with city life and its 
problems. Their greatest success is "The Grand Army Man," 
in which David Warfield starred last season. They are also 
the authors of "The Girl from Out Yonder," "At Cozy Cor- 
ners," "Sweet Clover," the latter used largely for stock com- 
panies. 

Anne Warner's "Rejuvenation of Aunt Mary" is familiar 
to everyone. 

Frances Aymar Matthews, as well as being a successful 
dramatist, is a writer of poetry and books. One of her plays, 
"Julie Bon Bon," was starred by Clara Lipman. 

Among others that may be mentioned are : Cora Maynard, 
Kate Jordan, and Mrs. Doremus. 

MARY W. CALKINS. 

Miss Calkins is head of the Department of Philosophy and Psychology at 
Wellesley College. She was born in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1863, and is the 
daughter of Wolcott and Charlotte Grosvenor Whiton Calkins. Miss Calkins is 
a graduate of Smith College of the Class of 1885, where she received the degrees 
of A.B. and A.M. She has written several books on psychology and numerous 
monographs and papers on psychological and philosophical questions. 

VIDA D. SCUDDER. 

Miss Scudder is to-day professor of English at Wellesley College and a 
well-known writer on literary and social topics. She was born in Southern 
India, December 15, 1861, and is the daughter of David Coit and Harriet L. 
Dutton Scudder. She received the degree of A.B. at Smith College in 1884 and 
that of A.M. in 1889, graduated at Oxford and Paris, and was the originator of 
the College Settlement in New York City. She is the author of "The Life of the 
Spirit in Modern English Poets," "Social Ideals in English Letters," "Introduc- 
tion to the Study of English Literature" and "Selected Letters of Saint Catherine," 
and was the editor of Macaulay's "Lord Give," and also of the introduction to 
the writings of John Ruskin, Shelly's "Prometheus Unbound," works of John 
Woolman and Everybody's Library. 

HANNAH ADAMS. 

Miss Adams is believed to be the first woman in the United States to make 
literature a profession. She was born in Medfield, Massachusetts, in 1755, and 
died in Brookline, Mass., November 15, 1832. She was the daughter of a well-to- 



794 Part Taken by Women in American History 



do farmer, of good education and culture. In her childhood she was very fond 
of writing and a close student, memorizing the works of Milton, Pope, Thomson, 
Young and others. She was a good Latin and Greek scholar and instructed 
divinity students who made their home in her family. In 1772, her father losing 
his property, the children were forced to provide for themselves. During the 
Revolutionary War, Miss Adams had taught school and after the close of the 
war she opened a school to prepare young men for college, which was very 
successful. She wrote quite extensively. One of her books, "A View of Religious 
Opinions" appeared in 1784, and passed through several editions in the United 
States and was also published in England and became a standard work. In 1799 
she published her second work, "A History of England," and in 1801 "Evidences 
of Christianity." In 1812, her "History of the Jews" appeared, being followed by 
"A Controversy with Dr. Morse," and in 1826 "Letters on the Gospels." She 
spent a quiet, secluded life, and it is said her only journeys were trips from 
Boston to Nahant and from Boston to Chelmsford. Notwithstanding the many 
books which she published, her business abilities seemed to have been very limited 
and in the last years of her life she was supported by an annuity settled upon 
her by three wealthy residents of Boston. She was buried at Mount Auburn, 
being the first person buried in that beautiful cemetery. 

LYDIA MARIA CHILD. 

Lydia Maria Francis was born in Medford, Massachusetts, February II, 1802. 
Her ancestor, Richard Francis, came from England in 1636 and settled in Cam- 
bridge, where his tombstone may be still seen in the burial ground. Her paternal 
grandfather, a weaver by trade, was in the Concord fight. Her father, Convers 
Francis, was a baker, first in West Cambridge, then in Medford, where he first 
introduced the article of food still known as "Medford crackers." He was a man 
of strong character and great industry. Though without much cultivation he 
had an uncommon love of reading and his anti-slavery convictions were deeply 
rooted and must have influenced his child's later career. He married Susanah 
Rand, of whom it is only recorded that "She had a simple, loving heart and a 
spirit busy in doing good." They had six children of whom Lydia Maria was the 
youngest. While her brother Convers was fitting for college she was his faithful 
companion, though more than six years younger. They read together and she was 
constantly bringing him Milton and Shakespeare to explain so that it may well 
be granted that the foundation of Miss Lydia's intellectual attainments was laid 
in this companionship. Apart from her brother's help the young girl had, as was 
then usual, a very subordinate share of educational opportunities, attending only 
the public schools with one year at the private seminary of Miss Swan, in Medford. 
In 1819 Convers Francis was ordained for the first parish, in Watertcwn, and 
there occurred in his city, in 1824, an incident which was to determine the whole 
life of his sister. Doctor G. G. Palfrey had written in the North American 
Review, for April, 1821, a "Review" of the now forgotten poem of "Yamoyden," 
in which he ably pointed out the use that might be made of early American 
History for the purpose of fictitious writing. Miss Francis read this article at her 



Women in Professions 795 



brother's house one summer Sunday morning. Before attending afternoon service 
she wrote the first chapter of a novel. It was soon finished and was published 
that year, then came "Hobomak," a tale of early times. 

In juding of this little book it is to be remembered that it marked the 
very dawn of American imaginative literature. Irving had printed only his 
"Sketchbook"; Cooper only "Precaution." This new production was the hurried 
work of a young woman of nineteen, an Indian tale by one who had scarcely even 
seen an Indian. Accordingly "Hobomak" now seems very crude in execution, 
very improbable in plot and is redeemed only by a sincere attempt at local coloring. 

The success of this first effort was, however, such as to encourage the 
publication of a second tale in the following year. This was "The Rebels; The 
Boston before the Revolution, by the Author of Hobomak." It was a great advance 
on its predecessor, and can even be compared, favorably, with Cooper's Revolutionary 
novels. 

In October, 1828, Miss Francis married David Lee Child, a lawyer of 
Boston. In that day it seemed to be held necessary for American women to 
work their passage into literature by first completing some kind of cookery 
book, so Mrs. Child published in 1829 her "Frugal Housewife," a book which 
proved so popular that in 1855 it had reached its thirty-third edition. 

The "Biographies of Good Wives" reached a fifth edition in the course of 
time as did her "History of Woman," and in 1833 Mrs. Child was brought to 
one of those bold steps which made successive eras of her literary life — the 
publication of her "Appeal for that Class of Americans called Africans." It was 
just at the most dangerous moment of the rising storm of the slavery question 
that Mrs. Child wrote this and it brought down upon her unending censure. It is 
evident that this result was not unexpected for the preface to the book explicitly 
recognizes the probable dissatisfaction of the public. She says, "I am fully aware 
of the unpopularity of the task I have undertaken; but though I expect ridicule 
and censure, I cannot fear them. Should it be the means of advancing, even one 
single hour, the inevitable progress of truth and justice, I would not exchange the 
consciousness for all Rothschild's wealth or Sir Walter's fame." These words have 
in them a genuine ring; and the book is really worthy of them. The tone is calm 
and strong, the treatment systematic, the points well put, the statements well 
guarded. 

It was the first anti-slavery work ever printed in America and it appears 
to be the ablest, covering the whole ground better than any other. During the 
next year she published the "Oasis," also about this time appeared from her hand 
the "Anti-slavery Catechism" and a small book called "Authentic Anecdotes of 
American Slavery." 

While seemingly absorbed in reformatory work she still kept an outlook 
in the direction of pure literature and was employed for several years on "Philothea," 
which appeared in 1836. The scene of this novel was laid in Greece, and in spite of 
the unpopularity that Mrs. Child's slavery appeal had created it went through 
three editions. 

In 1841 Mr. and Mrs. Child were engaged by the American Anti-Slavery 
Standard, a weekly newspaper published in New York. Mr. Child's health being 



796 Part Taken by Women in American History 

impaired his wife undertook the task alone and conducted the newspaper in that 
manner for two years, after which she aided her husband in the work, remaining 
there for eight years. She was a very successful editor. Her management 
proved efficient while her cultivated taste made the Standard pleasing to many who 
were not attracted by the plainer fare of the Liberator. During all this period 
she was a member of the family of the well-known Quaker philanthropist, Isaac T. 
Hopper, whose biographer she afterwards became. This must have been the 
most important and satisfactory time in Mrs. Child's whole life. She was placed 
where her sympathetic nature found abundant outlet and earnest co-operation. 
Here she also found an opportunity for her best eloquence in writing letters to 
the Distant Courier. This was the source of "Letters from New York," that after- 
wards became famous. They were the precursors of that modern school of 
newspaper correspondence in which women now have so large a share, and which 
has something of the charm of women's private letters. 

Her last publication, and perhaps her favorite among the whole series, 
appeared in 1867 — "A Romance of the Republic." It was received with great 
cordiality and is in some respects her best fictitious work. In later life Mrs. 
Child left New York and took up her abode in Wayland, Massachusetts. She 
outlived her husband six years and died October 20, 1880. 

ALMIRA LINCOLN PHELPS. 

There were but two among all the early distinguished literary women of 
America who had the honor of being members of the American Association for 
the advancement of science, and these two women were Maria Mitchell and 
Almira Lincoln Phelps, — one from the North and one from the South. Mrs. Phelp's 
father, Samuel Harte, was a descendant of Thomas Hooker, the first minister 
of Hartford and founder of Connecticut. She was the youngest child and was 
born in Berlin, Connecticut, in 1793, educated at Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and later 
married to Simeon Lincoln, editor of the Connecticut Mirror, in Hartford. She 
was early left a widow with two children. Finding the estates of both her 
husband and father insolvent, she took up the study of Latin and Greek, the 
natural sciences, art of drawing and painting, in order to perfect herself for 
the work which she had in comtemplation, namely, the education of the young. 
She was a student under Miss Willard for seven years. In 1831, she married Hon- 
orable John Phelps, a distinguished lawyer and statesman of Vermont. In 
1839 she accepted a position at the head of the female seminary at West Chester, 
Pennsylvania. In 1841 she and her husband established the Patapsco Female 
Institute of Maryland. Pupils came to them from all parts of the West and 
South. In 1849 she was again left a widow. In 1855 her daughter's death so 
saddened her that she resigned her position and removed to the city of Baltimore. 
Her best known works are : "Lectures on Botany," "Botany for Beginners," 
"Lectures on Chemistry." "Chemistry for Beginners," "Lectures on Natural 
Philosophy," "Philosophy for Beginners," "Female Students," "A Fireside Friend," 
"A Juvenile Story," "Geology for Beginners," "Translation of the Works of 
Benedicte de Saussure," "Progressive Education," with a mothers' journal by 



Women in Professions 797 

Mrs. Willard and Mrs. Phelps, "Ada Norman, or Trials and Their Uses," "Hours 
with My Pupils," and "Christian Households." She probably had as much to do 
with the education of the young of this country as any woman, her works having 
been largely used in the schools. 

SARAH BUELL (MRS. DAVID HALE). 

Author and magazine editor, was born in Newport, New Hampshire. When 
a young girl, the first regular novel she read was "Mysteries of Udolpho," which, 
noting it was written by a woman, awakened in her an ardent desire to become 
an author herself. Her first work, however, was a small volume of fugitive poetry ; 
then "Northward," in two volumes. Her first novel was issued in 1827. Afterwards 
she was given charge of the editorial department of the Lady's Magazine, then 
published in Boston. In 1837 the Lady's Magazine united with the Lady's Book, 
published by Godey, in Philadelphia, and in 1841 Mrs. Hill removed to that city 
editing the double magazine. She has written a large number of books. The 
most notable of these are "Sketches of American Character," "Traits of American 
Life," "Flora's Interpreter," "The Lady's Wreath," a selection from the familiar 
poets of England and America; "The Way to Live Well and be Well While 
You Live," "Grosvenor," "Alice Ray," a romance in rhyme; "Harry Guy," "The 
Widow's Son," a story of the sea; "Three Hours or Vigils of Love," and other 
poems, and, finally, "Woman's Regret." 

LYDIA HUNTLY SIGOURNEY. 

Born in Norwich, Connecticut, September 1, 1791, and died in Hartford, 
Connecticut, June 10, 1865 ; was the daughter of Ezekiel Huntly, a soldier of the 
Revolution. It is said that she wrote verses at the age of seven. She taught a 
private girls' school in Hartford for five years, and in 1815 published her first 
volume "Moral Pieces in Prose and Verse." In 1819 she became the wife of 
Charles Sigourney, a gentleman of literary and artistic tastes, a resident of Hart- 
ford. After her marriage she devoted herself to literature. She wrote forty-six 
separate works, besides two thousand articles, which she contributed to about 
three hundred periodicals. She was a favorite poetess in England and France, 
as well as in her own country. Mrs. Sigourney was always an active worker in 
charity and philanthropy. Her best known works are "Letters to Young Ladies," 
"Pocahontas, and Other Poems," and "Pleasant Memories of Pleasant Lands." 

LUCRETIA MARIA DAVIDSON. 

Lucretia Maria Davidson was born in Plattsburg, New York, September 
27, 1808, and was the daughter of Dr. Oliver Davidson, a lover of science. Her 
mother, Margaret Davidson, whose maiden name was Miller, came of a good 
family and had received the best education that times afforded at the school of 
the celebrated Scotch lady, Isabella Graham, in New York City. The family of 
Miss Davidson lived in seclusion. Their pleasures were intellectual. Her mother 



798 Part Taken by Women in American History 

suffered for years from ill health. Miss Davidson was delicate from infancy. 
When eighteen months old, she suffered from typhus fever which threatened her 
life. Her first literary acquisition indicated her after course. Her application to 
her studies at school was intense. Her early poems were of great merit. While 
devoting her time and attention to her invalid mother, she wrote many beautiful 
poems, the best known of which is her "Amir Khan" and a tale of some length 
called "The Recluse of Saranac." "Amir Khan" has long been before the public. 
Its versification is graceful and the story of orientalism beautifully developed 
and well sustained; as a production of a girl of fifteen it is considered prodigious. 
Many of her poems are addressed to her mother. "The Fear of Madness" was 
written by her while confined to her bed and was the last piece she ever wrote. 
The records of the last scenes of Lucretia Davidson's life are scanty. Her 
poetical writings which have been collected amount in all to 278 pieces of various 
length. The following tribute paid her by Mr. Southey is from the London 
Quarterly Review, whose scant praise of American productions is well known. 
"In these poems ("Amir Khan," etc.) there is enough of originality, enough of 
aspiration, enough of conscientious energy, enough of growing power to warrant 
any expectations, however sanguine, which the patron and the friends and parents 
of the deceased could have formed." Her death occurred August 27, 1825, in 
Plattsburg, New York. 

JULIA WARD HOWE. 

Few women of America enjoy greater fame than Julia Ward Howe, the 
author of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic." She can be classed as an essayist, 
poetess, philanthropist, and public speaker. She was born in New York City, 
May 27, 1819. Her parents were Samuel and Julia Cuttler Ward. She included 
among her ancestors some of the descendants of the Huguenots, the Marions of 
South Carolina, Governor Sam Ward of Rhode Island, and Roger Williams, the 
apostle of religious tolerance. Her father being a banker and a man of means 
gave her every advantage of education and accomplishment. In 1843 she married 
Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe, and they spent some time abroad. In 1852 she pub- 
lished her first volume of poems; in 1853 a drama in blank verse, and during 
the war other works and patriotic songs. In 1867 while she and her husband 
were visitors in Greece they won the affection and gratitude of the people by 
aiding them in their struggle for national independence. In 1868 she took an 
active part in the suffrage movement. She preached, wrote and lectured for 
many years. She died in the summer of ioio, but her fame will ever be linked 
with the "Battle Hymn of the Republic." 

LOUISA M. ALCOTT. 

No name is more beloved among the girls of America of former days and 
present times than that of Louisa May Alcott, the author of "Little Women," a 
book dear to the heart of every American girl. Miss Alcott was born in Ger- 
mantown, Pennsylvania, November 29, 1832. Her parents were charming, culti- 
vated people. Her father, Amos Bronson Alcott, became a teacher. He taught in 



Women in Professions 799 

Boston for eleven years, Margaret Fuller being one of his assistants. The atmos- 
phere of the Alcott home was always one of culture and refinement, though their 
life was one of extreme simplicity. Whittier, Phillips, Garrison, Mrs. Haw- 
thorne, Emerson, Thoreau and Oliver Wendell Holmes were frequent guests. 
Louisa was the eldest child, full of activity and enthusiasm, constantly in trouble 
from her frankness and lack of policy, but enjoying many friends from her 
generous heart, and it has not been difficult to recognize the picture of herself 
in the character of Joe in "Little Women." In this little home in Concord were 
enacted many of the scenes, sports and amusements pictured in Miss Alcott's 
stories. At sixteen she began to teach school, having but twenty pupils, and to 
these she told many of the stories which were later woven into her books. Her 
restless disposition gave her many occupations ; sometimes she acted as a 
governess, sometimes she did sewing, and again writing. At nineteen she pub- 
lished one of her early stories in Gleason's Pictorial. For this she received five 
dollars. Later appeared "The Rival Prima Donna," and though she received but 
ten dollars for this, the request from the editor for another story was more to 
her than a larger check would have been. Another story appeared in the Saturday 
Evening Gazette. This was announced in the most sensational way by means of 
large yellow posters which spread terror to Miss Alcott's heart. Finding, how- 
ever, that sensational stories paid, she turned them out at the rate of ten or 
twelve a month. But she soon tired of this unstable kind of fame, and she began 
work upon a novel which appeared under the name of "Moods" but was not a 
success. At this time the Civil War broke out. She offered herself as a nurse 
in the hospitals and was accepted, just after the defeat at Fredericksburg. After 
a time she became ill from overwork and was obliged to return home, and in 
1865 published her hospital sketches, which made it possible for her to take a 
rest by a trip to Europe. Here she met many of the distinguished writers of her 
day. In 1868 her father submitted a collection of her stories to her publishers 
who declined them, and asked for a single story for girls, which was the occasion 
for the writing of "Little Women." It was simply the story of herself and her 
three sisters and she became at once famous. Girls from all over the country 
wrote her. When "Little Men" was announced, fifty thousand copies were 
ordered in advance of its publication. Among her other stories are those entitled, 
"Shawl Straps," "Under the Lilacs," "Aunt Jo's Scrap-Bag," "Jack and Jill," 
and the greatest after "Little Women," "An Old-Fashioned Girl." Most of her 
stories were written in Boston and depict her life in Concord. Miss Alcott's 
devotion to her sex made her a strong supporter of the women's suffrage move- 
ment, no one has done more for the women of her own generation than she. 
The pleasure which her books have given, and will ever continue to give, make 
her one of the most beloved of our American literary women. Miss Alcott died 
in Boston, March 6, 1888. 

MARY VIRGINIA TERHUNE. v 

Mrs. Terhune is more familiar to the public under the pen name of 
"Marion Harland." She was born December 21, 1831, in Amelia County, Vir- 



800 Part Taken by Women in American History 

ginia, her father Samuel P. Hawes, having removed there from Massachusetts. 
In 1856 she was married to Rev. E. P. Terhune, and since 1859 has lived in 
the North, but her stories have dealt largely with Southern life. She wrote her 
book "The Story of Mary Washington" to get funds to aid in the effort to erect 
a monument to the mother of Washington, which was unveiled on May 10, 1894. 
She has been a most industrious writer. Among her works are "Alone," 
"Nemesis," "The Hidden Path," "Miriam," "Husks," "Husbands and Home," 
"Sunnybank," "Helen Gardner's Wedding Day," "At Last," "The Empty Heart," 
"Common Sense in the Household." Her novel "Sunnybank" was very severely 
criticised by Southern editors, when it appeared soon after the Civil War. Mrs. 
Terhune's younger brothers were in the Confederate Army. 

Mrs. Terhune has three children, with all of whom she has collaborated in 
literary work. 

ELIZABETH STUART PHELPS WARD. 

Mrs. Ward was born in Andover, Massachusetts, August 31, 1844, and 
inherited literary talent from both of her parents. Her mother was the writer 
of a number of stories for children, and her father, Rev. Austin Phelps, a pro- 
fessor of sacred rhetoric in the Theological Seminary of Andover, was the writer 
of many lectures which in book form have become classics and to-day are 
accepted text-books. At the age of thirteen Mrs. Ward made her first literary 
venture in a story which was accepted by the Youths' Companion. Her first 
novel, "Gates Ajar," 1869, met with unprecedented success. In 1888, she married 
Rev. Herbert D. Ward, and with him has written several novels, the most 
important of which are, "The Last of the Magicans," "Come Forth," "A Singular 
Life," and what she regards as her most important work, "The Story of Jesus 
Christ," which appeared in 1897. Some of Mrs. Ward's books are, "Ellen's Idol," 
"Up Hill," "A Singular Life," "The Gipsy Series," "Mercy Glidden's Works," 
"I Don't Know How," "Men, Women and Ghosts," "The Silent Partner," "Walled 
In," "The Story of Avis," "My Cousin and I," "The Madonna of the Tubs," 
"Sealed Waters," "Jack, the Fisherman," "The Master of Magicians," and many 
sketches, stories and poems for magazines. 

FRANCES HODGSON BURNETT. 

Was born in Manchester, England, November 24, 1849. Her father was 
a well-to-do merchant. He died when she was but ten years old. Soon after 
his death the family removed to Tennessee to reside with an uncle. They settled 
in Knoxville, but her uncle having lost everything by the war, they made their 
home in the country and experienced the greatest poverty. Her mother's health 
failed under these trying conditions, and she died about two years after. Frances 
Hodgson obtained a position as school teacher, receiving her pay in flour, bacon, 
eggs and potatoes. She had early shown much talent in story writing, and at 
thirteen she wrote quite a creditable story, which her sister insisted on sending 
to a publisher. The only difficulty in the way of accomplishing this was how 
to procure the necessary postage, and a basket of wild grapes was sold by these 







DISTINGUISHED WOMEN POETS. 



Women in Professions 8oi 

two girls to pay for the mailing of the manuscript to Ballon' s Magazine. As the 
publisher did not wish to pay for the printing of the story, which he had com- 
plimented in his letter to Frances, it was returned and sent to Godey's Ladies' 
Book, and from this source she received her first remuneration. Later she 
became a regular contributor to Peterson's Magazine and the publication of "Mrs. 
Carruther's Engagement" and another story entitled "Hearts and Diamonds" 
fixed the author's vocation. In 1873, she married Swan Moses Burnett. They 
had two children, the heroes of "Little Lord Fauntleroy," Mrs. Burnett's most 
famous story. The one named Lionel died in Paris, Vivian was the little Lord 
Fauntleroy of her story. "That Lass o' Lowrie's," "Pretty Polly Pemberton," 
"The Fair at Grantley Mills," "A Fair Barbarian" and "A Lady of Quality," 
are some of Mrs. Burnett's novels. Among her plays are : "Little Lord Faunt- 
leroy," "The First Gentleman of Europe" and "A Lady of Quality." Her work 
has brought to Mrs. Burnett quite a handsome fortune. She now makes her 
home in England. 

SARAH ORNE JEWETT. 

Was born in South Berwick, Maine, on September 3, 1849. Her father 
was Dr. Theodore Herman Jewett, a physician, and her mother was the daughter 
of Dr. Perry of Exeter, also a prominent physician of that section of New Eng- 
land. Most of the characters and life of the people in her story have been taken 
from the simple New England life about the little village of Berwick. She fre- 
quently went about with her father on his errands of mercy and through these 
was enabled to gain much data for her stories. Her father was the hero of "A 
Country Doctor" from her pen. She first wrote short stories for the Atlantic 
Monthly, and it is said was but fourteen years of age when she wrote "Lucy 
Garron's Lovers." Her first great success was "Deephaven" which appeared in 
1877. Lowell and Whittier were among her friends and admirers as a writer. 
Whittier attended the Friends' meeting in Berwick, and it was here Miss Jewett 
met him. The old sea-faring life of these New England towns has been preserved 
to us by Miss Jewett. Her grandfather was a sea captain, and in his home she 
met and enjoyed the companionship and heard the tales of this old sea captain's 
friends. Miss Jewett died in 1909. 

MRS. BURTON HARRISON. 

Was before her marriage Constance Cary, of Virginia, and on her father's 
side she is descended from Colonel Miles Carey of Devonshire, England, who 
emigrated to America and settled in Virginia about the middle of the seven- 
teenth century, and during the rule of Sir William Berkeley was one of the 
king's council. Her father, Archibald Cary, of Cary's Brook, Virginia, was the 
son of Virginia Randolph, who was the ward and pupil of Thomas Jefferson 
and sister of his son-in-law, Thomas Mann Randolph. Her mother was the 
youngest daughter of Thomas Fairfax, Baron of Cameron, who resided upon a 
large plantation in Fairfax, Virginia. It is said Mrs. Harrison inherits her 

51 



8o2 Part Taken by Women in American History 



literary taste from her grandmother on her father's side, Mrs. Wilson Jefferson 
Cary, who was herself a writer, and whose father's writings exerted quite an 
influence over Thomas Jefferson. Mrs. Harrison's first story was written when 
she was but seventeen years of age. The Civil War brought an end to her 
literary aspirations and the loss of her home necessitated her mother and herself 
living abroad for some years. After her return to this country she married 
Burton Harrison, a prominent member of the New York Bar. Charles A. Dana 
was a great friend of Mrs. Harrison and gave her the agreeable task of editing 
"Monticello Letters," and from this she gleaned the matter which was the basis 
of her story, "The Old Dominion." Some of the stories that she has written 
are : "Helen of Troy," "The Old-Fashioned Fairy Book," "Short Comedies for 
American Players," a translation; "The Anglomaniacs," "Flower-de-Hundred," 
"Sweet Bells Out of Tune," "A Bachelor Maid," "An Errant Wooing," "A 
Princess of the Hills," "A Daughter of the South." Mrs. Harrison resides in 
New York, and is still busy with her pen. 

MARY N. MURFREE. 

"Charles Egbert Craddock." 

For several years of her early literary life both publishers and public were 
in ignorance of the fact that she was a woman. She was born at Grantsland, 
near Murfreesborough, Tennessee, in 1850, at the family home, which had been 
inherited from her great-grandfather, Colonel Hardy Murfree, a soldier of the 
Revolution, who, in 1807, had moved from his native state of North Carolina to 
the new state of Tennessee. Miss Murfree's father, William Law Murfree, was 
a lawyer, and her mother, Priscilla Murfree, was the daughter of Judge Dickin- 
son. The family suffered greatly from the effects of the war. Mary Murfree 
had poor health but began to write of the people she found about her in the 
Tennessee mountains, and her novel, "In the Tennessee Mountains" appeared in 
the Atlantic Monthly and was supposed to have been written by a man. When 
Mr. Howells assumed the editorial chair in the Atlantic Monthly office he requested 
further contributions from Charles Egbert Craddock, and a series of excellent 
stories from her pen were published : "Where the Battle was Fought," "The 
Prophet of the Great Stony Mountain," "The Star in the Valley," "The Romance 
of Sunrise Rock," "Over on Tother Mounting," "Electioneering on Big Injun 
Mounting," "A-Playing of Old Sledge at Settlement," "Adnfting down Lost 
Creek,"\vhich ran through three numbers of the Atlantic, "Down the Ravine," 
a story for young people. It was possible for Miss Murfree to cover her identity 
in her nom de plume, for her style of writing and even her penmanship were 
masculine and she appreciated the fact that, at that time, men in the literary world 
had a great advantage over women writers. No one was more surprised than her 
own publishers at the discovery that Charles Egbert Craddock was a woman. 
Her great skill lies in vitalizing the picturesque characters who are the subjects 
of her stories. 



Women in Professions 803 



ANNA KATHARINE GREEN ROHLFS. 

Was born in Brooklyn, New York, on November II, 1846, and was thirty- 
two years of age when her famous story, "The Leavenworth Case" was pub- 
lished. Her father was a famous lawyer, and from him she is supposed to have 
gained the knowledge which she had in handling the details of this story. It was 
questioned for some time, although her maiden name, Anna Katharine Green, 
was signed to the story, whether it was possible that this story could have been 
written by a woman. She was a graduate of the Ripley Female College in 
Poultney, Vermont, and received the degree of B.A. In her early days she wrote 
poems, but her fame has come from her detective stories. "The Affair Next 
Door," "The Filigree Ball," and other stories from her pen are well known. 
In November, 1884, she became Mrs. Charles Rohlfs. 

MOLLY ELLIOT SEAWELL. 

Miss Seawell's uncle was an officer in the United States navy before the 
Civil War, and served in the Confederate Army with distinction during the 
entire war. From him she heard the tales of our early navy which gave her inspira- 
tion to write her nautical sketches. Some of these are "Decatur and Somers," 
"Paul Jones," "Midshipman Paulding," "Quarter-deck," "Fo'c'sle," and "Little 
Jarvis," the latter winning the prize of five hundred dollars for the best story 
for boys offered by the Youths' Companion, in 1890. She was a constant reader 
of Shakespeare, Rousseau and other writers. Byron, Shelley, Thackeray, Macaulay, 
Jane Austen, Boswell's "Johnson" all formed a part of her home education. In 
1895, she received a prize of $3,000 from the New York Herald for the best 
novelette, "The Sprightly Romance of Marsac." Her "Maid Marian" is a well- 
known and an amusing story of the Knickerbocker element of New York. 

AMELIA E. BARR. 

Among the foremost of American writers is Amelia Barr. She was born 
in Ulverston, Lancashire, England, in 183 1. Her maiden name was Amelia Edith 
Huddleston. Her father was the Reverend Doctor William Henry Huddleston, and 
her first introduction into the literary field was when she served as a reader to 
her father. She was educated in Glasgow and in 1850 married Robert Barr, a 
Scotchman, and four years later they came to this country. They made their 
residence in several states, in New York, the South and West, finally settling 
in Austin, Texas. In 1867, the yellow fever was epidemic in Austin. Mr. Barr 
became famous through his work among the Indians and white settlers of this 
city. Doctors and nurses dying on all sides, he gave up his life in his unselfish 
devotion to poor suffering humanity. Mrs. Barr lost not only her husband but 
three sons in this terrible epidemic, and after it was over she returned to New 
York City. Her first literary venture was brought out through the kind personal 
interest of the editor of the New York Ledger, Mr. Robert Bonner, and was a 
story published in the Christian Union. She did all kinds of literary work, wrote 



804 Part Taken by Women in American History 

advertisements, circulars, paragraphs and verses. Her first great success came 
in 1885 in the publication of "Jan Vedder's Wife." Three other books followed: 
"Scottish Sketches," "Cluny MacPherson," and "Pawl and Christina," but none 
equalled "Jan Vedder's Wife." "The Bow of Orange Ribbon" is a delightful 
picture of New York in provincial days, as is "The Maid of Maiden Lane." One 
of her later books, "The Lion's Whelp," a story of Cromwell's time, is con- 
sidered one of her strongest books. 

MARY E. WILKINS FREEMAN. 

Was born in Randolph, Massachusetts, in 1862. Her father was a native 
of Salem, and was a descendant of Bray Wilkins of good old Puritan stock. 
Her mother was a Holbrook, one of the old families of Massachusetts. The 
family early removed to Brattleboro, Vermont, and with Mr. J. E. Chamberland 
she wrote "The Long Arm" for which they received a two thousand dollar prize 
offered by a newspaper. Like many other writers she was largely influenced by 
the people about her and associated with her early life and that of her family. 
Barnabas, one of the characters in her story, "Pembroke," was drawn from 
Randolph. Losing her father and mother and sister, she returned to Randolph 
and took up her residence. Her story "A Humble Romance" was considered by 
Phillips Brooks the best short story ever written. In 1893, she wrote a play, 
"Giles Corey, Yeoman" a drama of the early Puritan days. "The Heart's High- 
way" is another of her stories of Colonial times, and "The Portion of Labor." 
In 1902 she married Dr. Charles Manning Freeman, of Metuchen, New Jersey, 
where she now resides. 

ALICE FRENCH. 

"Octave Thanet." 

Miss French took a nom de plume to hide her identity, there being an 
unmistakably masculine tinge in many of her writings. Her real name is Alice 
French, she was born in Andover, Massachusetts, March 19, 1850. Her 
father was George Henry French, a man of important business connections and 
comfortable means. The family were descended from Sir William French who 
settled in Massachusetts in the seventeenth century, and one of his descendants 
took part in the Revolutionary War, receiving the name of the "Fighting Parson 
of Andover." Miss French's grandfather on her mother's side was Governor 
Marcus Morton, and some of her ancestors were numbered among those who 
came to this country in the Mayflower. Miss French is a graduate of Vassar 
College. Her first story was printed in Godey's Magazine. Her story entitled 
"The Bishop's Vagabond," published in the Atlantic Monthly, in 1884, was the 
beginning of her substantial literary fame. Her story "Expiation" is considered 
very strong, as is "Knitters in the Sun " 

KATE DOUGLASS WIGGIN (MRS. RIGGS.) 

Her family were people of prominence in church and politics and at the 
New England Bar. She was born in Philadelphia and educated in New England, 



Women in Professions 805 

transplanted to California, and returned again to the Atlantic coast. Her first 
article appeared in St. Nicholas and was written at the age of eighteen. This 
she wrote while studying kindergarten work under the celebrated Marshall in 
California. After the death of her stepfather, she taught in the Santa Barbara 
College and organized the first free kindergarten west of the Rocky Mountains. 
Soon after the successful establishment of this work, she was married to Mr. 
Samuel Bradley Wiggin, a talented young lawyer. She gave up her work in the 
kindergarten but continued to give lectures. One of the stories written at this 
time was the story of "Patsy," which she wrote to obtain money for the work 
in which was so much interested, to be followed by "The Birds' Christmas Carol," 
written for the same purpose. After removing to New York, in 1888, she was 
urged to offer these two books to an eastern publisher, and Houghton, Mifflin 
and Company reprinted them in book form, and they met with remarkable success. 
"The Birds' Christmas Carol" has been translated into Japanese, French, German 
and Swedish, even being put into raised type for the blind. Her story "Timothy's 
Quest" met with great success as also "Polly Oliver's Problem." Mr. Wiggin's 
death soon after they left San Francisco necessitated her taking up the kinder- 
garten work in the East with great energy. She does much of her work at her 
old home in Maine, and many of the scenes and descriptions in the "Village Watch 
Tower" were taken from this neighborhood. In 1895 she married Mr. George 
Christopher Riggs, and has spent much of her time since then in England. 
"Penelope's English Experience" is a story of her own experiences among her 
English friends, as were those of "Penelope's Irish Experiences," "Penelope's 
Progress in Scotland" which followed a period of her life in these countries. 

GERTRUDE ATHERTON. 

Was born in Rincon Hill, a part of San Francisco, in 1857. Her mother 
was the daughter of Stephen Franklin, a descendant of one of the brothers of 
Benjamin Franklin. His daughter was quite famous in California as a beauty. 
She married Thomas L. Horn, a prominent citizen of San Francisco from Stoning- 
ton, Connecticut, and a member of the famous Vigilant Committee. The daughter 
Gertrude was educated in California and married George Henry Bowen Ather- 
ton of Menlo Park, California, a Chilian by birth. Her first story, "The Ran- 
dolphs of Redwoods," was published in the San Francisco Argonaut, but among 
her many stories perhaps the best known is "Senator North." Her story of the 
life of Alexander Hamilton under the title "The Conqueror" is considered her 
best work. 

JOHN OLIVER HOBBES (MRS. CRAIGIE.) 

Mrs. Pearl Mary Theresa Craigie was born in Boston, Massachusetts, 
November 3, 1867. Her mother's maiden name was Laura Hortense Arnold. 
Her father was John Morgan Richards, the son of Reverend Doctor James Richards, 
the founder of Auburn Theological Seminary, of New York. She received her early 
education from tutors, later studying in Paris, and then in London. She was an 
enthusiastic student of classical literature, and through the advice of Professor 



806 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Goodwin, she took up literature as a profession. In 1887, she was married to 
Mr. Reginald Walpole Craigie of a well-to-do English family. "Rohert of 
Orange" was one of her early and most notable books. Mrs. Craigie did some 
writing for the stage and one of her plays, "The Ambassador," was considered 
very good. Her story "Love and Soul Hunters," has not been excelled by any 
of her contemporaries. 

LILIAN BELL. 

Was born in Chicago in 1867, but spent her early years in Atlanta. Daughter 
of Major William Bell, an officer of the Civil War. Her grandfather, General 
Joseph Warren Bell, was a Southerner, but sold and freed his slaves before the war, 
brought his family North to Illinois. He organized the Thirteenth Illinois Cavalry. 
Her first literary work was "The Expatriates." Probably her best known book 
is "The Love Affairs of an Old Maid." In 1893 she married Arthur Hoyt Bogue 
of Chicago. They now make their home in New York City, where Mrs. Bogue 
is still engaged in literary work under her maiden name. 

RUTH McENERY STUART. 

Mrs. Stuart was born at Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana, the daughter 
of a wealthy planter. Her family had always been slave holders and her life 
was spent on a plantation where she gained her familiarity and knowledge of 
the negro character. She was educated at a school in New Orleans where she 
remained after her marriage in 1879 to Alfred O. Stuart, a cotton planter, and 
her early life was spent near their plantation in a small Arkansas town. Her 
first story was sent by Charles Dudley Warner to the Princeton Review in which 
it appeared, and the second was published in Harper's Magazine. Her stories 
are of the la-ry life of the Creoles and the plantation negroes. They give a true 
picture of a peculiar race of people fast disappearing in the South. They are 
largely dialect stories. Since her husband's death Mrs. Stuart has resided in 
New York City and here most of her literary work has been done. "Moriah's . 
Mourning," "In Simpkinsville," "A Golden Wedding." "Charlotta's Intended," 
"Solomon Crow's Christmas Box," "The Story of Babette," "Sonny," "Uncle 
Eph's Advice to Brer Rabbit," "Holly and Pizen," are some of her well-known 
stories. Charles Dudley Warner says, "her pictures of Louisiana life both white 
and colored are indeed the best we have." 

ANNA FARQUHAR BERGENGREN. 

Mrs. Bergengren was of Scotch-English ancestry, her people coming to 
America in Lord Baltimore's time and settling in Maryland, near Baltimore. 
She was born December 23, 1865, near Brookville, Indiana, her father being a 
lawyer, a member of Congress, and during her life in Washington, she obtained 
the material for her book called "Her Washington Experiences." Her father's 
death made her determine upon a career for herself and she chose a musical 
education, but her health failed while studying in Boston, and she was ultimately 



Women in Professions 807 



obliged to give up singing, in which she had already attained fair success. Her 
story "The Singer's Heart" expressed her professional ambitions. "The Pro- 
fessor's Daughter" was published in The Saturday Evening Post and was very 
popular. "Her Boston Experiences" appeared in a magazine and ultimately in 
book form. Her book, "The Devil's Plough," is a story of the early French 
missionaries of North America. In January, 1900, she was married to Ralph 
Bergengren, a Boston Journalist, and has continued her literary labors. 

PAULINE BRADFORD MACKIE HOPKINS. 

Mrs. Hopkins is a writer of historical fiction. For two years after her 
graduation from the Toledo High School she was engaged as a writer on the 
Toledo Blade. She soon abandoned this for a literary career, and most of her 
stories have appeared in magazines and newspapers. "Mademoiselle de Berny" 
and "Ye Lyttle Salem Maide" were, after most trying experiences with pub- 
lishers, printed in book form. "A Georgian Actress" was written in Berkeley, 
California, where Mrs. Hopkins had gone with her husband, Dr. Herbert Miiller 
Hopkins, now occupying the chair of Latin in Trinity College, Hartford, Connec- 
ticut. Here she also wrote two novels of Washington life during the Civil War. 
Mrs. Hopkins was born in Connecticut in 1873. Her father, Rev. Andrew 
Mackie, was an Episcopal clergyman and a very scholarly man, from whom she 
inherited her literary talent. 

MARY JOHNSTON. 

The publication of "Prisoners of Hope" brought, in 1898, a new star into 
the literary firmament, and instantly made Mary Johnston's name famous. At 
the time of the publication of her first novel Miss Johnston was but twenty- 
eight years of age. She was born in Buchanan, Virginia, November 21, 1870. 
Her great-great-great-grandfather, Peter Johnston, came to Virginia early in 
the Eighteenth Century and was a man of wealth and influence. He donated 
the land on which the Hampden Sidney College now stands, and Peter, his eldest 
son, rode in "light-horse," Harry Lee's legion and was the father of General 
Joseph E. Johnston. Her family numbered among its members some of the most 
distinguished men of the early Virginia history. "Prisoners of Hope" was hardly 
more famous than her second book, "To Have and To Hold." The latter estab- 
lished a record of sales among books unprecedented for any work by an Amer- 
ican woman. Her latest novel is "The Long Roll," a story of the Confederacy 
during the war. 

ELLEN ANDERSON G. GLASGOW. 

Miss Glasgow is a Virginia writer who has become a member of the literary 
life of the New South. "The Descendant," "The Phases of an Inferior Planet" 
and "The Voice of the People" are among her best works. She was born in 
Richmond, Virginia, April 22, 1874, and lived the greater part of her life at the 
family home. Her father was a lawyer, and the majority of her male ancestors 
were either lawyers, judges or men of literary tastes and talents. 



8o8 Part Taken by Women in American History 



BERTHA RUNKLE. 

One of the most famous novels of the past few years was "The Helmet 
of Navarre," and was written, when its author, Bertha Runkle, was a little over 
twenty years of age. One of the most remarkable facts in this connection is 
that the authoress had never seen the shores of France, in fact had seldom been 
beyond the boundaries of New York State. Miss Runkle was born in New Jer- 
sey, but in 1888 she and her mother moved to New York City. Her father, 
Cornelius A. Runkle, a well-known New York lawyer, was for many years 
counsel for the New York Tribune, and her mother, Lucia Isabella Runkle, had 
been, previous to her marriage, an editorial writer on the same paper, in fact 
she was the first American woman to be placed on the staff of a great Metropoli- 
tan daily. In 1904 Miss Runkle married Captain Louis H. Bash, United States 
Army. She is very fond of outdoor life and spends much of her time in such 
sports as golf, riding, driving and tennis. 

HARRIET BEECHER STOWE. 

In the little town of Litchfield, Connecticut, on June 14, 181 1, one of the 
most famous literary women, Harriet Beecher Stowe, was born. She was the 
seventh child of her parents Rev. Lyman Beecher and Roxanna Beecher. Her 
father was an eminent divine, but her early childhood days were filled with the 
privations of great poverty. When Harriet Stowe was but five years of age, 
her mother died and she went to live for a short time with her aunt and grand- 
mother, until Mr. Beecher's second marriage. At twelve years of age she was 
sent to the school of Mr. John P. Brace, a well-known teacher, where she soon 
began to show a great love for composition, and one of her essays, "Can the 
Immortality of the Soul be Proved by the Light of Nature," was considered quite 
a literary triumph, and won great admiration from her father who was ignorant 
of its authorship. Her sister Catherine went to Hartford, Connecticut, where 
her brother was teaching, and decided she would build a female seminary that 
women might have equal opportunities with men. She raised the money and 
built the Hartford Female Seminary, and Harriet Beecher at the age of twelve 
attended her sister Catherine's school. She soon became one of the pupil teach- 
ers. Mr. Beecher's fame as a revivalist and brilliant preacher took him to 
Boston, but his heart w?.s in the temperance work and he longed to go West. 
When called to Ohio to become president of Lane Theological Seminary at Cin- 
cinnati he accepted, and perhaps we owe to this circumstance Harriet Beecher 
Stowe's famous book "Uncle Tom's Cabin." In 1836, Harriet married the Pro- 
fessor of Biblical Criticism and Oriental Literature in that seminary, Calvin E. 
Stowe. At this time the question of slavery was uppermost in the minds of 
Christian people. In 1850 the Beecher family and the Stowes moved to Bruns- 
wick, Maine, where Mr. Stowe had accepted a professorship at Bowdoin College. 
The fugitive slave law was in operation and the people of the North seemed 
lacking in effort. Mrs. Stowe felt she must do something to arouse the people 
on this question, and we are told that one Sunday while sitting in church the 



Women in Professions 809 



picture of Uncle Tom came to her mind. When she went home she wrote the 
chapter on his death and read it to her two sons, ten and twelve years of age. 
This so affected them that they burst into tears. After two or three more 
chapters were ready she wrote to Dr. Bailey, her old friend of Cincinnati days, 
who had removed his press to Washington and was editing the National Era in 
that city. He accepted her manuscript and it was published as a serial. Mr. 
Jewett of Boston feared to undertake the work in book form, thinking it too 
long to be popular, but Uncle Tom's Cabin was published March 20, 1852, as a 
book. In less than a year over three hundred thousand copies had been sold. 
Congratulations came from crown heads and the literary world. In 1853, when 
Professor Stowe and his wife visited England no crowned head was shown 
greater honor. Other books followed from her pen on her return to America, 
her husband having taken a position as Professor of Sacred Literature in the 
Theological Seminary at Andover, Massachusetts. Her other works are: "Sunny 
Memories of Foreign Lands," "Dread," an anti-slavery story; "The Minister's 
Wooing," "Agnes of Sorrento," an Italian story; "Pearl of Orr's Island," a New 
England coast tale; "Old Town Folks," "House and Home Papers," "My Wife 
and I," "Pink and White Tyranny," but none has added to the fame of her 
great work, "Uncle Tom's Cabin." This book has been translated into almost 
all the languages. The latter years of Mrs. Stowe's life was spent between her 
home among the orange groves of Florida, and her summer residence in Hart- 
ford, Connecticut. On her seventy-first birthday her publishers, Houghton Miff- 
lin & Company, gave her a monster garden party in Newton, Massachusetts, at 
the home of Governor Claflin. Poets, artists, statesmen, and our country's 
greatest men and women came to do her honor, and when her life went out 
at Hartford, Connecticut, July 1, 1896, we lost one of the famous women of 
America. 

HELEN HUNT JACKSON. 

She was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, October 18, 1831. Her father, 
Nathan W. Fiske, was a professor of languages and philosophy in the college of 
that town. When twelve years of age both her father and mother died, leaving 
her to the care of her grandfather. She entered the school of Rev. J. S. C. 
Abbott of New York. At twenty-one she married a young army officer, Captain, 
afterward Major, Edward B. Hunt. They lived much of their time at West 
Point and Newport. Major Hunt was killed in Brooklyn, October 2, 1863, while 
experimenting with a submarine gun of his own invention. After a year abroad 
and a long illness in Rome, she returned to this country in 1870. In her first 
small book of verses she was obliged to pay for the plates when they appeared, 
and it was only after years of hard work that she succeeded in her literary 
career. Her health becoming somewhat impaired, she moved to Colorado, and 
here in 1876 she married Mr. William Sharpless Jackson, a banker and cultured 
gentleman. They made their home at Colorado Springs, and it became one of 
the attractions of the place, her great love for flowers beautifying her surround- 
ings. Here she wrote her first novels, "Mercy Philbrick's Choice" and "Hetty's 
Strange History," also, later "Ramona," but her strongest work was brought 



810 Part Taken by Women in American History 

about through her intense interest and indignation over the wrongs of the 
Indians inflicted upon them by the white race. She advocated education and 
christianization of the race rather than their extermination. Leaving home, she 
spent three months in New York in the Astor Library gathering facts and 
material for her "Century of Dishonor." When published she sent a copy to 
each member of Congress at her own expense to awaken interest in her favorite 
theme, and this resulted in her being appointed special commissioner with Abbott 
Kinney, her friend, to examine and report on the condition of the Indians in 
California. She went into the work with enthusiasm and energy and the report 
was most exhaustive and convincing. In the winter of 1883, she began to write 
her famous novel, "Ramona," and we quote her own language when she says 
of it "I put my heart and soul into it." The book enjoyed wonderful popularity 
not only in this country but in England. In June, 1884, a fall caused a long, 
severe and painful illness. She was taken to Los Angeles, for the winter, but a 
slow malarial fever followed and she was removed to San Francisco and on the 
evening of August 12, 1885, she died. Her two works "Ramona," and "The 
Century of Dishonor" will ever preserve her name among the famous literary 
women of America. "The Century of Dishonor," has placed her name among 
the up-builders of our nation. She was buried near the summit of Cheyenne 
Mountain, four miles from Colorado Springs, a spot of her own choosing, and 
which is to-day one of the shrines of America. 

THE CARY SISTERS. 

The Cary sisters stand out as the most prominent poetical writers of the 
state of Ohio. Alice Cary was born April 26, 1820, on the farm of her father, 
situated within the present limits of Mount Healthy, Ohio. In 1832, the family 
moved to a larger residence near their former home, and it was christened 
"Clover Nook." Alice Cary had only the advantages of ordinary school educa- 
tion, but began early in life to contribute literary compositions, and at the age 
of eighteen, her first poetical adventure, "The Child of Sorrow," to the Sentinel 
and Star, a universalist paper of Cincinnati. Gradually her reputation spread and 
she contributed to many papers, among them, the National Mirror of Washington, 
D. C, the editor of which, Dr. Bailey, was the first to consider her writings 
worthy of pecuniary reward. In 1848, her name appeared first among the female 
poets of America, and in 1850, a small collection of poems by Alice and Phoebe 
Cary made their first appearance. Horace Greeley and John G. Whittier were 
among the warm friends and literary admirers of the Cary sisters. In i860, 
Alice moved to New York City, and on February 12, 1870, she died. 

PHOEBE CARY. 

Was born September 4, 1824, in the old homestead at Clover Nook, Hamil- 
ton County, Ohio. Her writings were noted for their sincerity and sweetness. 
Her gifts were hardly inferior to those of her sister, Alice, whom she outlived but 
one year and a half, dying July 31, 1871. 



Women in Professions 8ii 



ALICE WILLIAMS BROTHERTON. 

Daughter of Alfred Baldwin Williams and Ruth Hoge Johnson Williams, 
was born at Cambridge, Indiana, her parents removing to Cincinnati, Ohio, when 
she was quite young. Her education was received mainly from the grammar and 
high schools of Cincinnati. She was married October 18, 1876, to Mr. William 
Ernest Brotherton of that city. She has been a constant contributor to news- 
papers and magazines, a prominent college woman, and has devoted much time 
to essays and writings on Shakespeare, delivering lectures before women's col- 
leges and dramatic schools. 

EDITH MATILDA THOMAS. 

Was born in Chatham, Ohio, August 12, 1854. Daughter of Frederick J. 
Thomas and Jane Louisa Sturges Thomas, both natives of New England, her 
great-grandfather being a soldier in the Revolutionary War. The family lived 
for a short time at Kenton, Ohio, and also at Bowling Green, where her father 
died in 1861. Soon after this, her mother and sisters moved to Geneva, Ohio, 
where Edith received her education at the Normal Institute. She taught for a 
short time in Geneva, but soon decided to make literature her profession. She 
had, while a student, contributed to the newspapers, and her first admirer was 
Helen Hunt Jackson, who brought her to the attention of the editors of the 
Atlantic Monthly and Century. In 1888, Miss Thomas moved to New York City, 
making her home on Staten Island, and has devoted her entire time to literature, 
being a frequent contributor to the prominent magazines of the day. 

ALICE ARCHER SEWALL JAMES. 

Daughter of Frank Sewall, an eminent Swedenborgian divine, and Thedia 
Redelia Gilchrist Sewall, and was born at Glendale, Ohio, in 1870, where her 
father was in charge of a church. The family removed to Urbana, Ohio, that 
year, and Doctor Sewall became president of Urbana University. Here Alice 
received her early education. At sixteen, she studied in the art schools of 
Glasgow, Scotland, traveling later on the Continent. In 1899, her home was in 
Washington, D. C, and here she met Mr. John H. James, a prominent attorney 
of Urbana, Ohio, whom she married. As an artist, Mrs. James' work has 
received much favorable comment and honors from the New York Architectural 
League, the Philadelphia Academy of Art, the Chicago World's Fair, the Exposi- 
tions of Atlanta and Nashville, and at the Salon, Paris. Her illustrative work 
is of a high order, and she has contributed designs to the Century Magazine, 
Harper's Monthly, and the Cosmopolitan. She is hardly less noted as a poet 
than as a painter, and has published several volumes of verses. She was the 
authoress of the "Centennial Ode" of Champagne County, Ohio. 

MARGARET JUNKIN PRESTON. 

Daughter of Rev. Dr. Junkin, the founder of Lafayette College in Pennsyl- 
vania, was born in Philadelphia in 1820. Her father moved to Virginia in 1848, 



8i2 Part Taken by Women in American History 

and became the president of Washington College in Lexington, now known as 
the Washington and Lee University. He was succeeded in this position by 
Robert E. Lee. In 1857, Miss Junkin married Professor J. T. L. Preston, one 
of the professors of the Virginia Military Institute. Mrs. Preston belonged 
to a very noted family of the South, her brother being General Stonewall Jack- 
son, who was also one of the professors of this famous college of the South. A 
few years prior to her death, she removed to Baltimore, her son being a prominent 
physician and surgeon of that city, and here she died March 28, 1897. She was 
a great admirer of the Scotch writers and produced some valuable literary work 
in verse and prose, which appeared in the magazines and journals of the day. 
she also published five volumes of poems. "Her Centennial Ode" for the Wash- 
ington and Lee University was considered a very notable production. Much of 
her writings were of a religious character, and all breathed a very pure, simple 
and sweet nature. 

MARGARET FULLER. (MARCHIONESS D'OSSOLI.) 

Margaret Fuller was a woman of most eccentric genius and great mental 
powers. She was born May 23, 1810, the daughter of Timothy Fuller, Esq., of 
Cambridge, Mass. In very early life Miss Fuller was put to the study of classical 
languages and showed wonderful power of acquisition. She then turned to 
living tongues and before she reached a mature age she was accounted a giant 
of philological accomplishments. Indeed she poured over the German philosophers 
until her very being became imbued with their transcendental doctrines. She was 
the best educated woman in the country and devoted her life to raising the 
standard of woman's intellectual training. To this effect she opened classes for 
women's instruction in several of the larger towns of New England. 

Her first publication was a translation of Goethe's "Conversation," which 
appeared in 1839. In the following year she was employed by the publisher of 
the "Dial," at whose head was Ralph Waldo Emerson, and she aided in the 
editorship of that journal for several years. In 1843 Miss Fuller moved to New 
York and entered into arrangement with the publishers of the Tribune, to aid in 
its literary department. This same year she made public her best literary effort, 
her "Summer on the Lakes," a journal of a journey to the West. 

MARTHA JOANNA LAMB. 

Mrs. Martha Joanna Lamb was born on August 18, 1829, at Plainfield, 
Massachusetts. She was at one time considered the leading woman historian 
of the nineteenth century. She is a life member of the American Historical 
Association and a Fellow of the Clarendon Association of Edinburgh, Scotland. 
Was editor of the Magazine of American History for eleven years. Her father 
was Arvin Nash and her mother was Lucinda Vinton. Her grandfather, Jacob 
Nash, was a Revolutionary soldier. The family is an old English one and to it 
belong the Rev. Treadway Nash D.D., the historian, and his wife, Joanna Reade, 
and to her family belongs Charles Reade, the well-known novelist. The ancestors 



Women in Professions 813 

of the Reade family came to America in the "Mayflower." Mrs. Lamb made her 
home at different times at Goshen, Massachusetts, Northampton and Easthamp- 
ton. In 1882 she became the wife of Charles A. Lamb, and became conspicu- 
ous in charitable work in the city of Chicago, in which they resided from 1857 to 
1866. She was an active worker after the great fire of 1863. In 1866 the Lambs 
made their home in New York City. Mrs. Lamb had always been a woman of 
remarkable mathematical talent and training. In 1879 she prepared for Harper's 
Magazine a notable paper translating to unlearned readers the mysteries and 
work of the Coast Survey. She has written a remarkable history of the city 
of New York, in two volumes, which was pronounced by competent authorities 
to be the best history ever written on any great city in the world. The prepara- 
tion of this work required fifteen years of study and research. The list of Mrs. 
Lamb's works is long and distinguished, among them many historical sketches. 
Some titles are: "Lyme, a Chapter of American Genealogy"; "Chimes of Old 
Trinity," "State and Society in Washington," "The Coast Survey," "The Homes 
of America," "Memorial to Dr. Rust" and the "Philanthropist;" several sketches 
for magazines, "Unsuccessful candidates for the Presidential Nomination," sketch 
of Major-General John A. Dix, "Historical Homes in Lafayette Place," "The 
Historical Homes of Our Presidents." It is said that Mrs. Lamb wrote upwards 
of two hundred articles, essays and short stories, for weekly and monthly period- 
icals, but her greatest work was her "History of the City of New York," which 
is a standard authority and will be throughout all time. Mrs. Lamb died in 1893. 

EMMA D. E. N. SOUTHWORTH. 

Emma D. E. Nevitt was the eldest daughter of Captain Charles Nevitt, of 
Alexandria, Virginia. Was born in Washington, D. C, December 26, 1819. 
The family was descended from those of high rank in England and France. 
Her people had emigrated to this country in 1632, and were conspicuous in the 
American Revolution. Her father served at the head of a company in the War 
of 1812, receiving a wound from which he never recovered. At the age of forty- 
five, Captain Nevitt married his second wife, a young girl of but fifteen years 
and removed to Washington, where they leased a large house said to have 
been occupied at one time by General Washington. Mrs. Nevitt, after Captain 
Nevitt's death, married the second time, her husband being Joshua L. Henshaw 
of Boston, and to him Mrs. Southworth says she is indebted almost entirely for 
her education. Among her early writings is "The Irish Refugee," which was 
accepted by the editor of the Baltimore Saturday Visitor, who so encouraged the 
young writer that she wrote "The Wife's Victory." A few of her early stories 
were printed in the National Era of Washington City, its editor engaging her as 
a regular writer for that paper. She then commenced her third novel "Sibyl's 
Brother, or The Temptation," and in 1849 "Retribution" was published by Harper 
Brothers, and in five years after its appearance she had written "The Deserted 
Wife," "Shannondale," "The Mother-in-Law," "Children of the Isle," "The Foster 
Sisters," "The Courts of Clifton," "Old Neighbors in New Settlements," "The 
Lost Heiress" and "Hickory Hall." Her prolific pen was latterly engaged exclu- 



814 Part Taken by Women in American History 

sively for the New York Ledger. In 1853 Mrs. Southworth moved to a beautiful 
old home on the heights above the Potomac in Georgetown, and this became the 
rendezvous of distinguished people from all parts of the country. Here, in what 
was known as Prospect Cottage, Mrs. Southworth spent the last years of her 
life, dying there June 30, 1899. 

MADELEINE VINTON DAHLGREN. 

The wife of the distinguished Admiral Dahlgren was born in Gallipolis, 
Ohio, about 1835. She was the only daughter of Samuel F. Vinton, who served 
with distinction as a member of Congress for some years. At an early age she 
became the wife of Daniel Convers Goddard, who left her a widow with two 
children. On the 2nd of August, 1865, she became the wife of Admiral Dahlgren, 
and three children were born of this marriage. Admiral Dahlgren died in 1870. 
Her first contributions to the press were written in 1859 under the signature 
"Corinne." She also used the pen-name "Cornelia." Her first book was a little 
book entitled "Idealities." She made several translations from the French, 
Spanish and Italian languages, among them, "Montalembert's Brochure," "Pius 
IX," and the philosophical works of Donoso Cortes from the Spanish. These 
translations brought her many complimentary notices and an autographed letter 
from Pope Pius IX, and the thanks of the Queen of Spain. She was also the 
author of a voluminous biograph of Admiral Dahlgren and a number of novels 
including, "The South-Mountain Magic," "A Washington Winter," "The Lost 
Name," "Lights and Shadows of a Life," "Divorced," "South Sea Sketches," and 
a volume on "Etiquette of Social Life in Washington," and quite a number of 
essays, reviews, and short stories for the leading papers and periodicals of the 
day. She was a woman of fine talent and a thorough scholar, and in the social 
circles of Washington of which she was a conspicuous figure, she was con- 
sidered a literary authority, and the Literary Society of Washington, of which 
she was one of the founders, had about the only "Salon" ever in existence in 
Washington. Her house was the center of a brilliant circle of official and literary 
life of the Capital city. In 1870-1873 she actively opposed the movement for 
female suffrage, presenting a petition to Congress which had been extensively 
signed asking that the right to vote should not be extended to women. Mrs. 
Dahlgren was a devout Catholic, and was for some time president of the Ladies' 
Catholic Missionary Society of Washington, and built a chapel at her summer 
home on South Mountain, Maryland, near the battlefield, known as St. Joseph's 
of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. 

EMILY LEE SHERWOOD. 

Mrs. Sherwood was born in 1843, in Madison, Indiana, where she spent 
her childhood. Her father, Monroe Wells Lee, was a native of Ohio ; her mother, 
of the state of Massachusetts. At the age of sixteen she entered the office of 
her brother, who published the Herald and Era, a religious weekly paper in 
Indianapolis. Here she did most creditably whatever work she was asked to do 



Women in Professions 815 

in the various departments of this paper. At the age of twenty she became the 
wife of Henry Lee Sherwood, a young attorney of Indianapolis, and later they 
made their home in Washington, D. C. Mrs. Sherwood became one of the 
most prominent newspaper correspondents of the Capital city. She sent letters 
to the various papers over the country and was a contributor of stories and 
miscellaneous articles to the general press. In 1889 she became a member of the 
staff of the Sunday Herald, of Washington, D. C, and contributed articles also 
to the New York Sun and World. She is an all-round author, writing in con- 
nection with her newspaper work, books, reviews, stories, character sketches, 
society notes and reports. She published a novel entitled "Willis Peyton's Inheri- 
tance"; is an active member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, National 
Press League and the Triennial Council of Women. 

JULIA HOLMES SMITH. 

Born in Savannah, Georgia, December 23, 1839. On her mother's side, 
her grandfather was Captain George Raynall Turner, United States Navy. She 
was educated in the famous seminary of Gorman D. Abbott, and after graduating, 
married Waldo Abbott, eldest son of the historian, John S. C. Abbott. Mrs. 
Abbott was the organizer and first president of the Woman's Medical Association, 
the only society of its kind in America. In 1889 she contributed to the New 
York Ledger a series of articles on "Common Sense in the Nursery." She was 
at one time the only woman who contributed to the Arndts System of Medicine. 

MARY STUART SMITH. 

Mrs. Mary Stuart Smith was born at the University of Virginia, February 
10, 1834. Was the second daughter of Professor Gessner Harrison and his wife, 
Eliza Lewis Carter Tucker. In 1853 sne became the wife of Professor Francis H. 
Smith, of the University of Virginia. Besides original articles, her translations 
from the German for leading periodicals form a long list. She is a most pleasing 
writer for children. 

MARY ELIZABETH SHERWOOD. 

Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Sherwood was born in Keene, New Hampshire, in 
1830. Her father, General James Wilson, served as a member of Congress from 
New Hampshire. Her mother, Mary Richardson, was well known for her great 
beauty and fine intellect. Mrs. Sherwood was a woman of strong personality and 
distinguished appearance. While living in Washington she became the wife of 
John Sherwood and soon obtained a prominent place among literary people. 
She was a contributor to all the leading magazines of the day, a writer of several 
well-known novels, among them, "A Transplanted Rose," "Sweet Briar," and 
"Royal Girls and Royal Courts," but is best known for her books on etiquette, 
being considered an authority on that subject. During Mrs. Sherwood's residence 
abroad she was prominent in the literary circles of Europe. In 1885 she gave 



816 Part Taken by Women in American History 

readings in her New York home for the benefit of the Mt. Vernon Fund. Mrs. 
Sherwood was active in many of the charities of New York City, and through 
her pen raised sums of money for many in which she was interested. Mrs. Sher- 
wood died in 1903. 

KATE BROWNLEE SHERWOOD. 

Mrs. Kate B. Sherwood was born in Mahoning County, Ohio, September 
24, 1841. Of Scotch descent, her maiden name was Brownlee. Before graduating 
from the Poland Union Seminary, she became the wife of Isaac R. Sherwood, 
afterward General Secretary of the State, and at present Congressman from Ohio. 
Her husband was the owner and editor of the Canton Daily News Democrat. 

She has always taken an active interest in all public and philanthropic 
questions for the soldiers and her state. While her husband served his first 
term in Congress, she was correspondent for the Ohio papers, and at one time 
contributed to the columns of the National 'tribune, Washington, D. C, pub- 
lished for the benefit of the Grand Army of the Republic and the soldiers of 
the country. 

Mrs. Sherwood has done valiant work for her state and the Woman's 
Relief Corps, being one of the founders of the latter organization. She was at 
one time its national president; organized the Department of Relief and instituted 
the National Home for Army Nurses in Geneva, Ohio. 

In her earlier years she was well known by her very melodious voice and 
frequently sang at meetings of military organizations. There is no woman better 
known or whose ability is more universally conceded or who wields a wider 
influence in the organizations of women for the advancement of her sex and 
the progress of our country. 

EVA MUNSON SMITH. 

Mrs. Eva Munson Smith was born July 12, 1843. She was the daughter of 
William Chandler Munson and Hannah Bailey Munson. Her mother was a direct 
descendant of Hannah Bailey of Revolutionary fame, who tore up her flannel petti- 
coat to make wadding for the guns in battle. 

Mrs. Smith has made a collection of sacred compositions of women under 
the title "Women in Sacred Song." She has written quite a number of musical 
selections. 

AMELIE RIVES. (PRINCESS TROUBETZKOY). 

Princess Troubetzkoy was born in Richmond, Virginia, August 23, 1863, 
but her early life was passed at the family home, Castle Hill, Albermarle County. 
She is a granddaughter of William Cabell Rives, once minister to France and 
who wrote the "Life of Madison." Her grandmother, Mrs. Judith Walker Rives, 
left some writings entitled "Home and the World" and "Residence in Europe." 
Amelie Rives was married in 1899 to John Armstrong Chanler, of New York. Her 
most conspicuous story was "The Quick and the Dead." She wrote "A Brother 



Women in Professions 817 

to Dragons," "Virginia of Virginia," "According to St. John," "Barbara Dering," 
"Tanis" and several other well known stories. Her first marriage proved unhappy 
and she was divorced, and has since married Prince Pierre Troubetzkoy, a 
Russian artist, and continues her literary work. 

GRACE ELIZABETH KING. 

Miss King was born in New Orleans, in 1852, and is the daughter of William 
W. and Sarah Ann King. She has attained a distinguished reputation as the 
writer of short stories of Creole life. Among them are : "Monsieur Mottee," 
"Tales of Time and Place," "New Orleans, the Place and the People," "Jean 
Baptiste Lemoine, Founder of New Orleans," "Balcony Stories," "De Soto and 
His Men in the Land of Florida," "Stories from the History of Louisiana." 

ELIZABETH WORMELEY LATIMER. 

Mrs. Elizabeth Wormeley Latimer was born in London, England, in July, 
1822. Her father was Rear Admiral Ralph Randolph Wormeley of the English 
navy, and her mother was Caroline Preble, of Boston, Massachusetts. In 1842 
she was a member of the family of George Ticknor, of Boston, and her first 
literary work was the appendix to Prescott's Conquest, of Mexico. Her father's 
death occurred at Niagara Falls, in 1852. In 1856 Miss Wormeley married 
Randolph Brandt Latimer and they later made their home in Howard County, 
Maryland. Mrs. Latimer's works have been quite numerous. Among them are 
"Cousin Veronica," "Amabel," "My Wife and My Wife's Sister," "A Chain of 
Errors," and "France in the Nineteenth Century." Mrs. Latimer died in 1904. 

MARY A. RIPLEY. 

Was born January n, 183 1, and was the daughter of John Huntington Ripley 
and Eliza L. Spalding Ripley. The Huntington family was very prominent in 
New England, one of its members, Samuel Huntington, signed the Declaration 
of Independence and Articles of Federation. On her mother's side Miss Ripley 
is descended from a distinguished French Huguenot family. She taught school 
in Buffalo for many years and contributed letters, articles on questions of the 
day and short poems. Her poems are characterized by sweetness and vigor. Her 
articles attracted much attention and exerted a wide influence. In 1867 she 
published a small book entitled "Parsing Lessons for School Room Use," which 
was followed by "Household Service," published under the auspices of the Woman's 
Educational and Industrial Union, of Buffalo. Her health failing, she resigned 
her position and removed to Carney, Nebraska, where she took an active part in 
every good work of that state, and was later made state superintendent of 
Scientific Temperance Instruction in the public schools and colleges of Nebraska. 

EMMA WINNER ROGERS. 

Was a native of Plainfield, New Jersey. She is the daughter of Reverend 
John Ogden Winner and granddaughter of Reverend Isaac Winner, D.D., both 



8i8 Part Taken by Women in American History 

clergymen of the Methodist Episcopal Church. For six years she was the cor- 
responding secretary of the Woman's Home Missionary Society of the Detroit 
Conference and later honorary president of the Rock River Conference, Woman's 
Home Missionary Society. She is specially interested in literary work on the 
lines of social science and political economy and has been a contributor on 
these subjects to various papers and periodicals. She has written a monograph 
entitled "Deaconesses in the Early and Modern Church." Mrs. Rogers is a woman 
of marked ability and specially endowed with strong logical faculties and the 
power of dispassionate judgment. She is of the type of American College women 
who, with the advantage of higher training and higher education, bring their 
disciplined faculties to bear with equally good effect upon the amenities of social 
life and the philanthropic and economic questions of the day. She is the wife of 
Henry Wade Rogers, of Buffalo, New York, dean of the Law School of the 
University of Michigan, and later president of the Northwestern University of 
Evanston, Illinois. As the wife of the president of a great University her influence 
upon the young men and women connected with it was marked and advantageous. 
Mrs. Rogers has left an impress upon the life of her times that is both salutary and 
permanent. 

ELLEN SARGENT RUDE. 

Born March 17, 1838, in Sodus, New York. Her mother died when she was 
an infant. Educated in the public schools of Sodus and Lima, New York. She 
became the wife of Benton C. Rude, in 1859. She won a prize for a temperance 
story from the Temperance Patriot. Some of the choicest poems of the "Arbor Day 
Manual" are from her pen. 

GRACE ATKINSON OLIVER. 

Born in Boston, September 24, 1844. In 1869 she became the wife of John 
Harvard Ellis, the son of Reverend John E. Ellis, of Boston, who died a year 
after they were married. She was for some years a regular contributor to the 
Boston Transcript. In 1874 Mrs. Ellis spent a season in London and while there 
met some of the members of the family of Maria Edgeworth, who suggested her 
writing the life of Miss Edgeworth. This she did, and the book was published 
in the famous old corner book store in Boston, in 1882. In 1879 she became 
the wife of Doctor Joseph P. Oliver, of Boston. Subsequently she wrote a 
memoir of the Reverend Dean Stanley, which was brought out both in Boston 
and London. Mrs. Oliver is a member of the New England Woman's Press 
Association and the New England Woman's Club; vice-president of the Thought 
and Work Clnb, in Salem, and a member of the Essex Institute, in Salem. Mrs. 
Oliver died in 1899. 

ELIZABETH MARTHA OLMSTED. 

Born December 31, 1825, in Caledonia, New York. Her father, Oliver Allen, 
belonged to the family of Ethan Allen. In 1853 she became the wife of John 



Women in Professions 819 

R. Olmsted, of LeRoy, New York. The Olmsteds were descended from the 
first settlers of Hartford, Connecticut, and pioneers of the Genesee Valley, New 
York. Her poems were well known during the war, and appeared in the news- 
papers and magazines of that period. 

MARY FROST ORMSBY. 

Was born in 1852 in Albany, New York. Her family connections included 
many distinguished persons. She opened a school known as the Seabury Institute, 
in New York City, a private school for young women. She has been active in 
reforms and movements on social and philanthropic lines. Mrs. Ormsby is a 
member of the Sorosis Club also of the American Society of Authors, Woman's 
National Press Association, an officer and member of the Pan Republican Con- 
gress and Human Freedom League, a member of the executive committee of the 
Universal Peace Union and in 1891 was a delegate from the United States to the 
Universal Peace Congress, in Rome, Italy. Writer of short stories and a con- 
tributor of articles to various publications. 

REGINA ARMSTRONG NIEHAUS. 

Was born in Virginia, March 4, 1869. Daughter of Thomas J. and Jane Ann 
Welch. Married Charles Henry Niehaus, in 1900. Has contributed poems, stories 
and critiques to leading New York magazine since 1896, also to The Studio, London. 

MARIA I. JOHNSTON. 

Mrs. Maria I. Johnston was born in Fredericksburg, Virginia, May, 1835. 
Her father was Judge Richard Barnett, of Fredericksburg, who later removed 
to Vicksburg, Mississippi, and here Mrs. Johnston was a resident during the terrible 
forty days' siege of that city during the Civil War. That experience was made 
the subject of her first novel, "The Siege of Vicksburg." She was a contributor 
to the New Orleans Picayune, The Times Democrat and to the Boston Women's 
Journal. Since the death of her husband, Doctor W. R. Johnston, Mrs. Johnston 
has supported herself by her pen. She has educated her children, one son, a 
graduate of Yale, becoming a Judge of the Circuit Court of Montana. She was 
editor at one time of St. Louis Spectator, a weekly family paper. She has made 
her home in St. Louis, Missouri, for some time. 

CORNELIA JANE MATTHEWS JORDAN. 

Mrs. Cornelia Jane Matthews Jordan was born at Lynchburg, Virginia, in 
1830. Her father was Edwin Matthews and her mother, Emily Goggin Matthews. 
Her parents dying when she was young, she was brought up by her grand- 
mother. In 1851 she married F. H. Jordan, a lawyer of Luray, Virginia. She is 
the author of many poems and some quite stirring lyrics of the Civil War. Her 
book of poems entitled "Corinth, and other Poems," published after the surrender 



820 Part Taken by Women in American History 

was seized by the military commander of Richmond and suppressed. She has 
published a volume entitled "Richmond, Her Glory and Her Graves." Has also 
contributed many articles to magazines and newspapers, the best of which are 
"The Battle of Manassas," "The Death of Jackson and Appeal for Jefferson Davis." 
She is a member of the Alumni of the Convent of the Visitation, Georgetown, 
District of Columbia, her Alma Mater. 

RUTH WARD KAHN. 

Mrs. Ruth Ward Kahn was born in August, 1870, in Jackson, Michigan. She 
is a contributor to magazines and local newspapers. She is one of the youngest 
members of the Incorporated Society of Authors, of London, England. She is a 
member of the Authors' and Artists' Club, of Kansas City, and the Women's 
National Press Association. 

MAREA WOOD JEFFERIS. 

Mrs. Marea Wood Jefferis was born at Providence, Rhode Island, and is a 
descendant of William Brewster, of Mayflower fame. Her father is Doctor J. F. B. 
Flagg, a distinguished physician, who is well known through his work on 
anesthetics, and to whom is justly due the credit of making them practicable 
in the United States. 

Her grandfather, Doctor Josiah Foster Flagg, was one of the early 
pioneers in dental surgery in the United States. Mrs. Jefferis' first husband was 
Thomas Wood; her second husband, Professor William Walter Jefferis, dis- 
tinguished scientist and mineralogist. Mrs. Jefferis has published a volume of verses 
in memory of her daughter, the proceeds of which she has devoted to charity. She 
is a prominent resident of Philadelphia and is actively interested in all charitable 
work. 

LUCY LARCOM. 

Miss Lucy Larcom was born in Beverley, Massachusetts, in 1826. Her 
father died when she was but a child. In her early life Miss Larcom worked 
in the factories in Lowell, Massachusetts, and in her books "Idyls of Work" and 
a "New England Girlhood" she describes the life in these places. During her 
work she had constantly before her text-books to further her education, and 
in 1842 the operatives in the Lowell mills published a paper known as the 
Offering. Miss Larcom became one of the corps of writers for this paper and 
in it appeared many of her first poems; also verses and essays which were after- 
wards collected and published in book form. Miss Larcom holds an honored 
place among the women poets of America. Among her earliest contributions to 
the Atlantic Monthly was the "Rose Enthroned" which was attributed to Emerson, 
as it was published anonymously. "A Loyal Woman's Party" attracted considerable 
attention during the Civil War; also her poems entitled "Childhood's Songs." 
She was at one time a teacher in one of the young women's seminaries of 
Massachusetts. She was also a contributor to Our Young Folks, and at one time 



Women in Professions 821 

was the associate editor and later the editor of this periodical. She also collected 
and published in two volumes a compilation from the world's greatest religious 
thinkers, under the title of "Breathings of the Better Life." She was the author 
of a number of religious works. Her death occurred in Boston, April 17, 1893. 

JOSEPHINE B. THOMAS PORTUONDO. 

Was born in Belleville, Illinois, November 23, 1867. Her grandfather was 
William H. Bissell, the first Republican Governor of Illinois. Writer of short 
stories and contributor to Benziger's Magazine and the Catholic Standard and 
Times. 

MARY F. NIXON ROULET. 

author, journalist, musician, art critic, and noted linguist. On her father's 
side she is descended from a distinguished English family who were prominent 
in the Revolution of 1812. On her mother's side, the family were prominent in 
Connecticut, and fought in the Revolutionary War. She was born in Indianapolis, 
Indiana, and educated in Philadelphia. She married Alfred de Roulet, B.S. and 
M.D. She is the author of several books, "The Harp of Many Chords," "Lasca and 
Other Stories," "The Blue Lady's Knight," "St. Anthony in Art," books on Spain, 
Alaska, Brazil, Greece, and Australia, also Japanese Folk and Fairy Tales, Indian 
Folk and Fairy Tales, and a contributor to the Ladies' Home Journal, The Mes- 
senger, The Catholic World, The Rosary, New York Sun, New York World, 
Boston Transcript and Ave Maria. Secretary of the Illinois Women's Press 
Association. 

MARGARET ELLEN HENRY RUFFIN. 

Was born in Alabama and is the daughter of Thomas Henry, of Kilglas, 
Ireland, who was a prominent merchant and banker of Mobile, Alabama. Her 
mother was a cousin of Archbishop Corrigan, of New York. One of her ancestors 
was the last Spanish Governor of Mobile. In 1887 she married Francis Gildart 
Ruffin, Jr., of Richmond, Virginia, who was the son of Francis G. Ruffin auditor 
of the state of Virginia for many years, and a great-great-grandson of Thomas 
Jefferson, and related to almost all the prominent families in Virginia, the Ran- 
dolphs, Harrisons, Carys, Fairfaxes, and others. Mrs. Ruffin has written several 
books, one of which, "The North Star," a Norwegian historical work, was 
translated into the Norwegian language for the schools of that country, and she 
had the honor of receiving the congratulations of the King and Queen of 
Norway for this work; also having her name mentioned among the writers of 
consequence by the Society of Gens de Lettres, of Paris, in the Bibliotheque 
Nationale and given acclaim by the department of Belles Lettres of the Sor- 
bonne, University of Paris, after receiving the degree of Doctor of Literature. 
Is the author of a small volume of poems entitled, "Drifting Leaves," and a story 
in verse, "John Gildart." Is a contributor to the magazines and papers of both 
the secular and religious press. 



822 Part Taken by Women in American History 



MARGARET LYNCH SENN. 

Was born in 1882 in Chicago. Was the wife of a distinguished surgeon of 
that city, the late Doctor William Nicholas Senn. Mrs. Senn after her husband's 
death presented to the Newberry Library, of Chicago, the cygne noir edition 
number one of H. H. Bancroft's "Book of Health" in ten massive volumes. She 
is a contributor to the Rosary Magazine and Times. 

HELEN GRACE SMITH. 

Daughter of General Thomas Kilby Smith and was born in December, 

1865, at Torresdale, Pennsylvania. Contributor of poems to various magazines, 

The Atlantic Monthly, Lippincott's, The Rosary, Catholic World and other 
religious papers. 

MARY AGNES EASBY SMITH. 

Was born in Washington, District of Columbia, February, 1855, when her 
father, Honorable William Russell Smith, was serving as a member of Congress 
from Alabama. Writes under the pen-name of Agnes Hampton. Has written 
sketches for several newspapers. In 1887 she married Milton E. Smith, editor 
of the Church News. Is the author of romances, poems, sketches, which have 
appeared in her husband's paper, and also Donahoe's Magazine, The Messenger 
uf the Sacred Heart, and other church publications. Wrote some of the sketches 
which appeared in the "National Cyclopedia of Biography." Is at present one of 
the expert indexers of the Agricultural Department. 

ALICE J. STEVENS. 

Editor of The Tidings, Los Angeles, California. She was born March 
10, i860. Was at one time notary public for Los Angeles County. Was also 
engaged in the real estate business prior to becoming editor of The Tidings. Is a 
contributor to Harper's, Sunset, Overland, and Los Angeles Times Magazine, also 
edited the Children's Department, of the Tidings for a number of years. Is con- 
spicuous in patriotic and philanthropic work. 

MARY FLORENCE TANEY. 

Was born at Newport, Kentucky, May 15, 1861. Her father, Peter Taney, 
was a grand-nephew of Roger B. Taney, chief justice of the United States. Her 
mother, Catherine Alphonse Taney, was descended from a distinguished Maryland 
family which came to this country with Lord Baltimore, in 1632. Miss Taney has 
been a teacher, president of a commercial college, newspaper correspondent, private 
secretary, and assistant editor of the Woman's Club Magazine. Has written an' 
operetta, the state song of Kentucky, and has contributed to the well-known 
Catholic magazines. 



Women in Professions 823 

caroline wadsworth thompson. 

Was born in 1856 in New York City. Married Charles Otis Thompson, 
whose mother was a great-granddaughter of General Israel Putnam and daughter 
of Lemuel Grosvenor, of Boston. Her grandfather on her father's side was John 
Wadsworth, of New York. The wife of her maternal grandfather, Howard 
Henderson, was of French descent and her great-grandfather was one of the 
original signers of the Louisiana Purchase. Mrs. Thompson is a contributor to the 
Ave Maria, Benziger's, and Sacred Heart Review, and is a prominent woman 
socially and in the charitable works of the Catholic Church. 

FRANCIS FISHER TIERNAN. 

Is the daughter of Colonel Charles F. Fisher, of Salisbury, North Carolina. 
Married James M. Tiernan, of Maryland. Mrs. Tiernan is a writer of note and 
some of her novels, under the pen-name of "Christian Reid," are "A Daughter 
of Bohemia," "Valerie Aylmer," "Morton House," "The Lady of Las Cruces," and 
a "Little Maid of Arcady," and many others. 

ELEANOR ELIZABETH TONG. 

Daughter of Lucius G. Tong, at one time professor in the Notre Dame 
University. She is a descendant of William Tong, one of the Revolutionary heroes, 
and related also to Archbishop Punket. She is the author of the new manual of 
Catholic devotions under the title, "The Catholics' Manual, a New Manual of 
Prayer/' 

HONOR WALSH. 

Associate editor of the Catholic Standard and Times. Is related to Daniel 
O'Connell and is the wife of Charles Thomas Walsh, of Philadelphia. She 
has charge of the home and school page of the Young Crusader. Is the author 
of "The Story Book House," and contributor to the New York Sun, Youth's Com- 
panion, Benziger's, Donahoe's, The Rosary, Irish Monthly and other publications 
of the Roman Catholic Church. 

PAULINE WILLIS. 

Was born in 1870, in Boston, Massachusetts. Daughter of Hamilton and 
Helen Phillips. Was a direct descendant on her mother's side, of Reverend George 
Phillips, of Watertown, Massachusetts, who came to this country in 1630 in 
Governor Winthrop's Massachusetts Colony from Norfolk, England. The 
descendants of this Doctor Phillips were the founders of the Phillips' Academy, 
at Andover, Massachusetts. Miss Willis is the author of "The Willis' Records, or 
Records of the Willis Family of Haverhill, Portland, and Boston"; also a memoir 
of her late brother, Hamilton Willis, and is a contributor to the Catholic and 



824 Part Taken by Women in American History 

secular press, and active worker in the charitable works and the foreign missions 
of the Roman Catholic Church. 

CELIA LOGAN. 

Was born in 1840, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. When quite young she 
filled a highly responsible position as critical reader of manuscripts in a large 
publishing house of London. While here she was a regular correspondent of the 
Boston Saturday Evening Gazette and the Golden Era of San Francisco, and was 
well-known as a writer of short stories for magazines in the United States and 
England. After the war, on her return to America, she became associate editor 
of the Capital, Don Piatt's paper published in Washington, District of Columbia. 
She did a great deal of translating from French and Italian. She was a writer 
of plays, the first of which was entitled "Rose," followed by "An American 
Marriage." In one of her plays Fay Templeton made her appearance and won 
success as a child actress. She wrote several stories and arranged and adapted 
from the French several plays. Her first husband was Minor K. Kell- 
ogg, an artist. After his death she married James H. Connelly, an author. She 
died in 1904. 

HARRIET M. LOTHROP. 

Was born June 22, 1844, in New Haven, Connecticut. She is best known 
under her pen-name "Margaret Sidney." Daughter of Sidney Mason Stone and 
Harriet Mulford Stone, and is connected with some of the most distinguished 
of the Puritan families. Her genius for writing began to develop early and the 
products of her pen have had wide circulation and enjoyed an enviable reputation. 
She is the author of the well-known "Five Little Pepper Stories," stories 
for children and young people. Mrs. Lothrop has written many books. Her 
story, "A New Departure for Girls" was written for those who are left without 
the means of support with the object of having them see their opportunities. 
In October 1881, she married Daniel Lothrop, the publisher and founder 
of the D. Lothrop Company. Their home at Wayside, in Concord, New 
Hampshire, is well-known, having been the home of Nathaniel Hawthorne. 
Mr. Lothrop's death occurred March 18, 1892, and since that time Mrs. 
Lothrop has devoted herself entirely to literary work, the education of her daughter, 
and to the patriotic societies of which she is a member. She is the originator 
and organizer of the children's society known as the "Children of the American 
Revolution," to instill and encourage a spirit of patriotism in the children of 
America whose mothers are members of the Daughters of the American 
Revolution. Mrs. Lothrop is a woman of remarkable ability, fine literary talent, 
and possessed of unusual business qualifications. She is the author of "Polly 
Pepper's Chicken Pie," "Phronsie's New Shoes," "Miss Scarrett," "So as by 
Fire" "Judith Pettibone," "Half Year at Bronckton." "How They Went to 
Europe," "The Golden West," "Old Concord; Her Highways and Byways," 
etc. She is the author of many short stories which have been published in 
various periodicals for children and young people of the United States. 



Women in Professions 825 



FRANCES LAWTON MACE. 

Was born January 15, 1836. Her poems have appeared in the New York 
Journal of Commerce. At the age of eighteen she published her famous hymn, 
"Only Waiting," in the Waterville Mail, which has been rated as a classic. In 
1855 she became the wife of Benjamin L. Mace, a lawyer of Bangor, and they 
later removed to San Jose, California. In 1883 she published a collection of 
poems in a volume entitled "Legends, Lyrics, and Sonnets," and later one entitled 
"Under Pine and Palm." 

CALLIE BONNEY MARBLE. 

Was born in Peoria, Illinois. Daughter of Honorable C. C. Bonney, a late 
noted lawyer of Chicago. She has inherited from a legal ancestry great mental 
strength. She has published two prose works, "Wit and Wisdom of Bulwer," and 
"Wit and Wisdom of Webster," and has made many translations of Victor Hugo's 
shorter works. She has written poems, sketches, stories for periodicals, and quite a 
number of songs which were set to music. She dramatized the "Rienzi" of Bul- 
wer. She married Earl Marble, the well-known editor, art and dramatic critic, 
and author. 

VELMA CALDWELL MELVILLE. 

Writer of prose and poetry. Was born July 1, 1858, in Greenwood, Wisconsin. 
Her mother's maiden name was Artlissa Jordan. Her father lost his life before 
Petersburg during the Civil War. She is the wife of James E. Melville, a well- 
known educator and prohibitionist. She was at one time editor of the Home Circle 
and Youths' Department of the Practical Farmer of Philadelphia, and the Hearth 
and Home Department of the Wisconsin Farmer, of Madison, Wisconsin. She 
has been one of the most voluminous writers in current publications that the 
Central West has produced. 

DORA RICHARDS MILLER. 

Was born in the Island of St. Thomas, Danish West Indies. Her father, 
Richard Richards, was descended from a noted English family. Through her 
mother, she was descended from the family of Hezekiah Huntington, of Connecti- 
cut. On the death of her father, and on account of many losses through insurrec- 
tion of the natives and hurricanes, to which this island was subject, her mother 
removed to New Orleans. In 1862 she became the wife of Anderson Miller, a 
lawyer from Mississippi, and went to Arkansas to reside. Troubles resulting from 
the war caused the breaking up of her family, and some of their experiences during 
the siege of Vicksburg are recounted in her articles published in the Century Maga- 
zine, entitled "Diary of a Young Woman During the Siege of Vicksburg," and 
"Diary of a Young Woman in the South." After her husband's death she taught 
in the public schools, and ultimately was appointed to the chair of science in the 
Girls' High School of New Orleans. During all this time she was a contributor to 
the local press. In 1886 her war diary was published in the Century, and attracted 



826 Part Taken by Women in American History 

great attention. In 1889, she wrote, in conjunction with George W. Cable, "The 
Haunted House on Royal Street." She has written also for Lippincott's, Louisiana 
Journal of Education and Practical Housekeeper. 

CLARA JESSUP MOORE. 

Poet, novelist and philanthropist ; was born February 16, 1824, in Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania. Her mother's family name is found in the Doomsday Book compiled 
in 1086. She is of distinguished ancestry, and descended from some of the prom- 
inent families of Virginia, Massachusetts and other states of the Union. One of 
her ancestors was lieutenant in King Phillip's War, and many of the prominent 
men of pioneer days are among Mrs. Moore's ancestors. She became the wife of 
Bloomfield Haines Moore, of Philadelphia, Pa., in October, 1842. After her mar- 
riage her home in Philadelphia became the resort of literary people, among them 
some of the most gifted authors of the day, and at this time she began her literary 
work. In 1855 she was widely known as a writer of prose and poetry, and her 
name appears in "Hart's Female Prose Writers of America." She is the author 
of a long list of novels and short stories. She did splendid work on the Sanitary 
Commission during the war, being corresponding secretary of the Women's Penn- 
sylvania Branch. She also organized the special relief committee, which took such 
an active part in hospital work during the Civil War, a non-sectional organization. 
After the war Mrs. Moore resumed her literary work, and has given from the pro- 
ceeds of her labors liberally to works of charity. One of her articles, which appeared 
in Lippincott's Magazine in 1873, under the title "Unsettled Points of Etiquette," 
drew upon her much unfavorable comment. In 1873 she published a revised edition 
of "The Young Lady's Friend," and in 1875 a collection of verses, followed by many 
others; one "On Dangerous Ground" reached its seventh edition, and was translated 
into Swedish and French. It is eminently a book for women. She at one time 
maintained her residence in London, England, which was a center for literary and 
scientific men and women of the day. 

E. PAULINE JOHNSON. 

E. Pauline Johnson was born in Brant county, Ontario, at the city of Brant- 
fort. Her father, George Henry Martin Johnson, was head chief of the Mohawks. 
Her mother, Emily S. Howells, an English woman, was born in Bristol, England. 
Her paternal grandfather was the distinguished John "Sakayenkwaeaghton" (Dis- 
appearing Mist) Johnson, a pure Mohawk, and the speaker of the Six Nation 
Council for forty years. During the War of 1812 he fought for the British. His 
paternal great-grandfather, Tekahionwake, was given the name of Johnson by Sir 
William Johnson, hence the family name which they now use. Mrs. Johnson is a 
writer of verse and a contributor to many of the leading papers in Canada and the 
United States, of the latter the Boston Transcript. 

GENIE CLARK POMEROY. 

Born in April, 1867, in Iowa City, Iowa. Her father, Rush Clark, was one 
of the early pioneers of Iowa, her mother, a teacher, who died when Mrs. Pome- 



Women in Professions 827 

roy was born. When Genie Clark was eleven years old she went to Washington, 
D. C„ to be with her father during his second term in Congress. While at school 
in Des Moines, Iowa, she met Carl H. Pomeroy, a son of the president of the Calla- 
man College, whom she married. After their marriage Mr. Pomeroy took the 
Chair of History in this college. In 1888 they moved to Seattle, Washington, and 
here Mrs. Pomeroy made her first literary venture, contributing to prominent 
papers of the Pacific coast. She is best known as a poet, though she has written 
quite a number of short stories and essays. 

IDORA M. PLOWMAN MOORE. 

Born in 1843, near Talladega, Alabama. She was known by the pen name 
of "Betsy Hamilton." She was the daughter of the late General Wm. B. McClellan 
and Mrs. Martha Robey McClellan. General McClellan was a graduate of West 
Point, and before the Civil War commanded the militia troops of the counties of 
Talladega, Clay and Randolph, in Alabama. When quite young Miss McClellan 
became the wife of a brilliant young lawyer, Albert W. Plowman, of Talladega, 
who died a few years after their marriage. Later, Mrs. Plowman married Captain 
M. V. Moore, of Atlanta, Georgia, who was on the editorial staff of the Atlanta 
Constitution, and they made their home in Auburn, Alabama. "Betsy Hamilton" 
was the author of innumerable dialect sketches of the old-time plantation life, life 
in the backwoods among the class denominated as "crackers." She wrote for the 
Constitution and the Sunny South. At the personal request of Mr. Conant, the 
editor of Harper's Weekly, several of her sketches were illustrated and appeared 
in that magazine. The late Henry W. Grady was a warm prsonal friend of Mrs. 
Moore, and aided in bringing her talent before the world and making the "Betsy 
Hamilton" sketches familiar in England as well as this country. 

ELLEN OLNEY KIRK. 

Mrs. Ellen Olney Kirk was born November 6, 1842, at Southington, Connec- 
ticut. Her father, Jesse Olney, was at one time state comptroller, and is the well- 
known author of a number of text books, particularly so as the author of a geogra- 
phy and atlas, a standard work in the American schools for many years. Her 
mother was a sister of A. S. Barnes, the New York publisher. Her first work was 
a novel, entitled "Love in Idleness," which appeared as a serial in Lippincott's 
Magazine in 1876. She has written a great deal since then. Since her marriage 
her home has been in Germantown, Pa., and the scenes of two of her books are 
laid in the region surrounding this city. One of her most noted books is entitled 
"The Story of Margaret Kent." Among her other books may be mentioned "Queen 
Money," "The Daughter of Eve," "Walfred," "Narden's Choosing" and "Ciphers." 

ADELINE GRAFTON KNOX. 

Mrs. Adeline Grafton Knox was born in Saccarappa, February 8, 1845. Her 
father was the Rev. Mark Grafton, a Methodist clergyman of New England, where 



828 Part Taken by Women in American History 

she passed her early life. At the beginning of the Civil War her father held a pas- 
torate in Albany, New York, and later one in Washington, D. C, while serving 
as a member of the House of Representatives. Miss Grafton began her literary 
career in i860, publishing a few stories and sketches under a fictitious name in the 
Republican, of Springfield, Massachusetts. In 1874 the novel "Katherine Earl" ran 
as a serial in Scribner's Monthly; another, "His Inheritance," in the same maga- 
zine. In 1889 she wrote a novelette, which appeared in book form under the title 
of "Dorothy's Experience" In this year Miss Grafton became the wife of the 
Honorable Samuel Knox, a distinguished lawyer of St. Louis, Missouri. 

AGNES LEONARD HILL. 

Born in Louisville, Kentucky, January 20, 1842. Daughter of Dr. Oliver 
Langdon and Agnes (Howard) Leonard. Writer for newspapers of Chicago and 
other cities. Has done evangelical work. In 1896 was assistant pastor of St. Paul's 
Universalist Church, Chicago. In 1905 was pastor of the Congregational Church, 
Wollaston, England. Has written on religious subjects. 

MARY HANNAH KROUT. 

Born in Crawfordsville, Indiana, November 3, 1857. Daughter of Robert 
K. and Caroline (Brown) Krout; sister of Caroline Krout; was the associate 
editor of the Crawfordsville Journal in 1881, and the Terre Haute Express in 1882; 
served ten years on the staff of the Chicago Inter-Ocean; was correspondent from 
Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia and England ; writer of syndicate letters for daily 
papers ; also several books on Hawaii ; prepared for pablication the autobiography 
of General Lew Wallace in 1906. 

SARA LOUISA VICKERS OBERHOLTZER. 

Born May 20, 1841, in Uwchlan, Pennsylvania. Her father, Paxon, and her 
mother, Anne T. Vickers were cultured Quakers. Among her best-known odes 
was "The Bayard Taylor Burial Ode," sung as Pennsylvania's tribute to her dead 
poet at his funeral services in Longwood, March 15, 1889. She is very much inter- 
ested in the study of natural history, and has been considered a naturalist of some 
prominence; has one of the finest collections of Australian bird skins and eggs in 
the United States, and has given much attention to the work of introducing school 
savings banks into the public schools, also aided in instituting the University Exten- 
sion movement; is prominent in the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. 

ANNA CAMPBELL PALMER. 

Born in Palmyra, New York, February 3, 1854. She has written a number 
of poems, which have appeared in the principal magazines ; is also a successful 
author of fiction, biography, etc. 



Women in Professions 829 



FANNIE PURDY PALMER. 

Was born July n, 1839, in New York City. Daughter of Henry and Mary 
Catherine Sharp Purdy; descended on her father's side from Captain Purdy, of 
the British army, who was killed in the battle of White Plains. Her literary con- 
tributions have been to the Home Journal, Putnam's Magazine, Peterson's Magazine 
and others. In 1862 she married Dr. William H. Palmer, surgeon of the Third 
New York Cavalry, accompanying him to the seat of war, and there continuing 
her literary work by short stories and poems for Harper's and the Galaxy, and let- 
ters to various newspapers. Since the war she has been prominently identified with 
measures for the advancement of women and the various educational and philan- 
thropic movements. From 1884-1892 she was president of the Rhode Island Wo- 
men's Club and director of the General Federation of Women's Clubs. She has taken 
special interest in popularizing the study of American history, having herself pre- 
pared and given a series of "Familiar Talks on American History," as a branch of 
the educational work of the Woman's Educational and Industrial Union. She is 
keenly alive to the importance of the higher education of women, is secretary of a 
society organized to secure for women the educational privileges of Brown Univer- 
sity, and in 1892 all of its examinations and degrees were open to women. 

HELEN WATERSON MOODY. 

Was born in Cleveland, Ohio, May 17, i860; did newspaper work on the 
Cleveland Leader and Sun, and was assistant professor of rhetoric and English 
in the University of Wooster until 1889, when she accepted a position on the staff 
of the New York Evening Sun. Mrs. Moody is best known for her articles which 
appeared in the Sun under the heading "Woman About Town," a title created for 
her, and under which she wrote in a semi-editorial manner a column every day. 
Her husband, Winfield S. Moody, Jr., is also a journalist. 

HELEN JAMES DOLE. 

Born in Worcester. Daughter of William Montgomery and Frances Fletcher 
Bennett. Translator of Victor Hugo's "Ninety-Three," Theuriet's "Abbe Daniel," 
Pierre Loti's "Iceland Fisherman," Theuriet, "Rustic Life in France," Rostand's 
"Cyrano de Bergerac," also orations of Marat, and many other French books. 

EDITH WHARTON. 

Mrs. Edward Wharton, best known to American story readers as Edith 
Wharton, author of "The House of Mirth," has a summer home at Lenox, Massa- 
chusetts, which is the scene of many gatherings of notable people. As Miss Edith 
Jones, and afterwards as Mrs. Edward Wharton, she held an enviable position in 
New York's best society, but of late she has practically given up living in the 
metropolis, and divides her time between Lenox and Paris. In the French capital 



830 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Mrs. Wharton's literary and social success has been phenomenal. The French are 
the most exclusive people, socially, in the world, but they have opened their doors 
to Mrs. Wharton in appreciation of her many gifts. The author of "The House 
of Mirth" speaks French as fluently as a native, and in that language writes regu- 
larly for L£ Revue des Deux Mondes. Some of Mrs. Wharton's other works of 
fiction are "The Valley of Decision," "Sanctuary" and "The Fruit of the Tree." 

MARY JOHNSON BAILEY LINCOLN. 

Born at Attleboro, Massachusetts, July 8, 1844. Daughter of Rev. John Mil- 
ton and Sarah Morgan Johnson Bailey. In 1865 she married David A. Lincoln, at 
Norton, Massachusetts, who is now deceased ; is a writer and lecturer on domestic 
science, and was the first principal of the Boston Cooking School ; culinary editor 
of the American Kitchen Magazine in 1893; is now a noted lecturer on cookery in 
the seminaries of the large cities of the United States ; author of the "Boston Cook 
Book," "Peerless Cook Book," "Carving and Serving," and other works on domestic 
science. 

EDITH DOWE MINITER. 

Born in Wilbraham, Massachusetts, May 19, 1869. Daughter of William 
Hilton and Jennie E. Tupper Dowe. In 18S7 married John T. F. Miniter, now 
deceased. In 1890 was city editor of the Manchester Press, the only woman editor 
of a daily in New England. In 1895-6 she was editor of the Boston Home Journal, 
and was the first woman president of the National Amateur Press Association. 
In 1888 she wrote an article for the Boston Globe, entitled "How to Dress on $40 
a Year," which created widespread notice and discussion. 

CHARLOTTE PORTER. 

Born in Towanda, Pennsylvania, January 6, 1859. Daughter of Dr. Henry 
Clinton and Eliza Betts Porter; has edited, in conjunction with Helen A. Clarke, 
"Poems of Robert Browning," "Browning's Complete Works," and "Mrs. Brown- 
ing's Complete Works," "The Pembroke Edition of Shakespeare," and is sole 
editor of the "First Folio Edition of Shakespeare" ; author of "Dramatic Motive 
in Browning's 'Strafford,' " "Shakespeare's Studies," and has contributed poems to 
the Atlantic, Century, Outlook, Poet-Lore, and other periodicals. 

HELEN ARCHIBALD CLARKE. 

Born in Philadelphia. Daughter of Hugh Archibald and Jane M. Searle 
Clarke; lecturer on mythology in Philadelphia, also on literary topics; has edited, 
in connection with Charlotte Porter, the "Poems of Robert Browning," "Clever 
Tales," from the French, Russian and Bohemian; "Browning's Complete Works," 
and a folio edition of Shakespeare; author of "Browning's England," "Browning's 
Italy," "Longfellow's Country," "Child's Guide to Mythology," "Ancient Myths 
in Modern Poets," in conjunction with Charlotte Porter; "Browning's Study Pro- 



Women in Professions 831 

grammes," "Shakespeare Studies — Macbeth," and is also a composer of music and 
songs ; writer of articles, essays and reviews on poetry, and one of the founders of 
the American Musical Society. 

ANNA ELIZABETH DICKINSON. 

Who is an author, playwright, actress, philanthropist and public speaker. She 
was born in Philadelphia, October 28, 1842. Her parents were Quakers and she 
was educated at the Friends' Free School. She began her public career by speak- 
ing on slavery and temperance. In 1861 she was given a position in tiie United 
States Mint, in Philadelphia but was removed because of the charges against Gen- 
eral McClellan, which she made in a public address. In 1864 she donated to the 
Freedman's Relief Society a thousand dollars, the proceeds of one lecture. In 1876 
she made her first appearance on the stage in a play from her own pen, called 
"A Crown of Thorns." She tried other parts, but her career met with disaster. Her 
principal success has been in the lecture field. She is the author of "A Ragged 
Register of People, Places and Opinions." 

ADA CELESTE SWEET. 

Author and business woman. Daughter of Gen. Benjamin J. Sweet, a law- 
yer and distinguished officer of the Civil War. She was born in Stockbridge, Wis- 
consin, February 23, 1853. Miss Sweet is one of the most noted women in 
America. At the age of sixteen she was the assistant to her father who was at 
that time United States pension agent in Chicago, and afterwards first deputy commis- 
sioner of Internal Revenue. Upon her father's death, in January, 1867, President 
Grant appointed Miss Sweet United States pension agent in Chicago. She has 
disbursed many million dollars annually making a most remarkable record as a 
business woman, and has installed many valuable reforms, reduced the work of her 
office to a system, which the government gladly recognized and approved by install- 
ing the same in all other pension offices in the United States. In 1885 she resigned 
this office to engage in business for herself. She was for two years literary editor 
of the Chicago Tribune, and since 1888 has maintained an office as United States 
claim attorney, and during this time has done considerable literary and philanthropic 
work. She was the founder of the ambulance system for the Chicago police. 

MARTHA GALLISON MOORE AVERY. 

Is the daughter of A. K. P. Moore, and on her father's side is descended 
from Irish, Scotch and Dutch ancestry; on her mother's, from English. Her 
people have always been distinguished in the various conflicts for freedom which 
have taken place in this country. Major John Moore, of Bunker Hill fame, was 
one of her kinsmen, and her grandfather, General Samuel Moore, was conspicuous 
in state affairs. Mrs. Avery's first active part in public life was as a charter mem- 
ber of the First Nationalist Club of Boston, which claimed among its members such 
distinguished personages as Edward Everett Hale and Mary Livermore. She later 



832 Part Taken by Women in American History 

became a socialist, and was director of the Karl Marx class, which taught the 
economics of socialism, and this later became the Boston School of Political Econ- 
omy. She is an acknowledged authority on philosophy, history and economic the- 
ories. She wrote, in conjunction with David Goldstein, one of her students, a 
book entitled "Socialism" and "The Nation of Fatherless Children." She has lec- 
tured and written constantly in the interests of socialism for many years. She is at 
present head of the Boston School of Political Economy. Having become a convert 
to the Roman Catholic faith, she is to-day one of the most eloquent speakers and 
writers against the socialistic movement ; is a contributor to the National Civic Fed- 
eration Reziew, Social Justice, and is at work on a book entitled "Twenty-Five 
Socialists Answered" ; also a work on the "Primal Principles of Political Economy." 

CAROLINE M. BEAUMONT. 

Is the daughter of Joseph I. Beaumont, of St. Paul, Minnesota; is a writer on 
the St. Paul Dispatch, and founder of the Guild of Catholic Women. 

MARY AXTELL BISHOP. 

Was born January 19, 1859, in Galena, Illinois, and is the daughter of the 
Rev. Charles Axtell. Her mother was one of the descendants of the Campbells, 
who took a prominent part in the settlement of Virginia. In 1S84 she married 
General J. W. Bishop. She was the first president of the Guild of Catholic Women, 
and founder of the Altar Guild of the Cathedral of St. Paul, Minnesota. She has 
written several poems and some clever prose. 

FLORENCE L. HOLMES BORK. 

Was born in Bracken County, Kentucky, October 29, 1869, and is a collateral 
descendant of Patrick Henry. She has written for magazines and papers short 
stories, sketches and poems since she was thirteen years of age; was private secre- 
tary to John M. Crawford, of Cincinnati, when minister to St. Petersburg. In 1902 
she married George L. Bork, of Buffalo, whose aunt is Mother Severine, Superior 
of three institutions of Sisters of Notre Dame de Providence. She is a member 
of many prominent clubs and charitable organizations and societies, the Federation 
of Women's Clubs and the Catholic Women's Clubs. She writes principally under 
the pen name of Alice Benedict. 

ANNA ELIZABETH BUCHANAN. 

Was born in Trinity, Newfoundland, in 1836, and was the daughter of Rev. 
David and Elizabeth Roper Martin. She was a direct descendant of Thomas Moore, 
who suffered martyrdom during the reign of King Henry VIII of England. Her 
husband was a missionary in Newfoundland, acting also as physician. Mrs. 
Buchanan for some years conducted a publication, The Voice of the Deaf, for deaf 
mutes, and also was the founder of a mission in England, and contributor to the 
Catholic World. She was a convert to Roman Catholicism. 



Women in Professions 833 

lelia hardin bugg. 

Author of "The Correct Thing for Catholics," "The Prodigal's Daughter," 
"Correct English" and "The People of Our Parish." She took a special course in 
philosophy and modern languages at Trinity College, Washington, D. C. 

MARY GILMORE CARTER. 

Was born in 1867 in Boston, Massachusetts, and was the daughter of Patrick 
S. Gilmore, the famous band leader. Her husband was John P. Carter, a prominent 
business man of New York City. Mrs. Carter is the author of a book of verse 
and a novel entitled "A Son of Esau," and "Songs from the Wings" ; is a contributor 
to the Catholic World, The Coming Age, Frank Leslie's and many other magazines 
and periodicals. 

EMMA FORBES CAREY. 

Was born in Boston Massachusetts, October 10, 1833. She is descended from 
English ancestry, one of whom, Sir William Carey, was mayor and sheriff of Bris- 
tol, England in the reign of Henry VIII. Miss Carey has devoted her life for 
twenty-five years to the needs of the unfortunate inmates of prisons. She is a con- 
tributor to the Catholic World, The Young Catholic and the Ave Maria. 

CAROLINE ELIZABETH CORBIN. 

Was born November 9, 1835, in Pomfret, Connecticut. Some of her ancestors 
on her mother's side came over from England in the May-flower, and those of a 
later generation founded the city of Pomfret. In 1861 she married Calvin R. Corbin, 
and they removed to Chicago, Illinois. She is the author of quite a number of 
books, among which are "Our Bible Class and the Good that Came from It," 
"Rebecca, or a Woman's Secret," "His Marriage Vow," "A Woman's Philosophy 
of Love," etc. At one time she was president of the Chicago Society for the Pro- 
motion of Social Purity and president of a society opposed to the extension of 
suffrage to women. 

MARY CATHERINE CROWLEY. 

Daughter of J. C. and Mary Cameron Crowley, and was born in Boston, 
Massachusetts. She is descended from Scotch ancestry; editor of the Catholic Mis- 
sion Magazine and The Annals of the Propagation of the Faith since 1907; author 
of "Merry Hearts and True," "Happy-Go-Lucky," "A Daughter of New France" 
and other short and historical stories. She was one of the historians on the 
"Memorial History of Detroit," and is considered an authority on the early history 
of that city, and suggested and brought about the erection of a memorial tablet to 
Mme. Cadillac, the first white woman of the Northwest; is a contributor to the 
Catholic World, Ave Maria, St. Nicholas, Wide-Awake, Ladies' Home Journal, The 
Pilot, Donahoe's and other magazines. 

53 



834 Part Taken by Women in American History 



MARGARET DEANE. 

Was born July 22, 1831, in New York City; was a public school teacher in 
the city of New York from 1846 to 1848, and later in San Francisco, California ; 
author of books for children ; for ten years was grand president of the Catholic 
Ladies' Aid Society of San Francisco. Her husband was the late James R. Deane. 

ADELAIDE MARGARET DELANEY. 

Was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1875 ; assistant at the University 
Settlement, and collector of data for the Bureau of Child Labor in New York City; 
editor of the Woman's Department of the Philadelphia Record; has lectured on the 
Catholic attitude in social work; author of a series of lectures on "Jottings of a 
Journalist in England, France and Ireland"; contributor to Ladies' Home Journal 
and active advocate of Home Rule for Ireland and suffrage for women. 

AGNES CATHERINE DOYLE. 

Was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and is the daughter of Edward and Mar- 
garet Keating Doyle ; is reference librarian in the Boston Public Library ; assisted 
in editing a contribution to the bibliography of the United States navy, compiled by 
Charles T. Harbeck; author of the "History of the Winthrop School, of Boston"; 
reviser of a list for finding genealogies of towns and local histories in the public 
library of Boston; has contributed articles on current topics to magazines and news- 
papers. 

MARTHA CLAIRE DOYLE. 

Born in Boston, June 16, 1869. Daughter of Henry and Anne Lande Mac- 
Gowan. In 1896 she married James R. Doyle. Is the author of "Little Miss Dor- 
othy," "Wide-Awake," "Jimmy Sutor and the Boys of Pigeon Camp," "The Boys of 
Pigeon Camp; Their Luck and Fun," and "Mint Julep," a story of New England 
life. 

MARY EMILIE EWING. 

Was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, November 13, 1872. Her husband was a rela- 
tive of Mrs. W. T. Sherman, wife of the distinguished general, and also of Edgar 
Allan Poe. Mrs. Ewing contributes to the religious press of Cincinnati and Chi- 
cago and has written some creditable poems. 

LYDIA STIRLING FLINTHAM. 

Author and lecturer; was born on the family plantation in Cecil County, 
Maryland. Her family were of English ancestry, and came to New Castle, Dela- 
ware, in the early days of our country's history. Miss Flintham is a lecturer on 
English composition and literary topics ; has written many stories, and has for sev- 



Women in Professions 835 

eral years been the editor of the juvenile department of the Good Counsel Magazine, 
contributor to Donahoe's, Rosary, Metropolitan, Catholic World and other Catholic 
magazines. 

MARY CRAWFORD FRASER. 

Was born in Rome, Italy, in 1851. Daughter of Thomas Crawford, the 
sculptor, and Louise Ward, who was the niece of the late Julia Ward Howe and 
sister of Marion Crawford. In 1873 she married Hugh Fraser, who was sent on 
a diplomatic mission to Japan, Vienna and other foreign countries. Mrs. Fraser 
is the author of a number of books, some of which are "A Diplomatist's Wife in 
Many Lands," "The Brown Ambassador" and "The Splendid Porsena." 

HELEN HAINES. 

Daughter of John Ladd Colby, a physician of New York, where she was 
born. She married Charles Owens Haines, of Savannah, Georgia, who was a rail- 
road builder and manager ; has contributed short stories, some of which are entitled 
"Caper Sauce," "The Crimson Rambler," to the American Magazine and Scribner's 
Magazine. 

EDITH OGDEN HARRISON. 

Daughter of Robert N. Ogden, and the wife of Carter Henry Harrison, 
mayor of Chicago, Illinois, who occupies the unique position of having been 
elected five times mayor of Chicago and his father before him was also five times 
mayor of that city. Mrs. Harrison is the author of "Prince Silverwings," "The 
Star Fairies," "The Moon Princess," "The Flaming Sword," "The Mocking Bird," 
"Biblical Stories Retold for Children," "Cotton Myth," "Polar Star" and other 
short stories. 

ELIZABETH JORDAN. 

Was born May 9, 1867, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Daughter of William 
Francis Jordan and Marguerita Garver Jordan. Soon after her graduation she 
accepted a position on the staff of the New York World, with which she was con- 
nected for ten years as interviewer and writer on questions of the day, doing 
some of the "biggest features" of the World. While engaged in this work she 
wrote her first story, "Tales of the City Room," which was suggested by her 
experiences as a reporter and editor. She made quite an extensive investigation 
of the tenement conditions in New York, and wrote of them under the title, "The 
Submerged Tenth." Later, she made a study of sociological conditions in London 
and Paris, which furnished material for other books. In 1900 Miss Jordan became 
one of the editors of Harper's Bazar, a position which she holds at the present time. 
She is the author of "Tales of the Cloister," a convent story; "Tales of Destiny," 
"May Iverson — Her Book," "Many Kingdoms," and author in "The Whole Family," 
written in conjunction with William Dean Howells, Henry James, Henry Van 
Dyke, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, Alice Brown and others. She took a special course 
at the Sorbonne, in Paris, in 1902, and in 1903 she received the blessing of the 
pope, Leo XIII, for her services in literature. 



S36 Part Taken by Women in American History 



MARGARET H. WYNNE LAWLESS. 

Was born at Adrian, Michigan, July 14, 1847. Daughter of John and Jane 
Meehan Wynne. After graduating from school she taught for several years, and 
in 1873 married Dr. James T. Lawless, of Toledo, Ohio, where she has since made 
her home; has contributed to the Catholic World, Ave Maria, Rosary Magazine, 
Pilot, New World, and conducted the children's department for a number of years 
of the Catholic Universe; has also contributed to Frank Leslie's Weekly, Demorest's, 
American Magazine, Lippincotfs, Golden Days, Detroit Free Press and Travelers' 
Record. Both she and her husband have been active workers in the cause of 
Catholic education and the development of Catholic charitable, literary and social- 
istic societies and institutions. Mrs. Lawless incorporated and took out a charter 
for the Catholic Ladies of Ohio, the first insurance and benevolent society for 
women in the United States, and was for six years secretary of this organization. 

ELIZA O'BRIEN LUMMIS. 

Daughter of William and Anne O'Brien Lummis, and was born in New York 
City; was one of the prominent members of the Society of the Children of Mary, 
and founder of the People's Eucharistic League, an organization in connection with 
the Catholic Cathedral of New York City, and one of the largest Catholic organiza- 
tions of New York. She assisted in organizing the Corpus Christi Reunion for 
Men ; was instrumental in the installation of the Fathers of the Blessed Sacrament 
in the Church of Jean the Baptiste, and in the establishment of the first public 
throne of exposition in New York. She founded, edited and published the Sentinel 
of the Blessed Sacrament, a Eucharistic monthly and the organ of the Priests' 
Eucharistic League ; is also the founder of the Society of the Daughters of the 
Faith. Miss Lummis is the author of "Daughters of the Faith," "A Nineteenth 
Century Apostle," several poems and magazine articles dealing with the questions 
of the day. She is one of the leading Catholic women of the United States. 

MARY JOSEPHINE LUPTON. 

Was born in County Down, Ireland ; is an associate editor of the New World, 
Chicago; translator of "The Child of the Moon" and "The Task of Little Peter," 
from the French, and is a contributor to the Rosary Magazine, the New World and 
Church Extension. 

COUNTESS SARAH MARIA ALOISA SPOTTISWOOD MACKIN. 

Was born at Troy, Missouri, July 29, 1850, and was the daughter of James H. 
Britton, at one time mayor of St. Louis. She comes of Revolutionary stock her 
great-grandfather having commanded the man-of-war Tempest in the American 
Revolution. Her husband James Mackin, was at one time state treasurer of New 
York. Mrs. Mackin was created a countess by Pope Leo XIII. She is the author 
of "A Society Woman on Two Continents," "From Rome to Lourdes," and has 
contributed to the Revue de la Papautc et les Peuples. 



Women in Professions 837 



SISTER MARY MAGDALENE (SARAH C. COX). 

Daughter of James Cox, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Mother Superior 
for several terms at the Convent of the Visitation, Wilmington, Delaware, and 
translator of devotional and religious works. 

MARY E. MANNIX. 

Born May 17, 1846, in New York City. Her father, Michael Walsh, was one 
of the early pioneers of the West, settling in Cincinnati, Ohio many years ago. 
He did much for the establishment of the Catholic Church in the West particu- 
larly in the city of Cincinnati. She married John B. Mannix, a succcessful Catholic 
lawyer of San Diego, California. Mrs. Mannix's first writings in verse and prose 
appeared in the Catholic World, and were followed by others in various Catholic 
magazines. She has written sketches, reviews, stories for children, and made some 
most commendable translations in prose and verse from the French, German and 
Spanish. She is a contributer to the leading Catholic journals of the day; has writ- 
ten a "Life of Sister Louise," Superior of the Sisters of Notre Dame, of Namur, in 
Cincinnati, and also lives of other sisters of the various orders. She is a well-known 
writer of children's stories. 

ELIZABETH GILBERT MARTIN. 

Was born December 21, 1837, at Albany, New York, of Revolutionary ances- 
try. She married Homer D. Martin, a landscape painter; is the author of "Whom 
God Hath Joined," and translator of St. Amand's "Women of the French Salons" 
and other books. 

NORMA GERTRUDE McCHESNEY. 

Was born March 28, 1876, in Marysville. Kansas. On her father's side she 
is descended from Highland Scotch ancestry, and through her mother is connected 
with the famous Choate family, of which Rufus and Joseph Choate are members. 
She is also a relative of George W. Cable ; is a teacher of piano music and contribu- 
tor to the London Tablet, St. Peter's Net, The Lamp and Rose Leaves. 

ELLA McMAHON. 

Sister of the late General M. T. McMahon, of New York, and sister-in-law of 
Rear Admiral F. M. Ramsay, United States Navy ; translator of "Golden Sands," 
"Little Month of May" and devotional works, and is also a contributor to Catholic 
magazines. 

MARY ANTONIO GALLAGHER MERCEDES. 

Who is known under the pen name of "Rev. Richard W. Alexander"; is a 
Sister of Mercy in the diocese of Pittsburgh. Her parents were among the early 
settlers of eastern Pennsylvania, and were descendants of the Hookey and Drexel 



838 Part Taken by Women in American History 

families. She became a Sister of Mercy at the age of eighteen; was treasurer of 
the extensive community of Pittsburgh, and later became a teacher in St. Xavier's, 
Beatty, Pennsylvania, where she is at present. She is the author of several books 
and plays for girls, used in many of the convent schools throughout the world; is a 
contributor to the Ave Maria, The Missionary, Catholic Standard and Times. 

MARY ALOYSIA MOLLOY. 

Author of a concordance to the Anglo-Saxon version of "Bede's Ecclesias- 
tical History" and articles on the "Celtic Revival and Pedagogical Subjects," "Word 
Pairs — A Comparative Study of French and English," and "Rhetorical Structure." 

JEAN ELIZABETH URSULA NEALIS. 

Is the daughter of John Wilkinson, a distinguished engineer, and was born 
in Frederickton, New Brunswick. One of her ancestors was the founder of the 
city of Portland, Maine; author of "Drift," a volume of poems, and contributor of 
poems and stories to Catholic publications. 

KATHERINE A. O'MAHONEY. 

Born in Kilkenny, Ireland. Daughter of Patrick and Rose O'Keeffe. She 
married Daniel J. O'Mahoney; teacher in the Lawrence High School, and lecturer 
on literary and historical subjects; founded, published and edited the Catholic Reg- 
ister, and was contributor to the Boston Pilot, the Sacred Heart Review, Donahoe's 
Magazine and magazine of Our Lady of Good Counsel; prominent in the women's 
branch of the Irish Land League; founder and president of the Aventine Literary 
Club and of the Orphans' Friends' Society, of Lawrence County ; organizer of 
a division of the Ladies' Auxiliary, Ancient Order of Hibernians, and was its presi- 
dent for five years, and also president of the Essex County Auxiliary; organizer 
and first president of the St. Mary's Alumnae Association, vice-president of the 
Lawrence Anti-Tuberculosis League ; author of "Catholicity in Lawrence," "Faith 
of Our Fathers," a poem; "Moore's Birthday," a musical allegory; "Famous Irish 
Women," and a collection of Hibernian odes. Mrs. O'Mahoney was among the first 
Catholic women to speak in public in New England, and has delivered her lectures 
in many of the cities. Some of these are entitled "A Trip to Ireland," "Religion and 
Patriotism in English and Irish History," "Mary, Queen of Scots, and Joan of 
Arc," "An Evening with Milton," an illustrated lecture on "Paradise Lost ;" "An 
Evening with Dante" and "The Passion Play of Oberammergau." 

SALLIE MARGARET O'MALLEY. 

Was born in Centreville, Wayne County, Indiana, December 8, 1862, and is 
the wife of the distinguished and well-known poet and writer, Charles J. O'Malley. 
She is a descendant of the noted Claiborne called the "Scourge of Maryland," and 
also of the noted Hill family, of Virginia, her father being a cousin of A. P. Hill, 



Women in Professions 839 

called "Fighting Hill." Her mother was Sallie Rogers Ragland Wilson, a descend- 
ant of James Wilson, who was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independ- 
ence. Mrs. O'Malley has illustrated many of her husband's poems, and is a com- 
poser of music, and has written quite a number of songs. She is also author of 
several novels, among them "The Boys of the Prairie," "An Heir of Dreams." 

MARY BOYLE O'REILLY. 

Was born in Boston, Massachusetts, May 18, 1873; was prison commissioner 
for Massachusetts at one time and trustee of the Children's Institution Department 
of Boston ; founder of the Guild of St. Elizabeth ; contributor to the Catholic World, 
Harper's Magazine and New England Magazine; is editorial writer for the Boston 
Transcript; prominent in many of the philanthropic associations of Boston and the 
state of Massachusetts. 

ELEANOR R. PARKER. 

Was born in Bedford, Kentucky, March 2, 1874. Daughter of William and 
Eliza Reordan Parker. Her family was prominent in North Carolina. Her mother 
was a writer of some distinction, and one of the pioneers in the movement for 
domestic science; was one of the editors of the Woman's Home Companion for 
several years. She is a contributor to Donahoe's, New Orleans Times-Democrat, 
Good Housekeeping, Woman's Home Companion, and is the editor of the women's 
page in the Western Watchman. 

HARRIET PRESCOTT SPOFFORD. 

Born in Calais, Maine, April 3, 1835, but her parents removed, when she was 
quite young, to Newburyport Massachusetts which has since been her home. Her 
father was Joseph N. Prescott. Her essay on Hamlet when she was a student 
in the school at Newburyport attracted the attention of James Wentworth Higgin- 
son, who interested himself in her career. Both of her parents became helpless 
invalids, which made it necessary for her to early take up a literary career, and 
she began by contributions to the Boston papers. In 1859 her story of Parisian 
life, entitled "In a Cellar," brought her into immediate prominence in the literary 
world, and the editor of the Atlantic Monthly, James Russell Lowell, was so 
impressed by her ability that from that day she was a well-known contributor of 
both prose a.id poetry to not only the Atlantic Monthly, but the chief periodicals 
of the country. In 1865 she married Richard S. Spofford, a lawyer of Boston. 
Among her works are "Sir Rohan's Ghost," "The Amber Gods," "The Thief in the 
Night," "Azarian," "New England Legends," "Art Decoration Applied to Furni- 
ture," "The Marquis of Carabas," "Hester Stanley at St. Mark's," "The Servant 
Girl Question" and "Ballads About Authors." 

AUGUSTA J. EVANS WILSON. 

Mrs. Wilson won literary fame as the author of "Beulah." She was born near 
Columbus, Georgia, in 1836. Her family lived for a short time in Texas, and later 



840 Part Taken by Women in American History 

in Mobile, Alabama, and here in 1868 she married L. M. Wilson. Her first novel 
was "Inez,"' which met with only moderate success, but in 1859 "Beulah" appeared, 
and she won instantaneous literary fame. During the war she published "Macaria," 
and it is said that this book was printed on coarse brown paper, and copyrighted 
by the Confederate States of America. It was dedicated by her to the soldiers of 
the Southern army. It was seized and destroyed by the Federal officers, but was 
subsequently reprinted in the North, and met with a large sale. After the war 
Mrs. Wilson removed to New York City, and here she published her famous book, 
"St. Elmo." This was followed by one hardly less popular, "Vashti," later, one 
entitled "Infelice," and "At the Mercy of Tiberius." Mrs. Wilson died in 1909. 

LOUISE CHANDLER MOULTON. 

Mrs. Moulton was born in Pomfret, Connecticut, April 5, 1835. She early 
began to contribute to periodicals under the name of "Ellen Louise," and was but 
nineteen years of age when she published her first book, entitled "This, That, and 
the Other." In 1855 she married William U. Moulton, a publisher of Boston. 
After her marriage she wrote short stories for magazines, and is the author of a 
novel, "Juno Clifford." From 1870 to 1876 she was the literary correspondent of 
the New York Tribune, and also contributed a weekly letter to the Sunday Herald, 
of Boston ; wrote letters during her travels abroad from London and Paris for 
American newspapers. In 1877 she edited two volumes of verse, "Garden Secrets" 
and "A Last Harvest." She is especially fortunate in her stories for children. 
Mrs. Moulton died in 1908. 

SARAH MORGAN BRYAN PIATT. 

Born in Lexington, Kentucky, August 11, 1836. Her grandfather, Morgan 
Bryan, was a relative of Daniel Boone and one of the earliest settlers in the state 
of Kentucky. He emigrated from North Carolina with Boone's party and his 
"station," near Lexington, known as "Bryan's Station," was one of the principal 
points of attack by the Indians who invaded Kentucky from the Northwest in 
1782. Mrs. Piatt's early childhood was passed near Versailles, where her mother, 
Mary Speirs, who was related to the Stocktons and other early Kentucky families, 
died when Mrs. Piatt was but eight years of age. She was placed by her father 
in the care of her aunt, Mrs. Boone, in Newcastle, where she received her educa- 
tion. George D. Prentice, the editor of the Louisville Journal, was an intimate 
friend of the family, and through his paper Mrs. Piatt's poems first received recog- 
nition. On June 18, 1861, she became the wife of John James Piatt, and went with 
her husband to reside in Washington, D. C. In 1867 they removed to Ohio, 
and lived on a part of the old estate of General W. H. Harrison, in North Bend. 
In 1886 she published a volume of poems in London, and others followed in the 
United States, among them "The Nests at Washington, and Other Poems," "A 
Woman's Poems," "A Voyage to the Fortunate Isles," etc. Mrs. Piatt contributed 
to many of the leading magazines of that time. In 1882 Mr. Piatt was sent to Ire- 
land as consul of the United States at Cork, and while residing there Mrs. Piatt 



Women in Professions 841 

brought out other volumes of poems, "In Primrose Time," "A New Irish Garland," 
"An Irish Wildflower." Her writings have been most complimentarily mentioned 
in both England and Ireland. 

HARRIET STONE MONROE. 

Author of the ode for the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. She 
is also a contributor of articles for newspapers and writer on art and literary 
criticism for the magazines. Miss Monroe was born in Chicago, September 23, i860. 
Her father was Honorable H. S. Monroe, a lawyer of distinction in Chicago. She 
was a graduate of the Academy of the Visitation in Georgetown, D. C. 

w 
SARAH JANE LIPPINCOTT. 

Better known as "Grace Greenwood." A writer of stories for children, and 
former editor of Little Pilgrim. She was born in Pompey, New York, September 
23, 1823, and spent her early youth in Rochester, but in 1842 the family removed 
to New Brighton, Pennsylvania. She married Leander K. Lippincott, of Philadel- 
phia, in 1873. Although during her early youth she had written verses and short 
stories, it was not until 1844 that her first publication appeared under her now, de 
plume, "Grace Greenwood." She lectured, and was also a contributor and corres- 
pondent for several newspapers. She was the author of several books, the titles 
of some of which are "Greenwood Leaves," "History of My Pets," "Volume of 
Poems," "Recollections of My Childhood," "Haps and Mishaps of a Tour in 
Europe," "Mary England," "Forest Tragedy, and Other Tales," "Stories and Leg- 
ends of Travel," "History for Children," "Stories From Famous Ballads," "Stories 
of Many Lands," "Stories and Sights in France and Italy," "Records of Five 
Years," "New Life in New Lands," and her best-known poem, "Ariadne." Mrs. 
Lippincott died in 1905. 

MARIE LOUISE GREENE. 

Miss Greene was born in Providence, Rhode Island. She received the degree 
of A.B. from Vassar in 1891 ; has done special work in American history in Yale 
College. She is a student and writer on gardening and New England history. She 
is the author of "The Development of Religious Liberty in Connecticut," "Among 
School Gardens," etc. 

DELIA LYMAN PORTER. 

Mrs. Porter was born in New Haven, Connecticut; graduate of Wellesley 
College ; has been an active worker among the factory girls of New Haven and 
Beloit, Wisconsin, and through her efforts the bill for the apppointment of a 
woman deputy factory inspector for the state of Connecticut was passed by the 
legislature of that state in 1907. She was appointed by the governor as a member 
of the committee to name this inspector. 



842 Part Taken by Women in American History 



ELLA WHEELER WILCOX. 

Mrs. Wilcox was born at Johnstown Center, Wisconsin, in 1855 ; married 
Robert M. Wilcox in 1884; has been a contributor to magazines and newspapers 
for many years; has written many beautiful poems, and is ~ne of the prominent 
writers of today. 

KATHERINE PYLE. 

Miss Pyle was born in Wilmington, Delaware, and has written stories in 
prose and verse of much charm. 

BERTHA G. DAVIS WOODS. 

Mrs. Woods was born in Penn Yan, New York, in April, 1873. She is a 
contributor to magazines, newspapers of poems and short stories. 

FLORENCE AUGUSTA M. BAILEY. 

Mrs. Bailey was born in Locust Grove, New York, August 8, 1863. Sister 
of Clinton Hart Merriam. Has written much on bird life in America. Is a 
member of the American Ornithologists' Union, and the Biological Society of 
Washington. 

ROSE HARTWICK THORPE. 

Mrs. Thorpe is the author of the well-known poem, "Curfew Must Not Ring 
To-night." Was born in Mishawaka, Indiana, July 18, 1850. Is the wife of E. 
Carson Thorpe. Has written many other poems, but none has added to the fame 
which she earned by the writing of the poem mentioned. Lives in San Diego, 
California. 

GRACE GALLATIN SETON. 

Mrs. Seton is a writer and book designer. Is the wife of Ernest Thompson 
Seton. Has done a great deal of work on newspapers, both in this country and 
in Paris. In 1897 took up the work of designing covers, title-pages, and general 
work for make-up of books. President of Pen and Brush Club, Music-Lovers' 
Club, and librarian of the MacDowell College. Has made quite a name for herself 
in literature as well, having written "Nimrod's Wife," "A. B. C. Zoo Sketches," 
serial stories, and songs. 

HARRIET HANSON ROBINSON. 

Born in Boston, February 8, 1825. Daughter of William and Harriet Browne 
Hanson. Was one of the girls employed in the factories of Lowell who wrote for 
the Lowell Offering, showing ability and higher intelligence. Married in 1848 
William S. Robinson, a journalist, who wrote under the pen-name of "Warrington," 



Women in Professions 843 

and died March, 1876. Mrs. Robinson is the author of the "Warrington Pen- 
Portraits," "Massachusetts in the Woman Suffrage Movement," a woman suffrage 
play, and other writings. 

HARRIETTE LUCY ROBINSON SHATTUCK. 

Born in Lowell, Massachusetts, December 4, 1850. Daughter of William 
Stevens and Harriet Hanson Robinson. In 1878 married Sidney Doane Shattuck, 
of Maiden, Massachusetts. Was assistant clerk of the Massachusetts House of 
Representatives in 1872, being the first woman to hold such a position. Has 
written several books. 

ESTELLE MAY HURLL. 

Born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, July 25, 1863. Daughter of Charles 
W. and Sarah S. Hurll. In 1908 married John C. Hurll. Teacher of ethics at 
Wellesley College from 1884-91. Author of books on art, including "Child Life 
in Art," "The Madonna in Art," and books on Rembrandt, Michael Angelo, "Greek 
Sculpture," "Titian," "Landseer," "Correggio," "Tuscan Sculpture," "Van Dyck," 
"Portrait and Portrait Painting." 

JENNETTE LEE. 

Born in Bristol, Connecticut, November 10, i860. Daughter of Philemon 
Perry and Mary Barbour Perry. In 1896, married Gerald Stanley Lee. At one 
time was a teacher of English at Vassar College, and also of English in the College 
for Women, Western Reserve University. Professor of English language and 
literature in Smith College since 1904. Author of several books, a few of which 
are "Kate Wetherell," "A Pillar of Salt," "The Son of a Fiddler," and many other 
sketches and short stories. 

JULIA ARABELLA EASTMAN. 

Daughter of Rev. John and Prudence D. Eastman. Associate principal of 
Dana Hall, Wellesley. Author. 

MARY FRANCES BLAISDELL. 

Born in Manchester, New Hampshire, April 20, 1874. Daughter of Clark 
and Clara M. Blaisdell. The author, in conjunction with her sister, Etta A. 
Blaisdell MacDonald, of several books for children: "Child Life in Tale and 
Fable," "Child Life in Many Lands," "Child Life in Literature," "The Child 
Primer," "The Blaisdell Spellers," "The Child Life Fifth Reader," and stories 
for children. 

CAROLINE VAN DUSEN CHENOWETH. 

Born near Louisville, Kentucky, December 29, 1846. Daughter of Charles 
and Mary Huntington Van Dusen. Married Col. Bernard Peel Chenoweth, who 



844 Part Taken by Women in American History 

was United States Consul at Canton, China, and died while occupying this position. 
Mrs. Chenoweth settled his affairs with the government and received recognition 
from the United States and the Chinese government as vice-consul. Was professor 
at one time of English literature in Smith College ; also lecturer on history and 
English literature. Author of "Child Life in China," "School History of Wor- 
cester," and other historical books. Contributor to various magazines and reviews. 

ANNIE RUSSELL MARBLE. 

Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, August 10, 1864. Daughter of Isaiah 
Dunster and Nancy Maria Wentworth Russell. In 1890, married Charles Francis 
Marble, of Worcester, Massachusetts. Author of "Thoreau — His Home, Friends 
and Books," "Books in Their Seasons," "Heralds of American Literature," and 
has edited other books. 

ALICE ELINOR BARTLETT. 

Writer under the pen-name of "Birch Arnold." Born in Delavan, Wiscon- 
sin, September 4, 1848. Daughter of J. B. and Sophronia E. Braley Bowen. Wrote 
for many years on the Chicago newspapers. Now engaged in general literary 
work, besides writer of verse. 

CHARLOTTE FISKE BATES. 

Writer under the pen-name of "Mme. Roge." Born in New York, Novem- 
ber 30, 1838. Daughter of Hervey and Eliza (Endicott) Bates. In 1891 she 
married M. Adolph Roge, who died in 1896. Author of poems. Editor of the 
"Longfellow Birthday Book," "Cambridge Book of Poetry and Song," and aided 
Mr. Longfellow in compiling "Poems of Places." 

MARY JOANNA SAFFORD. 

Was born at Salem, Massachusetts. Daughter of Samuel Appleton and 
Frances Parker Safford. Is a contributor of original articles, poems, and transla- 
tions to magazines. Is considered one of the best translators of German stories, 
and has translated a great many of these for magazines and periodicals. She 
makes her home in Washington, where she is considered one of the prominent 
literary women of the Capital City. 

JOSEPHINE McCRACKIN. 

Mrs. McCrackin came to America from Prussia in 1846. Writes for a 
great many newspapers. Was the instigator of the movement in behalf of con- 
serving the redwoods of California, and founded the Ladies' Forest and Song- 
Bird Protective Association. Was the first woman member and fourth vice- 
president of the California Game and Fish Protective Association. Active in the 



Women in Professions 845 

Humane Society, member of all protective societies of California, and the Woman's 
Press Association. A prominent Roman Catholic. 

LAURA CATHERINE SEARING. 

Mrs. Searing was born in Somerset, Maryland, February, 1840. In her 
childhood she lost her hearing and power of speech through illness. Educated 
at the Deaf Mute University of Missouri and at the Clark Institute, Northampton, 
Massachusetts, where she regained to quite a degree her power of speech. Mar- 
ried a prominent attorney of New York, Edward W. Searing, in 1876. Has been 
a correspondent on many of the prominent newspapers, doing this work for the 
Missouri Republican during the Civil War. Is one of the American authors now 
residing in Santa Cruz, California. 

LA SALLE CORBELL PICKETT. 

Mrs. Pickett is the widow of General George Edward Pickett, C. S. A., 
who was a conspicuous figure in the Battle of Gettysburg, September 15, 1863. 
Since her husband's death she has occupied a position in one of the departments 
in Washington, and has done considerable editorial and literary work in the form 
of short stories, poems and special articles. Has lectured on patriotic subjects, 
and has written sketches of Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, Lee, Jackson, 
and Grant. 

ANNIE JENNESS MILLER. 

Mrs. Jenness Miller, while an advocate of dress reform, is so in a much 
more reserved form than that advocated by the followers of Mrs. Bloomer. She 
was born in New Hampshire, but resided in Boston prior to her marriage in 
1884. Before her marriage Mrs. Miller had won considerable fame in Massachu- 
setts as a woman of letters. Then, as a young and beautiful woman, highly 
cultured, she took up with energy, combined with good judgment, the question 
of dress reform, or, as she has stated it, the principles and character of artistic 
dressing. With other prominent leaders in the dress reform movement she went 
upon the platform to voice her theories and views. She lectured in all the leading 
cities of the United States to crowded houses, and had the unusual experience 
of being invited over and over again to the same place. She was one of the 
owners of a magazine published in New York and devoted to the aesthetics of 
physical development and artistic designs for frocks, and containing articles by 
the best writer on all topics of interest to women. The influence of her work 
through this magazine was widely acknowledged. She is the author of "Physical 
Beauty," and of "Mother and Babe," the latter a work which furnished informa- 
tion and patterns upon improved plans for mothers' babies' wardrobes. All the 
progressive and reformatory movements of the day appealed to her, and have 
had her support and sympathy. She now lives in Washington, D. C, where she 
has large real estate interests. 



846 Part Taken by Women in American History 



CYNTHIA WESTOVER ALDEN. 

Mrs. Alden's grandfather was Alexander Campbell, founder of the Camp- 
bellites, and her father, who was a noted geologist and expert miner, was a 
descendant of the Westovers of Virginia, who settled early in 1600 near the site 
where Richmond now stands. Her mother died when Mrs. Alden was so young 
that she has no memory of her, but from her earliest girlhood she accompanied 
her father on all his prospecting tours from Mexico to Canada. Naturally, from 
these early surroundings she became an expert shot and horsewoman, and she 
also acquired an intimate knowledge of birds and flowers, the habits of wild 
animals, and many other secrets of nature. She was born in Iowa, in 1858, but 
her education was gained in whatever place she and her father happened to be, 
and was the result of his companionship as much as anything else, until she went 
to the State University of Colorado. After graduating there she took a four-year 
course in a commercial college, where she was considered a skilled mathematician, 
and after going to New York this practical side of her nature asserted itself, and 
she took the civil service examination for custom house inspector. She was 
promptly appointed, and with her usual force and energy began to learn French, 
German, and Italian. She acquired a general knowledge of languages which placed 
her, in an incredibly short time, on speaking terms with most of the immigrants 
of all nationalities coming to her shore. When Commissioner Beattie came into 
the Street Cleaning Department of New York City he appointed her his private 
secretary, she being the only woman, up to that time, who had held a position by 
appointment in any of the city departments. During the illness of the Commis- 
sioner, for several weeks, she managed successfully the force of the entire depart- 
ment. Many Italians were on the force, and for the first time in their experience 
they could air their grievances at headquarters in their own language. As a 
further illustration of her active mind she invented a cart for carrying and 
dumping dirt, for which the Parisian Academy for Inventors conferred upon her 
the title of Membre d'Honneur with a diploma and a gold medal. She was joint 
author of a book entitled, "Manhattan, Historic and Artistic," which was so 
favorably received that the first edition was exhausted in ten days. She after- 
wards became a newspaper writer and secretary of the Women s Press Club of 
New York City. Her latest work is one of tender benevolence, having organized 
a Shut-in Society, by which bed-ridden and chair-ridden invalids correspond with 
one another through her medium, and try to make of their pitiful lives a Sunshine 
Society. 

ISABELLA MACDONALD ALDEN. 

Whose nom de plume is "Pansy," was born in Rochester, New York, Novem- 
ber 3, 1831. Her pen name was given her by her father because she picked all 
of the treasured blossoms from a bed grown by her mother. She wrote stories, 
sketches, compositions, and these were first published in the village papers. She 
wrote her first real story to compete for the prize offered for the best Sunday 
School book, and gained her aim. "Helen Lester" was the first volume to appear 
signed by the well-known name of "Pansy." Some of her books are "Esther 



Women in Professions 847 

Reid," "Four Girls at Chautauqua," "Chautauqua Girls at Home," "Tip Lewis 
and His Lamp," "Three People," "Links in Rebecca's Life," "Julia Reid," "The 
King's Daughter," "The Browning Boys," "From Different Standpoints," "Mrs. 
Harry Harper's Awakening." Mrs. Alden was always deeply interested in 
Sunday School and primary teaching. She was prominently identified with the 
Chautauqua movement, and most of her books appear in the Sunday School 
libraries of the United States. She was married to Rev. G. R. Alden in 1866, 
and is as successful a pastor's wife as she is an author. Mrs. Alden is the 
mother of a very gifted son, Prof. Raymond Macdonald Alden. 

MARY COOLIDGE. 

Mrs. Coolidge was born at Kingsbury, Indiana, October 28, i860. Daughter 
of Prof. Isaac Roberts and Margaret Jane Roberts. Obtained a degree from 
Cornell in 1880, one from Leland Stanford in 1882. Her first husband was Albert 
W. Smith, of Berkeley, California ; her second, Dane Coolidge. She served as a 
teacher of history in the Washington high school, also of Miss Nourse and Miss 
Robert's school of the Capital ; also in private schools in Cincinnati, one of the 
board of examiners of Wesleyan College, Professor of Sociology of Stanford 
University, and one of the research assistants in the Carnegie Institute of Wash- 
ington ; also in the research work of San Francisco Relief Survey. Contributor 
of various articles on sociology and economics to the various magazines of our 
country. Has written on Chinese immigration and other subjects of public interest. 
Is considered one of the able women writers and thinkers of the country. 

GRACE McGOWAN COOKE. 

Mrs. Cooke was born at Grand Rapids, Ohio, September 11, 1863. She is 
the daughter of John E. and Melvina J. McGowan. Married William Cooke, of 
Chattanooga, Tennessee, February 17, 1877, and was the first woman president 
of the Woman's Press Club of Tennessee. Her writings are among the best 
known of our country. Among them are "Mistress Joy," "Return," "Hulda," "A 
Gourd Fiddle," "Their First Formal Call," and many contributions to the best 
magazines. 

ALICE McGOWAN. 

Miss McGowan is a sister of Grace McGowan Cooke, and was born at 
Perrysburg, Ohio, December 10, 1858. She was educated at the public schools 
of Chattanooga. In 1890, desirous of procuring literary material, she rode alone 
through the Black Mountain regions of North Carolina to her home in Chat- 
tanooga a distance of one thousand miles. Her stories are among the best of 
modern fiction, and include "The Last Word," "Judith of the Cumberlands," 
and "The Wiving of Lance Cleaverage." 

OLIVE THORNE MILLER. 

Is the most distinguished woman writer and lecturer on ornithology in 
this country. She was born in Auburn, New York, June 25, 1831. Daughter 



848 Part Taken by Women in American History 

of Seth Hunt Mann and Mary Holbrook Mann. Married in 1854 to Mr. Watts 
Todd Miller. The lists of her books are numerous and valuable, especially to 
children in the study of bird life, and include, "Little Folks in Feathers and Fur," 
"Little Brothers of the Air," "True Bird Stories," and "The Bird, Our Brother." 

ELIZABETH BISLAND WETMORE. 

Mrs. Wetmore was born in Camp Bisland, Fairfax Plantation, Teche County, 
Louisiana, in 1863. Her family was one of the oldest in the South, and like all 
such, lost all their property in the Civil War, which necessitated Miss Bisland's 
supporting herself and members of her family. Having shown some talent for 
writing, she took up journalism, and her first sketches were published when she 
was but fifteen years of age, under the name of B. L. R. Dane. She did con- 
siderable work for the New Orleans Times-Democrat and became literary editor 
of that paper, but the field not being wide enough she removed to New York to 
work on the newspapers and periodicals of that city. She was soon offered the 
position of literary editor of the Cosmopolitan Magazine, and while occupying 
this position she made her famous journey around the world, attempting to make 
better time than that made by Nellie Bly, who undertook the journey for the 
New York World. This brought Miss Bisland's name conspicuously before the 
public, and in 1890 she went to London, England, in the interest of the Cosmo- 
politan, writing for that magazine letters from London and Paris which were 
favorably received. She collaborated with Miss Rhoda Boughton in a novel and 
a play, and is the author of several books. In October, 1891, she became the 
wife of Charles W. Wetmore, of New York City. 

HELEN BIGLOW MERRIMAN. 

Born in Boston, July 14, 1844. Daughter of Erastus B. and Eliza Frances 
(Means) Biglow. Author and artist. 

FANNIE HUNTINGTON RUNNELLS POOLE. 

Born at Oxford, New Hampshire. Daughter of Rev. Moses Thurston and 
Fannie Maria Baker Runnells. Book reviewer for Town and Country, and author 
of "Books of Verse." 

ELLEN A. RICHARDSON. 

Born at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, August, 1845. Daughter of Oren 
and Ann H. W. Bragden. Married in 1870, A. Maynard Richardson, of Boston. 
Founder and also first president for three years, and now honorary president of 
the George Washington Memorial Association, founded for the purpose of 
promoting a national university. Organized also the Home Congress; was founder 
of the Massachusetts Business League; one of the judges of art on the board 
of awards of the Chicago Exposition and the Atlanta Exposition. Is the head 



Women in Professions 849 

of the cabinet department of art and literature of the National Council of Women 
of the United States, and represented this organization in Berlin in 1904. Founded 
and edited the Woman's Review; also edited booklets on Home for the Home 
Congresses; The Business Folio; has edited the home department of the Boston 
Commonwealth; a contributor to magazines and a reviewer to The Arena. 

MARY ALDEN WARD. 

Born in Cincinnati, March 1, 1853. Daughter of Prince W. and Rebecca 
Neal Alden, and a direct descendant of John and Priscilla Mullins, of Plymouth 
colony. Prominent and active in women's club work. Editor of Federation Bulle- 
tin, national official publication of the General Federation of Woman's Clubs, and 
author of a "Life of Dante," "Petrarch; a Sketch of His Life and Work," 
"Prophets of the Nineteenth Century," and "Old Colony Days." 

LILIAN WHITING. 

Born at Niagara Falls, New York, October 3, 1859. Daughter of Hon. 
Lorenzo Dowe and Lucia Clement Whiting. Literary editor, Boston Traveler; 
editor of the Boston Budget, and author of "The World Beautiful," "From Dream- 
land Sent," a book of poems, "A Study of the Life and Poetry of Elizabeth 
Barrett Browning," "A Record of Kate Field," "The World Beautiful in Books," 
"Boston Days," "Florence of Landor," "The Outlook Beautiful," "Italy, the Magic 
Land," "Paris the Beautiful," etc. 

KATE TANNATT WOODS. 

Born in Peekskill, New York. Daughter of James S. and Mary Tannatt. 
Married George H. Woods, a prominent lawyer and officer on General Sherman's 
staff. Has done editorial work on Harper's Bazar, Ladies' Home Journal, Boston 
Transcript, Globe and Herald, and several magazines. Active worker in women's 
clubs of Massachusetts. One of the original officers and first auditor of the 
General Federation of Woman's Clubs. Founder of the Massachusetts State 
Federation of Woman's Clubs, and the Thought and Work Club of Salem, 
Massachusetts. Has written quite a number of stories on New England life, 
and also stories of New Mexico. 

HANNAH AMELIA DAVIDSON. 

Born in Campello, Massachusetts, October 29, 1852. Daughter of Spencer 
Williams and Mary Packard Noyes. In 1878 married Charles Davidson. Student 
and teacher of Sanskrit. Teacher of Greek, Latin, and English history, and prin- 
cipal of the Minneapolis Academy at one time. Taught history and English in the 
Belmont School, California. Student and graduate of the University of Chicago 
in economics, history and politics. Lecturer on literature, art in fiction, and the 
drama for Wellesley and Mount Holyoke colleges. Author of "Reference History 

54 



850 Part Taken by Women in American History 

of the United States," "The Gift of Genius," author and publisher of "The 
Study Guide Series," also "Study Guide Courses." Edited with aids to study 
and critical essays, "Riverside Literature Series," "Silas Marner," "Vicar of Wake- 
field," "House of Seven Gables," "Vision of Sir Launfal," "Irving's Sketch Book," 
and "Franklin's Autobiography." 

HELEN MARIA WINSLOW. 

Born in Westfield, Vermont. Daughter of Don Avery and Mary S. Newton 
Winslow. Writer for papers and magazines. Editor and publisher of The Club 
Woman. Writer of short stories. Editor and publisher annually of the Official 
Register of the Directory of Woman's Clubs of America. 

MARY REBECCA FOSTER GILMAN. 

Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1859. Daughter of Dwight and 
Henriette P. B. Foster. Married in 1887, Rev. Bradley Gilman. Critic on the 
Springfield Republican and Suburban Life. Author of "The Life of St. Theresa," 
in series of famous women, "The Pilgrim's Scrip," a collection of wisdom and 
wit of George Meredith. Edited Mrs. Fawcett's "Life of Queen Victoria." A 
contributor to magazines and periodicals. 

HARRIET ELIZA PAINE. 

Writer under the name of Eliza Chester. Born at Rehoboth, Massachusetts, 
May 5, 1845. Daughter of Dr. John Chester, and Eliza Folger Paine. Author 
of "Bird Songs of New England," "Chats with Girls on Self Culture," "The 
Unmarried Woman," and editor of the "Life of Eliza Baylies Wheaton." 

ANN EMILIE POULSSON. 

Born at Cedar Grove, New Jersey, September 8, 1853. Daughter of Halvor 
and Ruth Ann Mitchell Poulsson. Graduate of the kindergarten normal class. 
Teacher in School for Blind, of South Boston; joint editor of the Kindergarten 
Review. Author of "Nursery Finger Plays," "Child Stories and Rhymes," "Love 
and Law in Child Training," "Holiday Songs." 

SARAH PRATT GREENE. 

Born at Simsbury, Connecticut, July 3, 1856. Daughter of Dudley Boston and 
Mary Paine McLean. July, 1887, married Franklin Lynde Greene, now deceased. 
Her book, "Cape Cod Folks," which appeared some twenty years ago, made quite a 
stir and entitled her to literary prominence. She has since written "Some Other 
Folks," "Towhead," "Last Chance Junction," "Moral Imbeciles," "Flood Tide," and 
many other stories published in book form and has contributed short stories largely 
to Harper's Magazine and other publications. 



Women in Professions 851 

eleanor habawell abbot coburn. 

Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, September 22, 1872. Daughter of Rev. 
Edward and Clara Davis Abbot. In 1908 she married Dr. Fordice Coburn, of 
Lowell, Massachusetts. In October, 1905, won the thousand dollar prize offered by 
Collier with her story, "The Sick Abed Lady," and again in 1907 with one entitled 
"The Very Tired Girl," and in Howell's selections of the best short stories these 
are mentioned. Has been a contributor to magazines. 

MARY MAPES DODGE. 

For many years editor of St. Nicholas, and through this magazine she en- 
deared herself to the youth of America. Mrs. Dodge was a native of New York 
City, where she was born January 26, 1838. Her father was Professor James J. 
Mapes, one of the first promoters of scientific farming in the United States. When 
quite young, she married William Dodge, a lawyer of New York, and after his 
death took up the vocation of literature as a means of educating her two sons. At 
first her writings were short sketches for children, a volume of which was pub- 
lished in 1864 under the name of "Irvington Stories." This was followed by "Hans 
Brinker, or the Silver Skates." She was engaged with Harriet Beecher Stowe and 
Donald G. Mitchell as one of the editors of Hearth and Home, conducting the 
children's department of that journal for several years. From this she became 
editor of St. Nicholas in 1873, and continued in that position until her death in 
1905. Her famous story, "Hans Brinker," has been translated into Dutch, French, 
German, Russian and Italian. She also published a number of other volumes of 
prose and poetry and contributed to the principal magazines of the country, the 
Atlantic, Harper's and the Century. 

SUSAN ARNOLD ELSTON WALLACE. 

Was born December 25, 1830, at Crawfordsville, Indiana. Her maiden name 
was Susan Arnold Elston. In 1852 she became the wife of General Lew Wallace, 
famous as the author of "Ben-Hur." During the Civil War she was frequently in 
camp with the general, and she aided in nursing the wounded. After the war 
General Wallace practiced law at Crawfordsville, their home. Mrs. Wallace was 
called upon to occupy high social positions, through the appointment of General 
Wallace to various offices under the government. From 1878 to 1881 he was 
governor of New Mexico and from 1881 to 1885 he was United States Minister to 
Turkey. General Wallace was the intimate friend of the Sultan, and Mrs. Wallace 
was granted many privileges not formerly given to foreign women. In 1885 they 
returned to their home, and General Wallace resumed his practice of law and his 
literary work. Mrs. Wallace was a frequent contributor to papers and magazines 
for many years. The best known of her poems are "The Patter of Little Feet." 
Among her books are "The Storied Sea," "Ginevra," "The Land of the Pueblos" 
and "The Repose in Egypt." Mrs. Wallace devoted a great deal of her time to 
charitable and philanthropic work, and her home was always a social and literary 
center. Mrs. Wallace died in 1907. 



852 Part Taken by Women in American History 



GEORGINA PELL CURTIS. 

Georgina Pell Curtis, daughter of Alfred Leonard and Maria Elizabeth (Hill) 
Curtis, was born in New York city, February 19th, 1859. At the age of seven years 
she lost her hearing and was educated at the Fort Washington, N. Y., Deaf and 
Dumb Institute, and by private tutors. At the age of thirteen she was sent to 
St. Mary's Protestant Episcopal School, New York, where she remained until her 
graduation at the age of seventeen. At this school she was the only deaf pupil. 
For five years after graduation she studied art and worked under different masters, 
and had almost decided to adopt art as a profession when it was suggested to her 
that she should try and write. This she thought quite impossible, but was urged so 
strongly that she made the attempt, and succeeded. 

In the meantime, she had joined the Roman Catholic Church, and it is as a 
Catholic writer that she is best known. She has written for all the best Catholic 
magazines and has brought out three books — "Trammellings," a collection of short 
stories of which she is the author; "Some Roads to Rome in America," and "The 
American Catholic Who's Who," of which she is the editor. Miss Curtis is lineally 
descended on the paternal side from Peregrine White, the first child born in the 
Mayflower colony. 

The first edition of the "American Catholic Who's Who" appeared in 191 1, 
and the editor hopes to bring it out every year or two, making it a permanent 
record of prominent American Catholics in the United States, Canada and Europe. 

EMMA LAZARUS. 

A prominent Jewish educator has recently said, in speaking of his people in 
America, "We cannot boast such a poet as Heine, a soldier in the intellectual war 
of liberation which has freed European thought from its mediaeval shackles, but 
there did bloom amongst us the delicate flower of Emma Lazarus' work." And, 
indeed, it is to be doubted whether poetic feeling and the strength of this young 
writer's work has been excelled by any other American author. 

Emma Lazarus was born in New York City, July 22, 1849, and despite the 
fact that death came to her just as she had reached her prime she had gained a place 
and made a mark in literature far above the achievements of many eminent 
lives well rounded by age. She was the daughter of Moses Lazarus, a well-known 
merchant of New York, and received a literary education under private tutors. Her 
attainments included Hebrew, Greek and Latin and modern languages. Even in 
her childhood she was noted for her quickness and intelligence and her text-book 
education she herself broadened by her reading on religious, philosophical, and 
scientific subjects until she became a profound thinker. Her literary bent displayed 
itself when at seventeen years of age she published a volume of poems, "Admetus," 
which at once attracted attention by the remarkable character of the work and 
which brought her many flattering notices. 

In 1874 she produced her first important work, "Alide," a romance founded 
on the episodes in the early life of Goethe. Some translations from Heine that 
followed were even more successful in making her known. In 1880 was begun the 



Women in Professions 853 

publication of the work to which she had for some time addressed herself, upon 
the position, history and wrongs of her people. This first book was called "Sons 
of the Semite" and opened with a five-act tragedy called "The Dance of Death," 
dealing with the stories of Jewish persecution in the fifteenth century. She wrote 
for the Century a number of striking essays on Jewish topics, among which were 
"Russian Christianity vs. Modern Judaism," "The Jewish Problem," and "Was the 
Earl of Beaconsfield a Representative Jew?" Her work also includes critical articles 
on Salvini, Emerson and others. In the winter of 1882, when many Russian Jews 
were flocking to New York City to escape Russian persecution, Miss Lazarus pub- 
lished in the American Hebrew stories and articles solving the question of occupa- 
tion for the newcomers. Her plan involved industrial and technical education, and 
the project was carried out along that line. Her last work was published in the 
Century in May, 1887. It was a series of poems in prose entitled "By the Waters 
of Babylon," and the attention it excited and the admiration accorded it were 
general, here as well as across the Atlantic. Miss Lazarus died November 19, 1887. 
There was no art to which she did not respond with splendid appreciation — music, 
painting, poetry and drama — she felt keenly, intelligently and generously the special 
charm of each. For moral ideas she had the keenness of her race. She had, too, 
that genius for friendship which so few fully understood. That such a nature 
should have formed close ties of intellectual sympathy with men of the character of 
Emerson, in America, and Browning, in England, is not a matter of surprise. 

ELLEN BLACKMAR BARKER. 

Mrs. Barker writes under the name of Ellen Blackmar Maxwell. She was 
born at West Springfield, Pennsylvania. Her first husband, Rev. Allen J. Maxwell, 
died at Lucknow, India, in 1890. Wrote "The Bishop's Conversion," "Three Old 
Maids in Hawaii," and "The Way of Fire." Her second husband is Albert Smith 
Barker. 

MARY CLARE DE GRAFFENRIED. 

Miss De Graffenried was born in Macon, Georgia, May 19, 1849. Collector 
of statistics for the Bureau of Labor of the United States. Has collected data on 
industrial and sociological subjects in the United States, Belgium and France. Has 
contributed to magazines on these subjects. 

ELLA LORAINE DORSEY. 

Miss Dorsey was born in Washington, D. C, March 2, 1853. Daughter of 
Lorenzo and Anna Hanson Dorsey. Is a graduate of the Visitation Convent, 
Georgetown, D. C. For many years special correspondent for Washington, Chicago, 
Boston, and Cincinnati papers. Indexer and Russian translator, Scientific Library, 
United States Department of the Interior. Is a member of the advisory board of 
Trinity College, the Catholic college for the higher education of women in the 
United States, located in Washington, D. C. Member of the Daughters of the 



854 Part Taken by Women in American History 

American Revolution, Colonial Dames, and other patriotic societies. Has con- 
tributed able articles to the magazines and has written many stories, among them 
"Midshipman Bob," "The Two Tramps," "The Taming of Polly," "Pickle and 
Pepper," "Pocahontas," "The End of the White Man's Trail." 

JENNIE GOULD LINCOLN. 

Mrs. Lincoln is the daughter of the late Judge George Gould of the New 
York Court of Appeals and the wife of Dr. Nathan Smith Lincoln, of Washington, 
D. C, now deceased. She is the author of quite a number of short stories and a 
contributor to magazines. Is one of the prominent society women of Washington 
who have made a name for themselves in the literary field. 

MARY SMITH LOCKWOOD. 

Mrs. Lockwood was born at Hanover, New York, October 24, 1831. The 
daughter of Henry and Beulah Blodgett Smith. In September, 1851, she married 
Henry C. Lockwood. She was one of the founders of the D. A. R., Commissioner- 
at-Large of the World's Fair in Chicago, and was the first historian-general and 
is the vice-president for life of the D. A. R. Prominent member of the Woman's 
Suffrage Club, Historical Association, Woman's Press Union, one of the committee 
which prepared the history of women's work at the Chicago Exposition, and is the 
author of several books, "Historic Homes of Washington," "Handbook of Ceramic 
Art," "Story of the Records of the D. A. R.," one of the editors of the D. A. R. 
Magazine, and edits the D. A. R. reports to Smithsonian Institution. 

IDA TREADWELL THURSTON. 

Mrs. Thurston is known by her pen name, "Marion Thorne." She has writ- 
ten several stories, among them "The Bishop's Shadow," "Boys of the Central," "A 
Frontier Hero," and many other excellent stories for boys. 

EDITH ELMER WOOD. 

Mrs. Wood was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, September 24, 1871. 
Daughter of Commodore Horace Elmer, U. S. N, and Adele Wiley Elmer. Is the 
wife of Capt. Albert Norton Wood U. S. N. Mrs. Wood was the founder and first 
president of the Anti-Tuberculosis League of Porto Rico, which maintains hospitals 
and sanitariums for indigent patients and conducts a campaign on the isle against 
this dread disease. She has written several stories and contributed to the leading 
magazines and newspapers. 

MYRTA LOCKETT AVARY. 

Mrs. Avary was born in Halifax, Virginia. Is prominent in fresh air and 
settlement work in the various cities, and engaged in sociology and historical work 
in the South. Has served on the editorial staff of several high-class magazines and 



Women in Professions 855 

written for syndicates and the religious press on sociology and stories of tenement 
life, also stories of the Civil War, and edited "Recollections of Alexander H. 
Stephens," etc. 

AMY ALLEMAND BERNARDY. 

Though born at Florence, Italy, January 16, 1880, Miss Bernardy is con- 
spicuous for her work in this country. She has been professor of Italian at Smith 
College, contributor to various magazines and newspapers, and prominently identi- 
fied with emigration and immigration study movement in Italy and the United 
States, and is the author of several books in Italian. 



URSULA NEWELL GESTEFELD. 

Born in Augusta, Maine. Founder of the system of new thought known as 
the Science of Being, and instructor for the Exodus Club, organized in Chicago in 
1897, which became later the Church of New Thought and College of the Science of 
Being. She was the first pastor of this church and head of the college. She has 
written several works on this subject and has a large following of students. 

FLORENCE HUNTLEY. 

Mrs. Huntley was born at Alliance, Ohio. Daughter of Rev. Henry and 
Charlotte Trego Chance. Editor of the Iowa City Republican in 1901. Now en- 
gaged on a series of writings on the system of science and philosophy intended to 
connect the demonstrated and recorded knowledge of ancient spiritual schools with 
the discovered and published facts of the modern physical school of science. Has 
written several books, among them "Harmonics of Evolution," "The Great 
Psychological Crime," "The Destructive Principle of Nature in Individual Life," 
and "The Constructive Principle of Individual Life," etc. 

KATE FISHER KIMBALL. 

Miss Kimball was born at Orange, New Jersey, February 22, i860. Daughter 
of Horace and Mary D. Kimball. Has been editor of the Round Table of the 
Chautauquan Assembly since October, 1899, and has written the reports of that 
circle for general circulation. 

AMELIA GERE MASON. 

Mrs. Mason was born in Northampton, Massachusetts. The daughter of 
Frederick and Ruth Sheldon (Warner) Gere. Spent seven years in Europe gather- 
ing material for books in foreign libraries. The titles of some of her books are 
"The Women of the French Salons," "Women in the Golden Ages." Has also con- 
tributed to magazines. 



856 Part Taken by Women in American History 



ELIZA RUHAMAH SCIDMORE. 

Miss Scidmore was born at Madison, Wisconsin, October 14, 1856. Her 
parents being missionaries in Japan and China, Miss Scidmore has spent much of 
her time in Japan and many of her writings are stories of that country. She first 
became conspicuous as a writer in the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, writing letters 
from Washington over the signature, "Ruhamah," and by her pen name she is best 
known. She has written on Alaska, Java, China, India, and her work is reliable 
and her style fascinating. She spends much of her time in Washington. 

M. SEARS BROOKS. 

Mrs. Brooks was born in Springfield, Massachusetts. Her family, the Tuttles, 
of Hertfordshire, England, settled in New Haven, Connecticut upon a tract of land 
now occupied by Yale College, and this tract remained in their family for more than 
a century. Her grandfather was one of Anthony Wayne's men at the storming of 
Stony Point. Presidents Dwight and Woolsey, of Yale, are descendants of her 
family; also Prescott, the historian, and other noted people. Mrs. Brooks is the 
author of poems, essays, and short stories which have appeared in the newspapers 
and magazines of the country. 

KATHARINE G. BUSBEY. 

Mrs. Katharine G. Busbey was born in Brooklyn, New 
York. Graduated from Smith College, Northampton, Massa- 
chusetts, in 1885. Was married in 1896, and has lived in 
Washington since that date. 

Her father, Horace Graves, was a lawyer; her mother, a 
college president ; her uncle, a college professor. 

Mrs. Busbey wrote "The Letters from a New Congress- 
man's Wife," published in a popular magazine. The publisher 
said they were good and wanted to use her name, but she 
decided that they should go anonymously to test their value — 
fearing these stories would be attributed to her husband, who 
was in the center of the Washington political maelstrom, and 
people might say she acted only as his amanuensis. She was 
right. The stories were popular and when a year later the 
same magazine printed a story by Katharine G. Busbey, author 
of "Letters from a New Congressman's Wife," she received 



Women in Professions 857 

many letters from all parts of the country and many compli- 
ments from public men who had enjoyed those letters. In 1908 
she went to England to prepare a report for the United States 
Bureau of Labor on the conditions of women in English 
factories, and while in London received a proposition to write 
for a London publisher a book on "Home Life in America." 
That book was published in 19 10, and it received extended and 
favorable reviews in all the great literary papers and the dailies. 
Many of the reviewers did not know the author, but credited 
her with information, industry and cleverness in handling the 
subject. 

In the past year she has had stories in the Saturday 
Evening Post, Harper's Magazine, The Sunday Magazine, 
Good Housekeeping, and other magazines here and in England. 

Mrs. Busbey is a college bred woman who came back to 
literature after she had served her country as a mother, and is 
destined to achieve a brilliant success in the literary world. 

ALICE MAY DOUGLAS. 

Born in Bath, Maine, June 28, 1865. Daughter of Joshua Lufkin and Helen 
Lauraman Harvey Douglas. Writer of Sunday School lessons for the primary 
department in Sunday School journals. Active worker in the missionary societies 
of the Methodist Church. Delegate to the Boston Peace Congress. Founder of 
the Peace Makers' Band, and the author of several volumes of verse and songs, 
also stories and booklets. Contributor to magazines and religious papers. 

LAURA ELIZABETH RICHARDS. 

Born in Boston, February 27, 1850. Daughter of Samuel Gridley and Julia 
Ward Howe. Author of sketches and many short stories, letters and journals of 
Samuel Gridley Howe and the life of Florence Nightingale for young people. 
Married Henry Richards, of Gardiner, Maine, June 17, 1871. 

ELIZA HAPPY MORTON. 

Born July 15, 1852, in Westbrook, a former suburb of Portland, Maine. 
Daughter of Wilson and Eliza Hannah Phenix Morton. Teacher of geography in 
the normal department of the Battle Creek College, Michigan, at one time. Has 



858 Part Taken by Women in American History 

written several books on. geography such as "Chalk Lessons for Geography- 
Classes," "Potter's Elementary Geography," "Potter's Advanced Geography," also 
teachers' editions of both works, "Morton's Elementary Geography," "Morton's 
Advanced Geography," "Thought; Its Origin and Power," many songs and hymns, 
one of well-known songs entitled "The Songs My Mother Sang." 

MARY BRADFORD CROWNINSHIELD. 

Daughter of Judge John Melancthon and Sarah Elizabeth Hopkins Bradford. 
A descendant from Gov. William Bradford, of the Plymouth colony. In July, 1870, 
married A. Schuyler Crovvninshield, who died in May, 1908. Has written several 
stories, among them "A Romance of the West Indies," "Where the Trade Wind 
Blows," "All Among the Light-Houses," "The Light-House Children Abroad," "San 
Isidro," and "The Archbishop and the Lady." 

ELLA MAUDE MOORE. 

Born at Warren, Maine, July 22, 1849. Daughter of Samuel Emerson and 
Maria Copeland Smith. In 1872 married Joseph E. Moore, of Thomaston, Maine. 
Her great claim for conspicuous mention among the famous literary women of the 
United States is the poem known as "The Rock of Ages," which, it is said, was 
written hastily on the inside of an old envelope, but which is to-day one of the 
famous hymns used in almost all of the Protestant churches and is without doubt 
the most popular. She has written stories for girls for newspapers and magazines ; 
also songs. 

MARIE LOUISE MALLOY. 

Born in Baltimore. Daughter of John and Frances (Sollers) Malloy. 
Now dramatic editor and editorial writer and humorist of the Baltimore American 
over the signature "Josh Wink." Author with Creston Clark of "The Ragged 
Cavalier." 

ELAINE GOODALE EASTMAN. 

Born at Mount Washington, Massachusetts, October 9, 1863. Daughter of 
Henry S. and Dora H. (Read) Goodale. In 1891 married Charles A. Eastman. In 
her early youth wrote verses, in connection with her sister. From 1883 to 1891 was 
teacher and supervisor of Indian schools and has written magazine and newspaper 
articles on Indian life and character and the education of Indian children. 

ADELAIDE S. HALL. 

Born in Westmoreland, New York, November 2, 1857. The daughter of 
Schuyler and Susan Waldo Wade Hall. Contributor to magazines on topics of art 
and travel. Curator of the Chicago Gallery of Fine Arts and lecturer on art topics. 



Women in Professions 859 



SOPHIA MIRIAM SWEET. 

Born in Brewer, Maine. Daughter of Nathaniel and Susan Brastow Sweet. 
At one time associate editor of the Wide Awake. Writer of short stories and 
juvenile books 

ABBIE FARWELL BROWN. 

xJorn in Boston. Daughter of Benjamin F. and Clara (Neal) Brown. 
Educated at Radcliffe College. At one time one of the editors of the Young 
Folks' Library. Author of books on animals, flowers, birds and other subjects. 
Writer of stories for children. Contributor to magazines and newspapers. Editor 
of the Library for Young People. 

EMMA ELIZABETH BROWN. 

Born in Concord, New Hampshire, October 18, 1847. Daughter of John 
Frost and Elizabeth (Evans) Brown. Writer and illustrator. Has written the lives 
of Washington, Grant, Garfield, Oliver Wendell Holmes, James Russell Lowell and 
other noted persons. Is the author of many other books of prose and verse, and is 
a contributor to magazines. 

KATE LOUISE BROWN. 

Born in Adams, Massachusetts, May 9, 1857. Daughter of Edgar M. and 
Mary T. Brown. Contributor to magazines and juvenile publications. Is the author 
of children's songs and music for the kindergarten. 

ANNIE PAYSON CALL. 

Born in Arlington, Massachusetts, May 17, 1853. Daughter of Henry E. 
and Emily (Payson) Call. Teacher of nerve training. Author of works entitled 
"Power Through Repose," "The Freedom of Life," "A Man of the World" and 
"Nerves and Common-Sense." 

MARGARETTA WADE DELAND. 

Born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, February 23, 1857. In 1880 married Lorin 
F. Deland, of Boston. Author of the well-known novel, "John Ward, Preacher," 
"The Old Garden and Other Verses," "Philip and His Wife," "Florida Days," 
"Sydney," "The Story of a Child," "The Wisdom of Fools," "Mr. Tommy Dove 
and Other Stories," "Old Chester Tales," "Dr. Lavender's People," "The Common 
Way," "The Awakening of Helena Richie," which has become as famous as John 
Ward, Preacher," and has been dramatized. 

MARY ELIZABETH DEWEY. 

Born in Gloucester, Massachusetts, October 27, 1821. Daughter of Orville 
and Louisa (Farnham) Dewey. Author of "Life and Letters of Catherine 
Sedgwick," and "Autobiography and Letters of Orville Dewey." 



86o Part Taken by Women in American History 



MRS. GEORGE SHELDON DOWNS. 

Born at Wrentham, Massachusetts, June 5, 1843. Daughter of Edward A. 
and Malvina Ware Forbush. Writer of fiction in serial stories and books under 
the pen name of "Mrs. Georgie Sheldon." Among them, "A Brownie's Triumph," 
"A True Aristocrat," "Betsy's Transformation," "Gertrude Elliot's Crucible." 

FANNIE MERRITT FARMER. 

Born in Boston, March 23, 1857. Daughter of John Franklin and Mary 
(Watson) Farmer. Principal of Miss Farmer's School of Cookery since 1892. 
Author of many works on domestic science, among them "The Boston Cooking 
School Cook Book," "Food and Cookery for the Sick and Convalescent." 

ANNIE ADAMS FIELDS. 

Born in Boston, June 6, 1834. Daughter of Dr. Zabdiel Boylston and Sarah 
May (Holland) Adams. In 1854 married James Thomas Fields, of Boston, who 
died in 1881. Has written "Memoirs of James Fields," "Whittier; Notes of His Life 
and Friendship," "Authors and Friends," "Nathaniel Hawthorne," "The Singing 
Shepherd," and other poems. 

EDNA ABIGAIL FOSTER. 

Born in Sullivan Harbor, Maine. Daughter of Charles W. and Sarah J. 
Dyer Foster. Contributor to journals and magazines. Editor at one time of The 
Household; also associate editor of the Youth's Companion since 1901, and the 
author of several stories. 

ELIZABETH LINCOLN GOULD. 

Born in Boston. Daughter of Charles Duren and Sarah Bell (Wheeler) 
Gould. Contributor to Youth's Companion. Author of a play from Louisa M. 
Alcott's "Little Men" ; also one from "Little Women" ; the stories, "Little Polly 
Prentiss," "Felicia," and "Felicia's Friend," and others. 

EDITH GUERRIER. 

Born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, September 20, 1870. Daughter of 
George Pearce and Emma Louisa Ricketson Guerrier. Head resident of Library 
Club House, Boston. Author of "Wonderfolk in Wonderland," and other folk- 
lore stories. 

MARY BRONSON HARTT. 

Born in Ithaca, New York, March 23. 1873. Daughter of Prof. Charles 
Frederick and Lucy Cornelia Lynde Hartt. Her father was a professor of Cornell 



Women in Professions 86i 

University. She is a contributor to the World's Work, Scribner's, Century, Youth's 
Companion, and Boston Transcript. 

MARGARET HORTON POTTER. 

Born in Chicago, May 20, 1881. Daughter of R. N. W. and Ellen Owen 
Potter. Married John D. Black, of Chicago, January 1, 1902. Her book, "The 
Social Lion," published in 1899, created quite a sensation. It has since been 
followed by others : "Uncanonized," "The House of De Mailly," "Istar of Baby- 
lon," "The Castle of Twilight," "The Flame-Gatherers," "The Fire of Spring," 
"The Princess," "The Golden Ladder," etc. 

ELIZABETH ARMSTRONG REED. 

Born in Winthrop, Maine, May 16, 1842. Daughter of Alvin and Sylvia 
Armstrong, who were both prominent educators. She is the only woman whose 
work has been accepted by the Philosophical Society of Great Britain. Con- 
tributor to Encyclopedia Americana, and Biblical Encyclopedia. Author of "The 
Bible Triumphant," a book on Hindu literature, and also others on the literature 
of Persia, ancient and modern, "Primitive Buddhism ; Its Origin and Teachings," 
etc. 

LIZZIE E. WOOSTER. 

Born in Stubenville, July 24, 1870. Daughter of Charles C. and Nannie 
Cullom Wooster. Has been engaged in the authorship and editing of school 
books since 1896, and is her own publisher, establishing her own firm under the 
name of Wooster and Company. She is the author of reading charts, primers, 
arithmetics, primary recitations, "First Reader," "Elementary Arithmetic," "Woos- 
ter's Combination Reading Chart," "Wooster Sentence Builder," "Wooster Number 
Builders," "The Wooster Readers," and other well-known school books. 

MADELINE YALE WYNNE. 

Born at Newport, New York, September 25, 1847. Daughter of Linus Yale, 
Jr. (inventor of the Yale lock), and Catherine Brooks Yale. Was a student of art 
in Boston Art Museum and in New York. Pupil of George Fuller. Has origi- 
nated and developed an interesting specialty in hand-wrought metals. Is a con- 
tributor to many of the magazines. Author of "The Little Room," and other 
stories. 

MARY BLATCHLEY BRIGGS. 

Mrs. Briggs was born in Valparaiso, Indiana, January 1, 1846. She served 
for eleven years as assistant secretary, superintendent, and reporter for the press, 
and manager of county, state and inter-state fairs. She has written a volume of 
poems. She served on the executive committee, Board of Lady Managers of the 
World's Fair. 



S62 Part Taken by Women in American History 

REBECCA RUTER SPRINGER. 

Mrs. Rebecca Ruter Springer was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, November 
8, 1832. Daughter of Rev. Calvin W. Ruter, a prominent clergyman of the Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church, and was educated in the Wesleyan Female College in 
Cincinnati, Ohio. 

In 1859 she married William M. Springer, a noted lawyer of Illinois, and 
afterwards Congressman for several terms from that state. Mrs. Springer passed 
much of her life in the Capital City, and no woman was more beloved nor more 
conspicuous through her abilities and charm of manner. Mrs. Springer wrote 
several books of verse and two novels, entitled "Beechwood" and "Self," and a 
volume of poems under the title "Songs of the Sea." Mrs. Springer's death 
occurred in 1904. 

B. ELLEN BURKE. 

Was born in Lawrence County, New York, in 1850. Her husband was 
Charles A. Burke, a lawyer of Malone, New York. In 1896, she organized the 
Teachers' Institutes for the instructors in Catholic schools, and teachers were 
brought together from all the states. Her assistants were among the ablest 
Catholic teachers of the country. She originated and improved the methods of 
teaching in the Sunday Schools. Has given talks and lectures at the Catholic 
summer schools of Madison, and Detroit, Michigan, and also the Catholic winter 
school of New Orleans. In 1889 she accepted the position of editor for the 
Catholic publishers, D. H. McBride and Company, and in 1900 published the Sunday 
Companion, • a periodical for young Catholics, and on the retirement of these 
publishers from business, she bought the paper and has since been its owner and 
editor. She has published also a Catholic monthly called The Helper, intended 
for teachers and parents. Has written and compiled a set of readers for Catholic 
schools and two geographies. Is a prominent contributor to other periodicals 
beside her own. She taught the first "Method Class," and started the New York 
Normal School for Catechists, the faculty of which now numbers twenty-eight. 

MARGARET MARY BROPHY HALVEY. 

Was born in Queens County, Ireland, in the early sixties. Her father's 
family came to Ireland at the time of Henry II, in 1192, and her mother was one 
of the first Catholics in her family since the Reformation. In 1884 she married 
Timothy Frederick Halvey, founder of the first Gaelic School in New York, 
Chicago, Philadelphia, and Buffalo, and originator of Robert Emmet Day (March 
4). She was active during the World's Fair and Social Science Exhibit, intro- 
ducing the Irish industries, particularly the lace exhibit. Was the first woman 
secretary of the Catholic Historical Society, and secretary and co-founder of the 
Woman's Auxiliary Board. Author of poems and short stories. Ts one of the 
officers for the Anti-Vivisection Society; also the Woman's Pen Society, Society 
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and president of the Ladies' Land 



Women in Professions 863 

League, branch secretary of the Ladies' Aid Society for Widows and Orphans. 
Makes her home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 

SARAH MOORE. 

Newspaper artist; journalist. Special writer and illustrator on the staff 
of the Detroit News. Is the daughter of Charles B. Moore and was born in 
Detroit. 

ANNIE LAURIE WILSON JAMES. 

Mrs. Annie Laurie Wilson James was born in Louisville, Kentucky, No- 
vember, 1862. She occupies a very unique position among women, having been 
considered an authority on the heredity of horses, and horse pedigrees. In 1888 
she went to California on a business trip and while there became assistant editor 
and manager of Breeder and Sportsman, published in San Francisco. In 1888 she 
married R. B. James, of Baker County, Oregon, and has made her home there for 
many years. 

EMILY L. GOODRICH SMITH. 

Mrs. Emily L. Goodrich Smith was born in the old Hancock House, Bos- 
ton, Massachusetts, June 1, 1830. She was the oldest daughter of the Hon. S. G. 
Goodrich, who was well known as "Peter Parley." Her mother was Miss Mary 
Boote. She was educated abroad and while living in Paris in 1848 she witnessed 
the terrors enacted during the reign of Louis Philippe. Her father was consul 
in Paris, and their house was constantly filled with terror-stricken foreigners, who 
found their only safety under the protection of the American flag. 

Returning to the United States, in 1856, she became the wife of Nathaniel 
Smith, of Connecticut, a grandson of the famous Nathaniel Smith, one time Chief 
Justice of Connecticut. She has written many stories and verses for magazines, 
her letters during the war were widely read and copied. She was one of the 
founders of the Chautauqua Literary Circle and a vice-regent of the Mt Vernon 
Association for Connecticut. 

SOPHIA BRAEUNLICH. 

Mrs. Braeunlich was born July 2, i860, in Bethpage, Long Island. After 
the death of her husband, she was left without resources. She took a business 
course at the Packard Business College in New York, and on her graduation 
obtained the position of private secretary to the editor of the Engineering and 
Mining Journal, and president of the Scientific Publishing Company. She displayed 
such ability and mastered so fully the technical details of the paper, that finally 
she attended the meetings of the American Institute of Mining Engineers as 
representative of the editor, and when Mr. Rothwell resigned this position, Mrs. 
Braeunlich was elected to the vacancy and became the business manager of the 
entire establishment. She assisted the government in obtaining data for the 
statistics in regard to the collection of gold for the Eleventh Census. She is 



864 Part Taken by Women in American History 

described as "a woman of strong character, with an instinctive clearness of vision 
ascribed to women, with the sound judgment of a man." 

MARIA MORQAN. 

Widely known as Middy Morgan, was born November 22, 1828, in Cork, 
Ireland, and died in Jersey City, N. J., June I, 1892. Miss Morgan occupied a 
unique position among American professional women. She was the daughter of 
Anthony Morgan, a landed proprietor. In 1S65 her father died, and the eldest 
son succeeding to the entire estate, the other children were left dependent. Maria 
and a younger sister went to Rome, It?ly, and there, owing to her wonderful 
horsemanship and knowledge of horses, which she had gained on her father's 
estates in Ireland, she was engaged by Victor Emmanuel, King of Italy, to select 
the horses for his Horse Guards and take the supervision of his stables, a position 
which she filled with credit, and to the entire satisfaction of the King. After 
five years spent in this service, she decided to come to the United States, and on 
her departure, was presented with valuable jewels in recognition of her service. 
She bore letters of introduction to Horace Greeley, James Gordon Bennett, and 
Henry J. Raymond, and was immediately employed by the New York Tribune, 
the Herald, and the Times to write articles and do live-stock reporting, also for 
the Turf, Field and Farm and the Live Stock Reporter. In addition, she wrote 
the pedigrees and racing articles for the American Agriculturist. At one time she 
was in charge of the Pennsylvania Railroad station at Robinvale, New Jersey, and 
during this time made three trips to Europe ; her first on a cattle boat. After 
her return she wrote a series of articles on the treatment of cattle on ocean 
steamers, which resulted in the bettering of conditions and more humane 
treatment. 

AGNES REPPLIER. 

Miss Agnes Repplier, of Philadelphia, received March 5, 1911, the Laetare 
medal, annually awarded by the University of Notre Dame (Indiana) to a lay 
member of the Catholic Church in the United States, who has performed con- 
spicuous work in literature, art, science, or philanthropy — the highest honor 
conferred by this University. Miss Repplier's work has extended over a period 
of a quarter of a century, and she is considered to be an essayist without peer 
in this country. Of her, Dr. Howard Furness, the critic, says, "She has revived 
an art almost lost in these days, that of the essayist. There is no form of the 
essay she has not touched, and she has touched nothing she has not adorned." 
In 1902 the University of Pennsylvania conferred on her the degree of Doctor 
of Letters. Agnes Repplier was born in Philadelphia, April 1, 1857, her parents 
being Joseph and Eliza Jane Repplier, of French extraction. She is the author of 
"Books and Men" ; "Essays in Miniature," etc. 

AUBERTINE WOODWARD MOORE. 

Musical critic, translator, and lecturer. Was born September 27, 1841, near 
Philadelphia. She wrote under the pen name of "Aubertine Forestier." She 



Women in Professions 865 

contributed articles to the Philadelphia papers on the resources of California, and 
published translations of several novels from the German. Also translations of 
music and original songs. In 1877 she published "Echoes from Mist-Land," or 
more fully "The Nibelungen Lay Revealed to Lovers of Romance and Chivalry," 
which is a prose version of the famous poem, and was the first American transla- 
tion of that work which received favorable comment, not only in this country but 
in England and Germany. She is a well-known Scandinavian translator and is a 
pioneer in the translation of the Norway Music Album, a valuable collection of 
Norwegian folk-lore songs, dances, national airs and compositions for the piano. 
In December, 1887, she became the wife of Samuel H. Moore. Mrs. Moore is 
considered an authority on the musical liistory and literature of the Scandinavians, 
and a collection of her writings in that field would form the most valuable com- 
pendium of Scandinavian lore to be found in the English language. She has 
done valuable work in making Americans familiar with Norwegian literature and 
music. She has been invited to give evenings on this subject before the various 
clubs of this country, notably the Sorosis, of New York, and the Woman's Club, 
of Boston. She is unexcelled as a translator of the poetry of the Norwegian, 
French, and German writers, and her translation of Goethe's "Erl King" has 
been considered the finest ever made. 

FRANCES G. DAVENPORT. 

Miss Davenport studied history at Radcliffe College (Harvard Annex), from 
which college she received the degrees of B.A. and M.A. ; at Cambridge Uni- 
versity, England, and at Chicago University. From the last-named institution she 
received the degree of Ph.D. (in 1904). She taught history at Vassar College 
during the year 1904-1905, and since 1905 has been an assistant in the Department 
of Historical Research in the Carnegie Institution of Washington. Until she 
became connected with the Carnegie Institution, she worked in English Economic 
History, and published two books and several articles in that field. Of these, the 
principal one was a book on "The Economic Development of a Norfolk Manor." 
Since her connection with the Carnegie Institution began, she has compiled in 
collaboration, with Professor C. M. Andrews, a "Guide to the Manuscript Mate- 
rials for the History of the United States to 1783, in the British Museum, Minor 
London Archives, and the Libraries of Oxford and Cambridge." Has published 
in the American Historical Review (1909) an article on "Columbus's Book of 
Privileges," and has been and is now engaged in compiling and editing a collection 
of "Treaties relating to the territory now included within the United States, to 
which the United States was not a party." 

SUSAN HUNTER WALKER. 

Mrs. Walker was born in Banff, Scotland, and received her early education 
in private schools of Scotland and England. She is the daughter of the late 
James Hunter, M.A., for quarter of a century rector of the Banff Academy, a 
school which prepared youths for the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. Mr. 



866 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Hunter came to this country in the early eighties and engaged in literary work. 
Among other valuable work he accomplished was the editing of the Supplement to 
Worcester's Dictionary, and was chief translator and collaborator in the prepara- 
tion of the "History of All Nations," of Flaathe, of which the late Professor John 
Henry Wright, of Harvard University, was editor-in-chief. 

Miss Hunter remained in school in England for some years after the estab- 
lishment of her family in Virginia, near the United States Capital. She continued 
her education under private teachers in this country until she became assistant 
editor of Book News, Philadelphia. This position she held for three years, resign- 
ing it to come to Washington to assist Mrs. John A. Logan in the conduct of 
The Home Magazine, of Washington. She was associated with Mrs. Logan in 
this capacity for several years, and when Mrs. Logan resigned her position as 
editor of the Home Magazine she took up the work, holding it until 1906. 

In 1904 Miss Hunter married Rev. Albert Rhett Walker, of South Carolina, 
rector of the Episcopal Church at Fairfax Court House, Virginia. Mr. Walker 
died in 1910, and Mrs. Walker has returned to Washington to resume the work 
relinquished in a great measure upon her marriage. She has for many years 
been a regular contributor to the general press, writing for The Christian Herald, 
The Christian Endeavor World, The Congregationalist, The Epworth Herald, The 
Churchman, Human Life, and for many of the best metropolitan newspapers. 

MAUD ANDREWS OHL. 

Was one of the best known newspaper writers of the United States, being 
for many years correspondent for the Atlanta Constitution, which her husband 
represented in Washington, and other newspapers of the country. She was born 
December 29, 1862, in Taliaferro County, Georgia. Her maiden name was Maud 
Andrews. She spent her early childhood in the home of her grandfather, Judge 
Andrews, in Washington, Georgia. Her husband, J. K. Ohl, is now in China on 
special work for some of the leading New York dailies. 

EMMA HUNTINGTON NASON. 

Was born August 6, 1845, in Hallowell, Maine. Poems for children of 
larger growth have appeared over her signature in the leading periodicals. She 
has also written a series of valuable art papers as well as translations from the 
French and German. 

EDITH R. MOSHER. 

Edith R. Mosher, born on a farm near Centerville, Michigan, is the daughter 
of Josephus and Lida Stebbins Mosher. When a child she attended the district 
schools and, later, moved to the village of Centerville, where she graduated from 
the High School at the age of 16; she then entered the state normal school, 
where she took the literary and scientific course and graduated at the age of 18, 
with a life certificate to teach in the state of Michigan, and immediately began 
te?ching in the public schools. While teaching in the kindergarten and primary 



Women in Professions 867 

grade in Grand Rapids, she studied kindergarten methods with the late Mrs. 
Lucretia Willard Treat. Having had considerable instruction in drawing at the 
State Normal School, and having a natural, ready talent for it, she was con- 
stantly called upon to do blackboard decorating, and to illustrate science lessons, 
throughout the school building. In connection with this work, she became im- 
pressed with the necessity for finding easy, accurate illustrations of the every-day 
blossoms and leaves of our trees, which so readily lend themselves to board 
illustrating and interesting science lessons, and began to realize the vast import- 
ance of the forest as a great educational influence upon the growth and upbuilding 
of humanity. From her somewhat varied experience in the different grades, she 
grew profoundly conscious of the significance of the early impressions upon the 
plastic mind of the child, and knowing how children love nature, she believed that 
it should be the constant study of the teacher to bring into the schoolroom as 
much of nature and nature suggestions as can be appreciated, thus to fill child life 
with pure wholesome thought from the overflowing well-spirit of nature, and 
ideally mold child character. 

It was while standing before a blackboard in the schools of Grand Rapids, 
preparing a science lesson suggested by a small peach branch, which one of the 
pupils had brought, with only the scientifically accurate, but unattractive outlines 
from a book on botany and some pictured cards, that there came over her a startling 
realization of the entire lack of any book really useful to teachers in this kind 
of instruction, which she believed to be fundamental, and she registered a vow 
to supply this need in the form of a series of books to be used in the school room. 
With this object in view she resigned and went to Washington, D. C, to obtain 
a position in the government, and there carry on her work with the better facilities 
offered by the Congressional Library. In Washington, she again took up literary 
work in the George Washington University, and has continued to carry on studies 
along educational lines, taking a summer course at Harvard University in 1909. 

In the meantime the "Tree-Study" books planned in the Grand Rapids 
school room were growing. A transfer had been obtained to the Forest Service 
as the best place to perfect this work, which was followed by special permission 
from the Forester, Mr. Gifford Pinchot, to attend the Yale University Summer 
School, which is not a co-educational institution. 

The work of compiling and illustrating the first book on "Fruit and Nut- 
Bearing Trees" was finished in 1907, and was followed in 1909 by "Our Oaks and 
Maples," and "Our Cone-Bearing Trees." The urgent demand of the publisher 
and others interested in the work resulted in five more of the series in 1910, 
under the titles of "Fruit Studies"; "Our Queenly Maples"; "Our Kingly Oaks"; 
"Studies of Nut-Bearing Trees"; "Studies of Evergreens"; a book entitled 
"Twenty Forest Trees," is now being prepared. 

JEANNETTE LEONARD GILDER. 

Was the daughter of the late Reverend William H. and Jane Nutt Gilder; 
the sister of the late Richard Watson Gilder, and was born at St. Thomas Hall, 
at Flushing, New York. Was associated for some time with her brother, Richard 



868 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Watson Gilder, in the editorial department of Scribner's Monthly, now the Cen- 
tury. Literary editor and afterwards dramatic and musical critic of the New York 
Herald from 1875 to 1880. In 1881, in connection with her brother, Joseph B. 
Gilder, started The Critic, now Putnam's Magazine, of which she is associate 
editor. Was for many years correspondent of the Boston Saturday Gazette and 
the Boston Evening Transcript, also the London Academy, and New York corre- 
spondent for the Philadelphia Press and Record. Regular correspondent of the 
Chicago Tribune. Has written plays and stories for magazines. Is the author of 
"Taken by Siege," "The Autobiography of a Tomboy," "The Tomboy at Work.*' 
Edited "Essays from the Critic," and "Representative Poems of Living Poets" and 
"Pen Portraits of Literary Women" and "Authors at Home." 

HELEN HINSDALE RICH. 

Born June 18, 1827, on her father's farm in Antwerp, Jefferson County, 
New York. She is known as the poet of the Adirondacks. At twelve years of 
age she wrote verses and was proficient in botany. Being obliged to read the 
debates in Congress aloud to her father, the speeches of Henry Clay and Daniel 
Webster made her an ardent patriot, and a deeply interested politician. She was 
the first woman in Northern New York to embrace Woman Suffrage, and lectured 
during the Civil War for the Union Cause. Among her writings, her "Madame de 
Stael" has the endorsement of eminent scholars as a literary lecture. She excels 
in poems of the affections. 

MARY ALICIA OWEN. 

Was born January 29, 1858, in St. Joseph, Missouri. Daughter of James 
A. Owen, a lawyer and writer on finance, and Agnes Jeannette. After several 
years of successful newspaper work she turned her attention to short stories 
and became a contributor to many of the leading periodicals ; later turned her 
attention and devoted herself to the collection of the curious and romantic myths 
and legends of the Mississippi Valley. Her most notable success has been the 
discovery of the Voodoo stories and ritual. Her papers on this subject were 
read before the American Folk Lore Society at one of its annual meetings in 
Philadelphia, also before the Boston Folk Lore Society and the International 
Folk Lore Congress in London, England. She has prepared books on the Voodoo 
magic and the myths of the rubber devil. 

ABBY HUTCHINSON PATTON. 

Was born August 20. 1829. in Milford, New Hampshire. She was well 
known as Abby Hutchinson, being a member of the well-known Hutchinson 
family, whose gift of song made them famous. Mrs. Patton came of a long line 
of musical ancestors, especially on the maternal side. In 1839 she made her first 
appearance as a singer, in her native town. On this occasion the parents and 
their thirteen children took part. In 1841, with her three younger brothers, she 
began her concert career. They sang in the autumn and winter, devoting the 
spring and summer to their farm, while their sister pursued her studies in the 



Women in Professions 869 

academy. In 1843 the Hutchinson family visited New York City, and the harmony 
of their voices took that city by storm. The Hutchinsons were imbued with a 
strong love for liberty, and soon joined heart and hand with the abolitionists, and 
in their concerts sang ringing songs of freedom. These singers were all gifted 
as song writers and musical composers. In 1845 they visited England, finding 
warm welcome among such friends as William and Mary Howitt, Douglas Gerald, 
Charles Dickens, Harriet Martineau, Hartley Coleridge, Mrs. Tom Hood, Eliza 
Cook, Samuel Rogers, Mrs. Norton, George Thompson and John Bright. Charles 
Dickens honored them with an evening reception in his home. After one year 
in Great Britain the family returned to America. On February 28, 1849, Abby 
Hutchinson became the wife of Ludlow Patton, a banker of New York City, 
and after her marriage she sang with her brothers only on special occasions. 
After Mr. Patton's retirement from active business in 1873, they spent several 
years in travel abroad, during which time Mrs. Patton was a frequent contributor 
to the American newspapers. She composed music for several poems, among 
which the best known are "Kind Words Can Never Die," and Alfred Tennyson's 
"Ring Out Wild Bells." Mrs. Patton was always actively interested in the educa- 
tion of women. Her death occurred in New York City November 25, 1892. 

KATE SANBORN. 

Is a native of New Hampshire, and was the daughter of Professor Sanborn, 
who occupied the chair of Latin and English literature, at Dartmouth College, for 
nearly fifty years. Miss Sanborn is a descendant of Captain Ebenezer Webster, 
the eminent Revolutionary hero, and grand-niece of Daniel Webster. Her literary 
talents were developed by her father, who privately instructed her in the regular 
college course, and at eleven years of age she was a contributor to the Well-Spring, 
and at seventeen supported herself by her pen. She became an instructor in elocu- 
tion at the Packer Institute at Brooklyn, and for five years filled the chair of 
English literature at Smith College. Miss Sanborn was the originator of Current 
Event classes in many of the literary clubs, and now so common in every city 
of the United States in the form of Curent Topics classes. Among her best-known 
works are "Adopting an Abandoned Farm." and "Abandoning an Adopted Farm," 
"Witty Records" of her original ideas regarding farming, which she put into prac- 
tice upon an abandoned farm which she purchased near Boston. Some of her 
other books are "Home Pictures of English Poets," "A Truthful Woman in 
Southern California," "Vanity and Insanity; Shadows of Genius," "Purple and 
Gold," "Grandmother's Garden," and "My Literary Zoo." She has been instru- 
mental in gathering and publishing a valuable historical work on New Hampshire. 
Few women are so versatile and have reached superiority in so many lines of 
work as has Miss Sanborn. She is teacher, reviewer, compiler, essayist, lecturer, 
author, and farmer, and is famous for her cooking and housekeeping. 

MRS. MARGARET ELIZABETH SANGSTER. 

Was born February 22, 1838, in New Rochelle, New York. Her maiden 
name was Margaret Elizabeth Munson. In 1858 she married George Sangster. 



870 Part Taken by Women in American History 

She was a regular contributor to many of the leading magazines and periodicals, 
gradually drifting into editorial work, and in 1871 became the editor of Hearth and 
Home. In 1873 she assumed an editorial position on the Christian at Work. In 
1879 she became a member of the staff of the Christian Intelligencer, serving as 
assistant editor until 1888. In 1882 in addition to her other editorial work she 
edited the Harper's Young People, then just starting. In 1890 she became the 
editor of Harper's Bazar. During all these busy years she has written poems of 
a high order, stories, sketches, essays, editorial comments, criticisms and every- 
thing connected with her work in the various editorial positions which she has 
occupied. Her published books are "Manual of Missions of the Reformed Church 
in America," "Poems of the Household," "Home Fairies and Heart Flowers," and 
a series of Sunday School books. 

MRS. CYNTHIA MORGAN ST. JOHN. 

Was born in Ithaca, New York, October 11, 1852. She was the only 
daughter of E. J. Morgan and Anne Bruyn Morgan. In her early youth she 
showed a passionate love of nature and devotion to the poetry of Wordsworth. 
Her one pre-eminent interest in a literary way has been in the writings of that 
great poet. She was a member of the English Wordsworth Society and a con- 
tributor to its meetings. She has collected the largest Wordsworth library in this 
country, and it is said to be the largest in the world, containing all the regular 
editions, complete American editions, autograph letters, prints, portraits, sketches, 
and relics associated with the great poet. The chief fruit of her life-long study 
of the poet has been her "Wordsworth for the Young." In 1883 she became the 
wife of Henry A. St. John, of Ithaca, New York. 

CATHERINE MARIA SEDGWICK. 

Born December 28, 1789, in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and died near 
Roxbury, Massachusetts, July 31, 1867. She was a daughter of Theodore Sedg- 
wick, a well-known lawyer of Boston, who died January 24, 1813. She received 
a thorough education, and after her father's death started a private school for 
young women, which she continued for fifty years. During this time she con- 
tributed to the literature of the day. Her first novel, "A New England Tale," was 
published in 1822. She then brought out "Redwood," which was translated into 
French and other foreign languages. Her translator attributed this work to J. 
Fenimore Cooper. This was followed by "The Traveler," "Hope Leslie, or Early 
Times in Massachusetts," "Clarence," "A Tale of Our Own Times," "Home," 
"The Linwoods, or Sixty Years Since in America," "Sketches and Tales," "The 
Poor Rich Man and the Rich Poor Man," "Live and Let Live," "A Love Token 
for Children," "Means and Ends; or Self-Training," "Letters from Abroad to 
Kindred at Home," "Historical Sketches of the Old Painters," "Lucretia and 
Margaret Davidson," "Wilton Harvey and Other Tales," "Morals of Manners," 
"Facts and Fancies," and "Married or Single?" In addition to her school and 
novel work, she edited and contributed to literary periodicals and wrote for the 
annuals. Her work in these lines fills several large volumes. 



Women in Professions 871 

abbie c. b. robinson. 

Was born September 18, 1828, in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. Her father, 
George C. Ballou, was a cousin of Rev. Hosea Ballou and of President Garfield's 
mother. Her mother's maiden name was Ruth Eliza Aldrich. In 1854 she became 
the wife of Charles D. Robinson, of Green Bay, Wisconsin, who was the editor 
of the Green Bay Advocate and at one time Secretary of State for Wisconsin. 
Mrs. Robinson was as famous for political wisdom as her husband. She assisted 
him in editing the Advocate. Owing to failing health, gradually her husband's 
duties fell upon Mrs. Robinson, and ultimately she assumed them all, 
including not only the editorial department, business management, but also 
a job department, bindery and store. Her husband's death occurred four 
years later, and in 1888 she broke down under these exacting demands and was 
obliged to retire from the paper. Under all these trying conditions she won for 
herself the enviable position of a woman of force and ability, animated by the 
highest and purest motives, and was known as an easy, graceful and cultured 
writer and astute politician. 

EMILY HUNTINGTON MILLER. 

Was born October 22, 1833. Graduate of Oberlin College. In i860 became 
the wife of John E. Miller. Mr. Miller was principal of the academy in Granville 
for a number of years, and afterwards professor of Greek and Latin in the North- 
western College, then located in Plainfield. In connection with Alfred L. Sewell, 
she published The Little Corporal, which, after the great fire in Chicago, was 
merged into St. Nicholas. Mr. and Mrs. Miller moved to St. Paul, where Mr. 
Miller died in 1882. Mrs. Miller published a number of sketches and stories, and 
has been a constant contributor of short stories, sketches, serials, poems, and 
miscellaneous articles to newspapers and magazines, and earned a reputation by 
her work on The Little Corporal. She has been conected with the Chautauqua 
Assembly since its commencement, and was at one time president of the Chau- 
tauqua Club. She was elected in 1898 president of the Woman's College of the 
Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. Her published literary works 
include fifteen volumes. She has been equally successful as a writer, educator, 
temperance worker, and journalist. 

FANNIE RUTH ROBINSON. 

Born September 30, 1847. in Carbondale, Pennsylvania. Graduated at the 
age of seventeen and received the degree of M.A. from Rutgers College, New 
York. Most of her poems appeared in Harper's Magazine between the years of 
1870 and 1880. A poem on Emerson, published after his death in the Journal of 
Philosophy, is considered one of her best. She is, at present (1898) preceptress 
of Ferry Hall Seminary, the Woman's Department of Lake Forest University, 
Lake Forest, Illinois. 



8y2 Part Taken by Women in American History 



ITTI KINNEY RENO. 

Born Nashville, Tennessee, May 17, 1862. Daughter of Colonel George 
Kinney, of Nashville. In 1885 she became the wife of Robert Ross Reno, son of 
the late M. A. Reno, Major of the Seventh United States Cavalry, famous for the 
gallant defense of his men during two days and nights of horror from the over- 
whelming force of Sioux Indians, who the day before had massacred Custer's 
entire battalion. Mrs. Reno's first novel, "Miss Breckenridge, a Daughter of 
Dixie," proved most successful and passed through five editions. Her second 
book, "An Exceptional Case," likewise met with great success. 

HESTER DORSEY RICHARDSON. 

Born January 9, 1862, in Baltimore, Maryland. Daughter of James A. 
Dorsey and Sarah A. W. Dorsey, both of old representative Maryland families. 
She is known under the pen name of "Selene," and her "Selene Letters," which 
appeared in the Baltimore American, attracted wide attention. A letter from her 
pen helped to rescue the Mercantile Library from an untimely end. She organized 
the Woman's Literay Club of Baltimore, laying the foundation of a controlling 
force in the intellectual and social life of her native city. 

EMILY TRACEY Y. SWETT PARKHURST. 

Born in San Francisco, California, March 9, 1S63, and died there April 21, 
1892. She was the daughter of Professor John Swett, a prominent educator of 
California, known as the "Father of Pacific Coast Eduaction," and author of many 
educational works of wide use in the United States, England, France, Norway, 
Sweden, Denmark, and Australia. Miss Swett became the wife of John W. Park- 
hurst, of the Bank of California, in 1889. She has contributed largely to the 
magazines and papers of the Pacific Coast. Her literary work includes transla- 
tions from Greek, French and German and some finished poems of high merit. 
She dramatized Helen Hunt Jackson's novel "Ramona." 

ELIZA J. NICHOLSON. 

Born in 1849 in Hancock County, Mississippi, and died February 15, 1896. 
Contributor to the New York Home Journal and other papers of high standing 
under the pen name of "Pearl Rivers." When asked by the editor of the New 
Orleans Picayune to become literary editor of that paper, a newspaper woman 
was unheard of in the South. She was not only the pioneer woman journalist 
of the South, but became the foremost woman editor. In 1878 she became the 
wife of George Nicholson, then manager, and afterwards part proprietor, but Mrs. 
Nicholson, up to the day of her death, shaped the policy of the paper. 

MARY FRENCH SHELDON. 

Mrs. Sheldon was born in 1846, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She is a 
great-great-granddaughter of Isaac Newton, and her ancestors include many notable 



Women in Professions 873 

men and women. Her father was an engineer of high -standing in Pittsburgh. 
Her mother, Mrs. Elizabeth French, was a well-known spiritualist. Mrs. Shelden 
was twice married. Her second husband, E. S. Sheldon, died in the summer 
of 1892. She was educated as a physician, but never practised. She published one 
novel and a translation of Flaubert's "Salambo." In 1890 she determined to 
travel in Central Africa to study the women and children in their primitive 
state. She was the first white woman to reach Mt. Kilima-Njaro, traveling with 
one female attendant and a small body of natives. She has published an interesting 
account of this trip in a volume on Africa entitled, "To Sultan." 

CHARLOTTE PERKINS GILMAN. 

Charlotte Perkins Gilman, writer on social philosophy, and questions of 
sociology, was born in Flartford, Connecticut, July 3, i860. Daughter of Frederic 
Beecher and Mary A. Fitch (Westcott) Perkins, and great-granddaughter of 
Lyman Beecher. In 1884 she married C. W. Stetson, and on June 11, 1900, she 
was married to George H. Gilman, of New York. 

In 1890 she began lecturing on ethics, economics and sociology, writing on 
these subjects for magazines and papers. She is especially identified with the work 
for the advance of women and the labor question ; is a member of the American 
Academy of Political and Social Science, American Sociology Association, and 
League for Political Education. Among her writings are: "Women and Eco- 
nomics," "In This Our World," "The Yellow Wallpaper," "Concerning Children," 
"The Home, Its Work and Influence," "Human Work." 

Mrs. Gilman's philosophy is dynamic; it is essentially one of hope, courage, 
joy; and it is for America of to-day. W. D. Howells pronounces her short story, 
"The Yellow Wallpaper," a psychological masterpiece. Her sociological works 
have been translated into many languages. She now publishes, edits and writes 
entirely a magazine, The Forerunner. 

MARIETTA HOLLEY. 

Miss Marietta Holley is most affectionately remembered by her pen name 
of "Josiah Allen's Wife." She was born at Ellisburgh, Jefferson County, New 
York, and is the daughter of John M. and Mary Tabro Holley. Her best known 
works are : "My Opinions and Betsy Bobbett's," "Samantha at the Centennial," 
"My Wayward Partner," "The Mormon Wife" (a poem), "Miss Richard's Boy," 
"Sweet Cicely," "Samantha at Saratoga," "Samantha Amongst the Brethren," 
"Samantha in Europe," "Around the World with Josiah Allen's Wife," "Samantha 
at the St. Louis Exposition," "Samantha on Children's Rights," "The Borrowed 
Automobile." 

Frances Willard said of Miss Holley: "Brave, sweet spirit, you don't know 
how much we all love you. No woman has more grandly helped the woman's 
cause." 

MRS. FRANK LESLIE. 

Was born in 1851 in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. Her maiden name 
was Miriam Florence Folline. She became the wife of Frank Leslie, the New 



874 Part Taken by Women in American History 

York publisher, who died in January, 1880. This name, Frank Leslie, was the 
name used in signing his articles written for the London press, his real name 
being Henry Carter. When he came to the United States he assumed legally the 
name of Frank Leslie. Miss Folline was engaged in literary work on the Ladies' 
Magazine, and through the illness of one of its literary editors, Miss Folline 
succeeded to the position. After the death of her husband, she continued the 
publication of his periodicals and brought success out of what seemed failure at 
the time of her husband's death. She is an extensive traveler and prominent 
socially. 

HULDA BARKER LOUD. 

Was born in the town, which is now Rockland, Massachusetts, September, 
1844. In 1884 she undertook to publish and edit the paper established in her own 
town, which was called the Rockland Independent, of which she has long remained 
the editor and chief and sole proprietor, superintending the business department 
and job printing as well as occupying the editorial chair. This paper has been 
made the vehicle of her reforms— social and political. In 18S7 she represented the 
Knights of Labor in the Women's International Council held in Washington, and 
spoke before the Knights of Labor and the Anti-Poverty Society. She frequently 
addresses associations and woman suffrage organizations, and is conspicuous in 
this line of work. 

LUCY A. MALLORY. / 

Was born February, 1846, in Roseburg, Oregon. Her father, Aaron Rose, 
was an early settler of this state, and for him the name of Roseburg was given 
to one of the leading towns. Miss Rose's early life was spent in the wilds of this 
new country surrounded by Indians. She became the wife of Rufus Mallory, who 
was at one time a member of Congress of the State of Oregon, and one of the 
most successful lawyers in the Northwest, and member of the firm to which Senator 
Dolph belongs. In 1874 the old slavery prejudice was still so strong in the State of 
Oregon that some forty-five negro children were prevented from attending the 
Salem public school, and no white teacher would consent to teach them even in a 
separate school, although a public fund was set apart for this purpose. Mrs. 
Mallory volunteered to instruct these children in the face of the ridicule heaped 
upon her. After three years of personal effort on the part of Mrs. Mallory, and 
her example of duty to the public, these children were admitted to the white 
schools, and all opposition disappeared. Mrs. Mallory used the public money 
which she drew as salary for this work as a fund for the purchase of a printing 
plant, and started a monthly magazine known as the World's Advanced Thought, 
in which she was assisted in the editorial department by Judge H. M. McGuire. 
This magazine has a circulation among many advanced thinkers and workers in 
every portion of the civilized world. Mrs. Mallory's home is in Portland, Oregon. 

MARY EDWARDS BRYAN. 

Born in Florida, Georgia, in 1844. Daughter of John D. and Louisa Critch- 
field Edwards. Wrote for Southern papers and was editor of the New York 



Women in Professions 875 

Bazar, and also of the Half-Hour Magazine, two New York publications. Return- 
ing to the South, she is now on the staff of Uncle Remus' Home Magazine. Is a 
member of the Sorosis Club of New York, and several of the women's press clubs 
of the United States. 

MARY AILEEN AHERN. 

Born near Indianapolis, Indiana. Teacher in the public schools of Penn- 
sylvania and Assistant State Librarian in 1889 and State Librarian in 1893. In 1896 
she organized and has since edited The Public Library, a library journal. Has 
lectured before several colleges and library schools and associations. Fellow of 
the American Library Institute, organized the Indiana Library Association, member 
of the Illinois Library Association, Chicago Library Club, American Peace League, 
National Association of Charities and Corrections, and is prominent in library 
work throughout the country. 

EMMA- ELLA CARROLL. 

Emma Ella Carroll, military genius, was born in Somerset County, Mary- 
land, August 29, 1815 ; daughter of Thomas King Carroll, Governor of Maryland. 
When but three years of age she would listen with great gravity to readings 
from Shakespeare. Alison's History and Kant's Philosophy were her favorites 
at eleven, Coke and Blackstone at thirteen. Her literary career began early in 
life when she contributed political articles to the daily press. In 1857 she published 
"The Great American Battle," or "Political Romanism," and in the year 1858, "The 
Star of the West," a work describing the exploration and development of our 
Western territories. In 1858 she rendered valuable assistance in electing Thomas 
H. Hicks, Governor, and her influence held Maryland loyal to the Union. She 
freed her own slaves and devoted tongue and pen to upholding the Union. In 
July, 1861, when Senator Breckenbridge made his speech in favor of secession, 
Miss Carroll issued a pamphlet in which she refuted each of his arguments, and 
a large edition was published and circulated by the War Department. Her ability 
was recognized and she was requested by the government to write on topics bearing 
on the war. She published in 1861 "The War Powers of the Government," and 
for her next pamphlet "The Relation of the National Government to the Revolted 
Citizens Defined," President Lincoln furnishing the theme. In the fall of 1861 
Mr. Lincoln and his military advisers had planned a campaign to extend operations 
into the Southwest, opening the Mississippi to its mouth. Miss Carroll, at the 
suggestion of government authorities, personally investigated the scene of the 
proposed operations, and made a study of the topography of the country, and 
reported that the Tennessee River and not the Mississippi was the true key to 
the situation. Her explanatory maps and invaluable geographical and topographical 
information resulted in her plan being adopted, and the land and naval forces were 
massed on the Tennessee. Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, Bowling Green, Pittsburgh 
Landing and Corinth, one after another fell into the hands of the Federals. Missouri 
was saved, and Kentucky and Tennessee brought back into the Union. She also 
suggested the final plan adopted by the War Department, resulting in the capture 



876 Part Taken by Women in American History 

of Vicksburg, which opened the way to the North. It was deemed wise at the 
time to keep secret the fact that this capmaign had been conceived by a civilian 
and a woman. Mr. Lincoln's death prevented his acknowledgment of the credit, 
and though Miss Carroll had ample documentary proof of the validity of her 
claim, which was acknowledged by several of the Congressional Military Com- 
mittees to be "incontrovertible," no further action was taken in the matter, and 
Miss Carroll was dependent for support in her declining years upon her sister, a 
clerk in the Treasury Department at Washington. The above facts will be found 
in her life, by Sarah Ellen Blackwell, by whom she is called a genius. She died 
February 17, 1894. 

MARIA MITCHELL. 

Miss Mitchell was born on the island of Nantucket, August 1, 1818, and 
was one of ten children, her parents, William and Lydia Mitchell, living in one 
of the simple homes of this quaint New England spot. Her father had been a 
school teacher, her mother, Lydia Coleman, was a descendant of Benjamin Franklin, 
whose parents were Quakers. She was one of the pupils in her father's school, 
and by him led into the great love of nature which opened up for her the oppor- 
tunity for her great talents, and to this we are indebted for what she has given 
to astronomy. He gave Maria the same education which he gave his boys, even the 
drill in navigation. At sixteen she left the public school, and for a year attended 
a private school, but being deeply interested in her father's studies, and the study 
of mathematics, at seventeen she became his helper in the work which he was doing 
for the United States Government in the Coast Survey. This brought to their 
home Professor Agassiz, Bache and other noted men. Mr. Mitchell delivered 
lectures before a Boston society, of which Daniel Webster was president, but 
scientific study and work at that time brought little money to the family coffers. 
One sister was teaching for the munificent sum of three hundred dollars a year. 
Maria felt she must do her part toward adding to the family income, so accepted 
a position as librarian of the Nantucket library, her salary for the first year being 
sixty dollars, and seventy-five for the second, and for twenty years she occupied 
this position, her salary never exceeding one hundred dollars a year. This gave 
her great opportunity for study, which no doubt reconciled her to the poor pay. 
On a night in October, 1847, while gazing through the telescope, as was her 
usual custom for the love of the study, she saw what she believed to be an unknown 
comet. She told her father, and he at once wrote to Professor William C. Bond, 
Director of the Observatory at Cambridge, notifying him of the fact, merely asking 
a letter of acknowledgment in order to please Maria. It was promptly acknowledged 
that she had made a new discovery, and Frederick VI, King of Denmark, having 
six years before offered a gold medal to whoever should discover a telescopic 
comet, awarded this medal to Miss Mitchell, the American Minister presenting her 
claims at the Danish Court. She was soon gratified by seeing her discovery 
referred to in scientific journals as "Miss Mitchell's comet." She assisted in com- 
piling the American Nautical Almanac, and wrote for scientific periodicals, but she 
could not content herself with the small opportunities afforded her in this New 
England village. In 1857 she went abroad to see the observatories of Europe. The 



Women in Professions 877 

learned men of Great Britain welcomed her. She was entertained by Sir John 
Herschel, and Lady Herschel, Alexander Von Humbolt, Professor Adams, of Cam- 
bridge, Sir George Airy, the astronomer royal of England, who wrote a letter 
of introduction for her to Leverrier of Paris. Later she visited Florence, Rome, 
Venice, Vienna, and Berlin, where she met Encke. After a year of such triumphs 
she returned to Nantucket. In i860 her mother died and the family removed to 
Lynn to be nearer Boston, where she could pursue her work under better condi- 
tions. Miss Mitchell received at this time five hundred dollars a year from the 
government for her computations. About this time Matthew Vassar was founding 
and equipping the woman's college that now bears his name. After the observa- 
tory of this institution was completed there was but one person mentioned or 
desired by the patrons and students to be placed in charge, and this was Maria 
Mitchell. Miss Mitchell moved to the college and made it her home. In 1868, in 
the great meteoric shower she and her pupils recorded the details of four thousand 
meteors and gave valuable data of their height above the earth. She gave valuable 
observations on the transit of Venus, has written on the satellites of Saturn, and 
on the satellites of Jupiter. She died on June 28, 1889, and was buried in the little 
island village, where most of her life had been passed. 

ALICE D. LE PLONGEON. 

Was born December, 1851, in London, England. Her father's name was 
Dixon, and her mother was Sophia Cook. She married Dr. Le Plongeon, whose 
extensive travels in South America and Mexico, for the purpose of studying the 
ancient manuscripts preserved in the British Museum, so interested her that she 
accompanied him to the wilds of Yucatan. The work done here by Dr. and Mrs. 
Le Plongeon is well-known all over the world. For eleven years they remained 
here studying the ruins of that country. Much of the work, and many of the 
discoveries were made by Mrs. Le Plongeon. They made many hundred photo- 
graphs, surveying and making molds of the old palaces to be used as models, but 
the greatest achievement was the discovery of an alphabet by which the American 
hieroglyphics may be read, something before considered impossible. Though of 
English birth they have made their home for many years in Long Island, and have 
written many articles for magazines and papers and published a small volume, 
"Here and There in Yucatan"; also one "Yucatan, Its Ancient Palaces and Modern 
Cities," and in order to make ancient America better known to modern Americans, 
Mrs. Le Plongeon has lectured upon this subject very extensively, and in recogni- 
tion of her labors the Geographical Society of Paris placed her portrait in the 
album of celebrated travelers. 

GRACIANA LEWIS. 

Was born near Kimberton, Chester County, Pennsylvania, October, 1821. 
Daughter of John Lewis and Esther Lewis. They were descended from Quaker 
stock, her father's ancestors coming to this country in 1682. Her mother was the 
oldest child of Bartholomew Fussell and Rebecca Bond Fussell. Bartholomew 



Sy8 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Fussell was a minister in the Society of Friends. Her father died when she was 
but three years old and her mother supported the family by teaching. Miss Lewis' 
greatest work has been in the field of natural history. She prepared a "Chart of 
a Class of Birds," also "A Chart of the Animal Kingdom," "Chart of the Vegetable 
Kingdom," "Chart of Geology with Special Reference to Paleontology." Micros- 
copic studies, including frost crystals and the plumage of birds, as well as the 
lower forms of animal and vegetable life. She also issued a pamphlet showing 
die relation of birds to the animal kingdom. In 1876 she exhibited in the Centennial 
Exposition a model along with her chart of the Animal Kingdom, which caused 
commendation from Prof. Huxley and other prominent naturalists. One of her 
pamphlets, "The Development of the Animal Kingdom," was published by Professor 
Mitchell and extensively circulated among scientific people. In 1870, Miss Lewis 
was elected a member of the Academy of Natural Science, Philadelphia. Is also 
honorary member of the Women's Anthropological Society of America and the 
various scientific societies of Rochester and Philadelphia. Active in the Woman's 
Christian Temperance work and many of the forestry associations. 

LAURA A. LINTON. 

Scientist. Was born April, 1853, at Alliance, Ohio. Daughter of Joseph 
Wildman Linton and Christiana Craven Beans. Her father's family were Quakers, 
and her mother was descended from a prominent Dutch family of Pennsylvania. 
Her parents moved to Minnesota in 1868, where she received her education. She 
was at one time professor of natural and physical science in Lombard University 
of Galesburg, Illinois. She assisted Professor S. F. Peckham in the preparation 
of the monograph on petroleum for the reports of the Tenth Census of the United 
States. She is a member of the American Society for the Advancement of Science 
and the Association for the Advancement of Women. 

FLORA W. PATTERSON. 

Born at Columbus, Ohio, September 15, 1847. Daughter of Rev. A. B. and 
Sarah Sells Wambaugh. Was three years at Radcliffe College, Harvard Uni- 
versity, and assistant at Gray Herbarium. Was appointed assistant pathologist in 
1896; now mycologist in charge of pathology and mycology collections and inspec- 
tion work of Bureau of Plant Industry, United States Department of Agriculture. 
Member of the Geological and Biological Societies of Washington, the Botanical 
Society of America, and has contributed articles on these subjects. Is assistant 
editor of Economic Fungi. 

MARY JANE RATHBUN. 

Born at Buffalo, New York, June 11, i860. Was employed by the United 
States Fish Commission from 1884 to 1887, and since 1887 in the United States 
National Museum, and is now assistant curator of the division of marine inverte- 
brates. Member of the Washington Academy of Science, American Society of 



Women in Professions 879 

Naturalists, American Society of Zoologists, author of various papers in Proceed- 
ings of the U. S. National Museum. 

HARRIET RICHARDSON. 

The daughter of Charles F. E. Richardson and Charlotte Ann Richardson. 
Received the degree of A.B. from Vassar College in 1896. One of the collaborators 
of the Smithsonian Institute. Member of the Washington Academy of Science, 
Biological Society of Washington ; has contributed to "Proceedings of the United 
States National Museum" and other publications. Has written "Monographs on 
Isopods of North America." 

MARY ALICE WILLCOX. 

Born in Kennebunk, Maine, April 24, 1856. Daughter of William H. and 
Annie Holmes Goodenow Willcox. Teacher in the normal and public schools, 
and professor of zoology in Wellesley College since 1883. Author of "Pocket 
Guide to Common Land Birds of New England," and various articles on zoological 
subjects. 

CLARA A. SMITH. 

Miss Clara A. Smith, instructor of mathematics in Wellesley College. She 
has recently been elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advance- 
ment of Science, partly because she solved a problem in mathematics which has 
puzzled college professors for more than a century. 

LUCY EVELYN PEABODY. 

Born in Cincinnati, January 1, 1865. Was instrumental in securing the 
passage of an act by Congress setting aside the Mesa Verde Park in Colorado as a 
national park which includes the most interesting ruins of cliff-dwellers in America. 
Owns a famous collection of Abraham Lincoln relics and data. Prominent in 
scientific work. 

ADELAIDE GEORGE BENET. 

Was born in Warner, New Hampshire, November 8, 1848. Daughter of 
Gilman C. and Nancy B. George. Taught several years in the public schools of 
Manchester, New Hampshire. Married Charles Benet, of Pipestone City, 
Minnesota, in 1887. She is a botanist of distinction. 

ELLEN CHURCHILL SEMPLE. 

Born in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1863. Daughter of Alexander Bonner and 
Emerine Price Semple. Graduate of Vassar, and student at Leipzig. Her special 
field of work is the study of the influence of geographical conditions upon the 
development of society. She is a member of the Association of American 



88o Part Taken by Women in American History 

Geographers, and a contributor of scientific articles to journals both in America 
and England. Has written on American history and its geographical conditions. 

LOUISE M. R. STOWELL. 

Born in Grand Blanc, Michigan, December 30, 1850. Daughter of Seth and 
Harriet Russell Reed. Taught microscopy and botany in the Univeristy of Michigan, 
and in 1878 married Charles Henry Stowell. Appointed a member of the board 
of trustees for the Girls' Reform School by the President, for the District of 
Columbia, and also member of the board of trustees of the public schools of the 
District of Columbia in 1893. Author of "Microscopical Structure of Wheat," 
"Microscopic Diagnosis." Is editor and writer in scientific work. 

KATHERINE JEANNETTE BUSH. 

Born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, December 30, 1855. Was assistant in the 
zoological department of Yale University. Was a member of the United States 
Fish Commission for several years and assisted in revising Webster's dictionary, 
which is now published under the title of "Webster's International Dictionary." 
Author of several zoological works. Writer of scientific journals, and is one of 
the noted scientific women of America. 

ELLEN HENRIETTA RICHARDS. 

Was born December 3, 1842, in Dunstable, Massachusetts. She graduated 
from Vassar College in 1870, then took a scientific course in the Massachusetts 
Institute of Technology, Boston, graduating in 1873. She remained in that institu- 
tion as resident graduate, and in 1875 married Professor Robert Hallowell Richards, 
the metallurgist. In 1878 she was elected instructor in chemistry and mineralogy 
in the woman's laboratory of that institute. She has done much to develop the 
love of scientific studies among women, and is the pioneer in teaching the applica- 
tion of technical knowledge and principles to the conduct of the home to the 
women of the United States. Mrs. Richards is the first woman to be elected a 
member of the American Institute of Mining Engineers and is a member of many 
scientific associations. Among her published works are "Chemistry of Cooking and 
Cleaning," "Food Materials and Their Adulterations," "First Lessons in Minerals." 
In 1887, with Marion Talbot, she edited "Home Sanitation." Mrs. Richards is a 
profound student and a clear thinker. Her work is without equal in its line. 

ANNIE SMITH PECK. 

In recent years, Miss Peck's achievements as the foremost woman mountain 
climber of the world has dimmed her creditable efforts as archaeologist, but it 
was in that work that she started her career. Born in Providence, Rhode Island, 
her early education was received at its high and normal schools. After graduating 
from the University of Michigan in 1878, having distinguished herself in every 



Women in Professions 88i 

branch of study, whether literary or scientific, Miss Peck engaged in teaching, 
spending two years as professor of Latin in Purdue University. In 1881 she took 
her master's degree, mainly for work in Greek. Going abroad in 1884 she spent 
several months in study in Hanover, Germany, and then another period in Italy, 
devoting herself especialy to the antiquities and passing the summer in Switzerland, 
mountain climbing. In 1885- 1886 she pursued the regular course of study in the 
American School of Classical Studies in Athens, Greece, and also traveled exten- 
sively in Greece, visiting Sicily, Troy, Constantinople, in search of buried antiqui- 
ties. Immediately after her return home she occupied the chair of Latin in 
Smith College, later going over the country with a lecture course in Greek arch- 
aeology and travel. She has since added lectures describing her exploits in reaching 
the world's highest peaks. When engaged in these expeditions, Miss Peck wears 
a man's costume, and more often than not the men who accompany her have 
fallen out and abandoned hope of reaching the goal while she, a woman, has 
pressed on and planted the flag on the summit. She has climbed more of the 
highest mountains in South America than any living man. Her lectures have 
always attracted wide notice and received hearty commendation, both from dis- 
tinguished scholars and from the press. In addition to her more solid acquirements. 
Miss Peck also possesses numerous and varied accomplishments ; she is a profound 
classical scholar and accomplished musician. 

ALICE CUNNINGHAM FLETCHER. 

Was born in Boston in 1845. Was the author of the plan of loaning small 
sums of money to aid Indians to buy land to build houses for themselves, and 
active in securing land to the Omaha tribe. 

Under this act was appointed special agent to allot the Omaha tribe and 
also appointed by the President, special agent for the Winnebago tribe in 1887. Is 
ex-president of the Anthropological Society of Washington. Did work in this 
connection for the Chicago Exposition. Is holder of the Thaw fellowship and 
officer in the Archaeological Institute of America. Has written on Indian life and 
song and many papers on anthropology and ethnology. One of the famous women 
scientists of America. 

MATILA COXE STEVENSON. 

Is a woman of whom the American woman can be proud. Her work among 
the Indians and her book on that subject is considered one of the most remarkable 
books of to-day written by a woman. Daughter of Alexander H. Evans and Maria 
Coxe Evans, and was born in St. Augustine, Texas, but her parents moved to 
Washington in her infancy. She is a cousin of Robley D. Evans, U.S.N., familiarly 
known as "Fighting Bob." She married James Stevenson April 18, 1872, who 
was then an assistant to Professor Hayden, the first chief of the Geological Survey. 
Mrs. Stevenson accompanied her husband in his work of exploration in the Rocky 
Mountains, studying under him and receiving special instruction from him. She 
accompanied him on the first expedition which went to Zuni. New Mexico, in 1879, 

56 



882 Part Taken by Women in American History 

for the Bureau of Ethnology, and assisted him in the wonderful collection of imple- 
ments, ceramics, and ceremonial objects which were procured for the United States 
National Museum. She was placed on the staff of the Bureau of Ethnology of 
the Smithsonian Institution after the death of her husband in 1889. She returned 
to Zuni and made a study of the mythology, philosophy, sociology, and vocabulary 
of these Indians, making a special study of their ceremonies, traditions, and customs. 
She explored the cave and cliff ruins of New Mexico, visiting and living for some- 
time among each of the Pueblo tribes of New Mexico. She and her husband 
were received into the secret organizations of these peoples. She spent from 1904 
to 1910 studying the Taos and Tewa Indians, giving her special attention to their 
religion, symbolism, philosophy, and sociology ; also to the edible plants of the 
Zunis, and their preparation of cotton and wool for the loom. She was selected to 
be one of the jury on the Anthropological Exposition at the Chicago Exposition in 
1893. Is a member of the Anthropological Society, and is the author of "Zuni and 
Zunians," "The Religious Life of the Zuni Child," "The Sia," "The Zuni Indians," 
"Esoteric Articles and Ceremonies," etc. Until recently Mrs. Stevenson made her 
home in Washington, but she has now established for herself a home in New 
Mexico, where she spends her summers and continues her research work for the 
government. 

MRS. C. H. HAWES. 

Mrs. C. H. Hawes, of Hanover, New Hampshire, the well-known archaeologist, 
was born in Boston, October 11, 1871. She is the daughter of Alexander and 
Harriet Fay Wheeler Boyd. She received the degrees of A.B. and A.M. from Smith 
College, and was a student of the School of Classical Studies of Athens, Greece, 
from 1896 to 1900. On March 3, 1906, she was married to Charles H. Hawes, M.A., 
of Cambridge, England. Mrs. Hawes served as a nurse in the Greco-Turkish war 
in 1897, and also in our war with Spain in 1898 at Tampa, Florida. From 1900 to 
1905 she was instructor in archaeology at Smith College. Mrs. Hawes has carried 
on her own excavations in Crete, and in 1900 excavated houses and tombs of the 
Geometric Period (900 B.C.). In 1904 she excavated a Minoan town, at Gournia, 
Crete, for the American Exploration Society of Philadelphia. Mrs. Hawes has 
been decorated with the Red Cross by Queen Olga of Greece, for her services 
during the Greco-Turkish war. She is a distinguished writer on archaeology and 
kindred subjects. Among her best known works are "Gournia. Vasiliki and Other 
Prehistoric Sites on the Isthmus of Hierapetra, Crete," and "The Forerunner of 
Greece." She is a contributor to the American Journal of Archaeology. 



Inventors. 

The evolution of the woman lawyer, physician, bookkeeper, 
stenographer, journalist, artist, teacher, writer, etc., from the 
ill paid farm household and factory drudge of the earlier part of 



Women in Inventions 883 



the century, is one of the signal triumphs of modern civilization. 
But women's rapid advance in these lines of progress has been 
splendidly supplemented by the parallel advance of the woman 
inventor. That queer turn for original, utilitarian mental 
progress has probably always been woman's capability as well 
as man's, but woman's recognition in this field was slow to come. 

For years many of woman's inventions were patented under 
men's names, and although the first patent to a woman was 
issued as far back as 1809, to Mary Kies for straw weaving 
with silk or thread, it was not until the great Centennial 
Exposition, in Philadelphia in 1876, when articles ranging from 
a dish washer to a mowing machine were exhibited among 
women's inventions, that there came a realization, not only of 
women's ability to invent, but woman's right to hold patents in 
her own name. As early as the sixties the largest foundry in 
the city of Troy was run to manufacture horseshoes, turning 
them out one every three seconds, and while the machine which 
did this work was invented by a woman the manufactory was 
carried on under a man's name. The best improvement upon 
Doctor Franklin's discovery of an iron-lined fire-place, for 
purposes of heating, was a stove invented by a woman, but 
the patent was taken out in a man's name. Another woman 
invented the attachment to the mowing machine whereby the 
knives are thrown out of gear whenever the driver leaves his 
seat, thus lessening the liability to accident. But though this 
feature is embodied in the later mammoth machines, she 
received no credit, the patent not being taken out in her name. 
The first large establishment in this country for the manufac- 
ture of buttons, the Williston's, was due to a woman, though 
it was run under a man's name. 

The inventor of the seamless bag was Miss Lucy Johnson, 
who died near Providence, Rhode Island, August 22, 1867, 
aged seventy-eight. It was in 1824 that "she wove seven pairs 



884 Part Taken by Women in American History 

of seamless pillow-cases and received a premium at the fair 
held in Pawtucket in October of that year." Those pillow- 
cases are supposed to have been the first seamless bags ever 
made, but ignorant of the value of her invention Miss Johnson 
took no steps to secure a patent, and while her mode of weaving 
has since been engrafted on the power loom and patented, 
yielding a fortune to the patentees, Miss Johnson spent the 
closing years of her life dependent upon friends and the charity 
of her native town. 

The self-fastening button is a woman's invention, the 
machine for making satchel-buttoned paper bags was a woman's 
invention and a very important one, having been long tried for 
by men without success. Most of the designs for carpets, oil- 
cloths, calico and wall papers were women's work from the 
beginning, as were also designs for the embossing of paper, 
monograms, etc., but for this work little was credited to them, 
for the reason that women had not come into their own in the 
industrial world. However, after women became heads of 
establishments and came to own manufactories as well as to 
have designed the work done in them, and, above all, when 
woman had come to win recognition for her mental equality 
with man, inventions patented in women's names multiplied 
with astonishing rapidity. 

From a report from the clerk of the Patent Office curious 
details in regard to women's inventions may be gleaned. 
Though the second patent issued to a woman named Mary 
Brush in 1815 was for a corset, the patents to women have come 
to embrace all articles from dress improvers to submarine 
telescopes, and although to a certain extent it might still be said 
of women's work along this line, as has been remarked of the 
male inventor, "the road to wealth is paved with the inventor's 
bones," still a few women have realized large fortunes from 
their inventions. A California woman invented a baby carriage 



Women in Inventions 885 

which netted her over fifty thousand dollars, and an Illinois 
woman invented a portable house, which can be carried about 
in a cart or expressed to the seashore, with folding furniture 
and a complete camping outfit, and from this she gains a good 
annual income. A woman in Pennsylvania has invented a 
barrel-hooping machine which brings her twenty thousand 
dollars a year. Two California girls are the inventors of a snow 
plow to be attached to the cow catcher of an engine, and the pro- 
ceeds from this have well repaid the time and ingenuity given to 
perfecting their patent. A Maryland woman has distinguished 
herself by many inventions and among them was the eyeless 
needle now used so largely by surgeons. Though the sewing- 
machine was invented by a man there have been some fifty 
improvements made by women, and these have proved very 
profitable inventions. The geographical distribution of the 
inventive talent is also interesting. Most of the women 
inventors of the country live in New England and the middle 
states, few patents having been taken out by Southern women. 

Quite a number have come from the West. Massachusetts 
has more inventive women than any other part of New England. 

While women have been more or less conspicuous in the 
fields of literature and education of all countries, from the 
early history to the present day, we can feel an especial pride in 
our women inventors. It would be impossible, in this work, to 
give a complete list, we therefore have selected the more promi- 
ment, particularly those who have made inventions along un- 
usual lines for women, mechanical devices and improvements 
on implements which are not for feminine use but for the benefit 
of man. We also give short biographies of a few of the most 
conspicuous women in this line. 

The last patent extended under the Act of Congress of March 2, 1861, was 
that of Henrietta H. Cole, fluting machine. 

The first patent found granted to a woman was that to Mary Kies, Killingly, 
Conn., straw weaving with silk and thread. 



886 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Among the patents granted prior to 1836 are found the following: 
July Planten, Philadelphia, Pa., foot-stove. 

Elizabeth H. Bulkley, Colchester, Conn., shovels, scythes, spades, etc., of 
cast steel and iron. 



The following are some of the inventions made by women. The patents upon 
these have all expired : 

Brush for cotton gins, car couplings (several), combined plow and harrow, 
construction of railroad tracks, ginning cotton, gate for railway tracks, grain clip- 
ping machines, grain scouring machines, wheat cleaning machines, mining machines, 
separating tin from other metals, paving blocks (several), fire escapes, ladders for 
fire extinguishing apparatus, fire-proof doors or shutters, nozzle for oil-cans, over- 
flow indicator, snow plow, stage scenery, machine for printing peripheries of spools, 
etc., hydrocarbon furnaces, road cart, snow shovel and scraper, machine for laying 
wall-paper, transfer apparatus for traction cable cars. 

Martha P. Jewett, Evansville, Indiana, composition of matter to be used for 
the purpose of fluxing metals. 

Alice M. Jayne, Bradford, Pa., mail-binder. 

Sarah E. Peeples, Washington, D. C, insulated pipe joints or couplings. 

Rebecca T. Swenning, Los Angeles, Cal., process of preparing backgrounds 
on pile fabric. 

Julia B. Mathews, Portland, Maine, hot-air registers. 



List of Prominent American Women Inventors. 

Zina A. Beecher, Marysville, Ohio, attachment for cultivators. 
Eliza J. Bentinck and J. A. Renner, Galveston, Texas, digging machine. 
Lucy A. Corning, Rockford, 111., baling press. 
Adeline Widmayer, New York, N. Y., dumping wagon. 
Annie H. Chilton, Baltimore, Md., combined horse detacher and brake. 
Elina M. Wright, Hartford, Conn., forming decorative panels. 
Mary L. McLaughlin, Cincinnati, Ohio, method of decorating pottery. 
Ora Orr, Westport, Cat, combined child's carriage and cradle. 
Sarah A. Reinheimer, Winchester, Ind., barrel tapping and emptying device. 
Dell M. Hawes, Ortonville, Minn., pneumatic tire. 

Margaret E. Knight and A. B. Harrington, South Framingham, Mass., win- 
dow frame and sash. 

Florence M. Carr, Chicago, 111., ornamental grill work. 

Eliza Wilcox, Ashley, Mich., carpet stretcher. 

Ada V. Goltermann, New York, N. Y., fire escape. 

Rena M. Howe, Scranton, Pa., closure for bottles or jars. 

Rebecca H. Hayes, Galveston, Texas, cooking stove. 

Simon W. and Clara A. Kinney, St. Louis, Mo., steam cooking utensil. 



Women in Inventions 887 

Hiram A. and Maria Benedict, New York, N. Y., gridiron or broiler. 

Margaret E. Jehu, Estherville, Iowa, apparatus for cooking, baking, etc. 

Kate L. Brewster, Kearney, Nebr., collapsible cover supporting frame for 
dough receptacles. 

Therese R. Fischer, Baltimore, Md., skewer for closing fowls. 

Susana Ilgen, Miles City, Mont., ventilated can cover. 

Priscilla M. Burns, St. Louis, Mo., flour sifter with reversible bottom and 
cover. 

Alice A. Whipple, Providence, R. I., portable foot warmer, etc. 

Helen A. Robinson, Clymer, N. Y., preserving jar. 
• Ida L. McDermott, Baird, Texas, preparing fruit for canning or preserving. 

Jennie D. Harvey, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., mayonnaise mixer. 

Mary M. Harris, Chicago, 111., refrigerator. 

Harriet W. R. Strong, Los Angeles, Cal., method of and means for impound- 
ing debris and storing water. 

Mary M. Vogt, Rochester, N. Y., device for teaching vocal music. 

Sallie T. Andrus, Aurora, 111., combination trunk, bureau and writing table. 

Anna Dormitzer, New York, N. Y., chair for washing windows. 

Ariette Baird, Riverhead, N. Y., combined baby tender and crib. 

Virginia C. Baltzell, Madison, Wisconsin, apparatus for hanging and adjust- 
ing window curtains. 

Fannie A. and E. N. Gates, Fitchburg, Mass., water-heating system. 

Agnes McFadyen, Lincoln, Nebr., heating and ventilating apparatus for 
buildings. 

Harriet Carter, Brooklyn, N. Y., composition of matter for saving fuel. 

Augusta R. Isaacs, New York, N. Y., fire box and grate for ranges, stoves 
or heaters. 

Mary F. Bishop, Bridgeport, Conn., hot-water heating device. 

Julia Strong, Brooklyn, N. Y., exercising machine. 

Fannie M. Garies, New York, N. Y., instrument for chiropodists' use. 

Helen A. Blanchard, New York, N. Y., surgical needle. 

Ida M. Hemsteger, Chicago, 111., protector for blisters, poultices, etc. 

Lizzie Lane, Dunellen, N. J., electrical head clamp for relieving pain. 

Nancy L. Turner, Washington, D. C, motor. 

Geo. B. and Amy F. Robinson, Colorado Springs, Colo., variable driving 



gear. 



Julia Samson, Salt Lake City, Utah, portable binder for sheet music, etc. 

Frances Higbie, Brooklyn, N. Y., music stand. 

Albina E. and J. Edson Goodspeed, Boston, Mass., pump. 

Elizabeth V. Vanvorce, Madison, Wisconsin, pipe connection. 

Margaret E. Knight, South Framingham, Mass., numbering mechanism. 

Alice A. Whipple, Providence, R. I., apparatus for sanding railway tracks. 

Marguerite Maidhof, New York, N. Y., car fender. 

Minnie McPhail, Taunton, Minn., car coupling. 

Emma A. Streeter, N. Y., and B. W. Nichols, Herkimer, N. Y., spike. 

Mame Lester, Logansport, Ind., attachment for unloading box-cars. 



888 Part Taken by Women in American History 

Mary E. Cook, Amity, Oregon, railway car stove. 

Margaret A. Wilcox, Chicago, 111., car heater. 

Sarah B. Walker, Castle Rock, Col., ornamental screen. 

Mary E. Hall, Boston, Mass., hemstitching attachment for sewing machines. 

Elizabeth Calm, New York, N. Y., cloth-winding attachment for sewing 
machines. 

Anna H. Clayton, Louisville, Ky., motor for sewing machines. 

Katy Fenn, Chicago, 111., multiple record. 

Anna M. Parks, Albany, N. Y., punching machine. 

Marie L. Fuller, New York, N. Y., mechanism for the production of stage 
effects. 

Margaret De Witt, Kansas City, Mo., face-steaming appliance. 

Mary V. Seidell, Washington, D. C, hair curler. 

Eleanor M. Smith, Baltimore, Md. f toy or doll house. 

Lizzie C. Cozens, Philadelphia, Penna., trunk. 

Mary F. Blaisdell, Franklin, Maine, combined trunk and couch. 

Rebecca E. Hooper, San Francisco, Cal., guide shield for typewriting 
machine. 

Mildred M. Lord, Milwaukee, Wis., washing machine. 

Josephine G. Cochrane, Shelbyville, Illinois, dish cleaner. 

Georgiana Ferguson, Mount Vernon, New York, window cleaner. 

Frances S. Dowell, Eureka Springs, Arkansas, wire clothes line. 

Alice A. Pyle, Richmond, Va., carpet-cleaning apparatus. 

Oriella I. Littell, Washington, D. C, cleaning and polishing compound. 

Mary Tucek, New York, N. Y., method of producing garment patterns. 

Louise Schaefer, Oneida, N. Y., method of and apparatus for making 
patterns. 

Libbie A. Call, Oshkosh, Wis., measure for laying off dress charts. 

Annie L. Faestel, Milwaukee, Wis., tailors' drafting device. 

Helen K. Ingram, Jacksonville, Florida, railroad cars. 

Mary D. Wiedinger, Chicago, Illinois, window-guards. 

Maria R. Hirsch, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, commutator brushes. 

Lizzie B. Fleming, Pierce City, Missouri, wheel-cleaners. 

Mary Louisa Campbell, Noyan, Province Quebec, Canada, hammer guard 
for fire-arms. 

Sallie S. Pharr, Marshallville, Georgia, planter. 

Alida M. Marcoux, Milford, Mass., filling replenishing looms. 

Charlotte R. Manning, Meriden, Conn., method of finishing metal articles. 

Margaret A. Mack, Cleveland, Ohio, carriage-pole protector. 

Nancy May Ingle, Chetopa, Kansas, air-cooling fans. 

Sarah E. Ball, Ritchey, Will Co., 111., weeder. 

Bertha and Mary E. Baumer ct a!., Troy, Ohio, horse releasing devices. 

Cora L. Jones, Stoughton, Mass., rolling toys. 

Minnie Averill, Joplin, Missouri, toy bee hive. 

Abelina C. Asczman, Chicago, 111., nozzles for fire-extinguishers. 



Women in Civil Service 889 

HELEN AUGUSTA BLAN CHARD. 

Was born in Portland, Maine. Owing to the death of her father, she found 
it necessary to turn her inventive genius and talent into a means of livelihood, and 
in 1876, established the Blanchard Over-seam Company, of Philadelphia, from 
which other industries have sprung. One of her inventions is the Blanchard over- 
seaming machine, which is for sewing and trimming at the same time of knitted 
fabrics; also crocheting and sewing machines. These machines are used largely in 
manufactories, and are considered among the most remarkable mechanical con- 
trivances of the day. 

BETSEY ANN STEARNS. 

Mrs. Betsy Ann Stearns was born in Cornish, New Hampshire, June 29, 
1830. Her maiden name was Goward. As a child she entered the weaving mills 
of Nashua, saving her money from her labors to educate herself. June 5, 1851, 
she married Horatia H. Stearns, of Ackton, Massachusetts. Mrs. Stearns is well 
known for her dress-cutting invention, which was awarded the highest prize in 
the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, 1876. She organized the Boston Dress- 
Cutting School, with branches in other states, and now the Stearns's tailor method 
for cutting ladies' and children's clothes is in common use. 

Women in United States Government Departments. 

The women who have occupied the positions of experts in 
the various departments of the United States Government have 
made for woman remarkable records. Many of these women 
come from the finest families of our country. Many of their 
ancestors were identified with the early society and important 
history of America. The first woman employed by the United 
States Government was Miss Jennie Douglas. During the war 
General Spinner persuaded the secretary of the Treasury, 
Salmon P. Chase, to employ women in that department to cut 
and trim the treasury notes, and Miss Douglas was the first 
woman to be employed on this work. Among those who entered 
the work in that early day was Mrs. Helen L. McLean Kimball. 
Mrs. Kimball is dean of the government women, as she enjoys 
the record of the longest service of all the women workers under 
the United States Government. She is the widow of a Civil 
War officer who was killed in the field, and shortly after his 



890 Part Taken by Women in American History 

death she took up her duties in the Treasury. Mrs. Kimball is 
considered one of the most valued employees of this department, 
and is a most popular, intellectual woman, who has endeared 
herself to all her associates. For more than twenty years Mrs. 
Kimball was chief of the Treasury library, which she helped to 
build up and make valuable. Later she became a file clerk in 
the office of the comptroller of the currency. Following close 
upon the record of Mrs. Kimball is that of Miss Sarah F. Hoey, 
who has counted money for over forty-four years, and during 
this long period handled billions of dollars which found their 
way to the redemption department of the United States Treas- 
ury. Mrs. W. A. Leonard is frequently spoken of as the most 
remarkable woman in the United States Government. She was 
appointed in 1864, and her work as chief counterfeit detector 
in the treasurer's office is well known. She has been called "The 
Female Sherlock Holmes." Mrs. Leonard has just retired from 
the service after over forty years' work. 

Miss Mabel Hatch, who was for many years in the Patent 
office as clerk to the commissioner, was one of the highest sal- 
aried women in the government at one time. Miss Hatch has 
made a remarkable record for a woman in that, with but a few 
days' exception, she has never lost a day from her office. 

Mrs. Angeline D. Ware held a very responsible position 
also in the Patent office for more than a quarter of a century. 
Mrs. Ware is a woman of great refinement and gentle birth. 
In her young womanhood she moved in the first circles of Ohio 
society. Her brother was Governor Dennison, the "war" gov- 
ernor of Ohio, and a member of Lincoln's Cabinet. Her hus- 
band was one of the first lawyers of Ohio, and after his death 
it became necessary that Mrs. Ware should support herself, 
which she has done with cheerfulness and credit to herself and 
satisfaction to the government for many years. 

Miss Caroline C. Kirkland, who reached four-score years 



Women in Civil Service 891 

in 1908, has been employed in the Patent office for over a quarter 
of a century. 

Miss Frances R. Lybrand, of Ohio, has a record of nearly 
thirty years in the Patent office as an expert examiner in the 
civil engineering - division. 

Mrs. Mary Fuller, sister of Mrs. Vinnie Ream Hoxie the 
well-known sculptress, has been chief librarian in the library of 
the Department of the Interior for over thirty-five years. 

Miss Amelia Tyler has been in the service of the United 
States Government for over thirty-five years. She is a special 
patent examiner and passes expert judgment on patents for 
tilling the soil and other agricultural purposes and appliances. 

Miss Emma A. McCully is employed in the internal rev- 
enue service. Miss McCully's grandfather was Captain 
Nathaniel Haraden, who served on the "Constitution" — Old 
Ironsides — in the war with Tripoli, and in recognition of his 
service, was appointed lieutenant in the navy, and afterward 
made commandant of the United States Navy, and assigned to 
duty in the navy yard at Washington. Miss McCully's most 
valued possession is his commission signed by James Madison. 
Her grandmother was an intimate friend of Dolly Madison, and 
Miss McCully's family were identified with the foremost of 
America's early social and official life. 

Two other women who deserve honorable mention for 
their work in the service of the government for more than a 
quarter of a century are Miss H. L. Black and Miss Caroline C. 
Pennock, who are employed in the office of the comptroller of 
the currency. Miss Columbia McVeigh is employed in the 
internal revenue service as file clerk, where she has been for 
many years. 

Mrs. Brewster, the wife of Attorney-General Brewster 
who was a member of the Cabinet of President Arthur, met her 
husband while he was obtaining evidence for a case he was 



892 Part Taken by Women in American History 

prosecuting as district attorney, in the Treasury department, 
where she was employed for many years before her marriage. 
She fulfilled her part as the wife of a Cabinet official with dignity 
and grace, adding much to the popularity and esteem of her 
distinguished husband and the social life of Washington at the 
time of his service as a Cabinet minister. Mrs. Brewster was 
the daughter of Robert J. Walker, who was secretary of the 
Treasury under Buchanan. 

Miss Stoner, niece of General Spinner, was among the first 
women appointed in the Treasury department by Secretary 
Chase, when women were given these positions, to take the 
place of the men called into service at the outbreak of the War. 

The Misses Taney, daughters of Chief Justice Taney, were 
among the capable women who served for many years in the 
departments of the government. 

There are many others who deserve mention, but these are 
the most prominent in their length of service. 

LIZZIE E. D. THAYER. 

Miss Lizzie E. D. Thayer was born October 5, 1857, in Ware, Massachusetts. 
She occupied an unusual position for a woman — that of train dispatcher. Since 
1878 she has been employed in the various offices of New England as a telegraph 
operator. In 1889 she entered the service of the New London Northern Railroad, 
and on the resignation of the train dispatcher, whose assistant she had been for a 
year, she was appointed to the office, and filled the position satisfactorily. 



Women in Business. 

NETTIE L. WHITE. 

Born near Syracuse, New York. She is descended from old Revolutionary 
stock of Massachusetts. About 1876 she began her first regular work with Henry 
G. Hayes, one of the corps of stenographers with the House of Representatives, 
Washington, D. C, at a time when very few women were engaged in practical 
stenography in Washington. She was engaged in this work for thirteen years. 
After several years of the most difficult work in the Capitol, she desired to 
work as official stenographer for one of the Congressional Committees and decided 
upon the Committee on Military Affairs, of which General Rosecrans was the 
chairman. Her first work was a report on heavy ordance which was being made 
to the committee by General Benet. When finished her report was accepted by 
the committee, and she had no furthr difficulties to overcome because she was a 
woman. Miss White served with Clara Barton in the Red Cross work for the 
relief of the flood sufferers in Johnstown, and while here she received her appoint- 
ment to the Pension Bureau as an expert workman gained through civil service 
examination. 

MARY AVERILL HARRIMAN. 

Wife of the late Edward Henry Harriman, the great railroad magnate. She 
takes a position among men through her ability as a business woman. During 
her husband's life she was his constant adviser and shared in all his great enter- 
prises. He frequently spoke of the regard which he had for her judgment and 
ability, and after his death it was found that his will in a few simple words had 
placed most of his great estate in her hands, and directed that she should have 
control and management of more than one hundred million dollars. Mrs. Harri- 
man was the daughter of a wealthy financier of Rochester, New York, and before 
her marriage her name was Mary Averill. The management, not only of this 
vast estate, is in the hands of Mrs. Harriman, but the completion of their home 
at Arden, on the crest of the Ramapo Hills, an estate half in New York and half 
in New Jersey, of forty-six thousand acres. Mr. Harriman wished to give employ- 
ment to the country people and he had laid out this estate on the most extensive 
plans. This is being carried out in strict accordance to his wishes. Mrs. Harri- 
man is essentially a woman of sound common sense and judgment. The tasks 
that confront her she is handling with energy and courage. She is devoting much 
of her time to the shaping of the career of her only son, Walter, a student at 
Yale, whom his father had already apprenticed to the railroad. 

(893) 



894 Part Taken by Women in American History 



INA SHEPHERD. 

Miss Ina Shepherd, of Birmingham, Alabama, is the only woman who holds 
the place of secretary to a clearing-house association in this country. She has held 
this position for the city of Birmingham for over five years, handling the clearings 
of eight banks, amounting to between ten and fifteen million dollars a month. She 
is a fine musician and a most accomplished woman. 



THE GILLETT SISTERS. 

One of the most noted, cultivated and clever families of women in Illinois 
is that of the late John Dean Gillett and his wife, Lemira Parks Gillett, of Elk- 
hart, Illinois, who were among the oldest settlers of Logan County (1842). The 
family consists of seven daughters, who were reared in the lap of luxury up to the 
day of their father's death. At that time each took charge of the estate left her 
by her father, and has since managed it personally in an intellectual, business-like 
and successful manner. As girls, these daughters were carefully educated along 
classical lines, their only business training having been that given by their father. 
It is therefore somewhat unusual that they should one and all have taken upon 
themselves the care of their vast estates, and with the result that to-day each per- 
sonally directs her entire estate and business interests in the most successful 
manner. 

The eldest daughter, Emma Susan Gillett, educated in New Haven, Con- 
necticut, was married in 1867, when quite young, to Hiram Keays, of Bloomington, 
Illinois. She was left a widow after three years of married life, with one son, 
Hiram G. Keays. In 1873 she married Richard J. Oglesby, three times elected 
Governor of Illinois, and once to the United States Senate. The issue of the 
second marriage was three sons and one daughter. Her second son, John Gillett 
Oglesby, was elected Lieutenant-Governor of Illinois at the age of twenty-nine, 
being the youngest Lieutenant-Governor ever elected in the state. 

Mrs. Oglesby came into her inheritance after Governor Oglesby had retired 
from politics, and within a quarter of a mile of the village of Elkhart, Illinois, 
erected her beautiful home called "Ogleshurst." For seven years she lived there, 
organizing and putting into shape her property, and since the death of her hus- 
band, Governor Oglesby, she has lived in Rome, Italy, her home being one of 
the most interesting and she being one of the most popular entertainers of the 
American colony at Rome. 

The second daughter, Grace Adeline Gillett, Jacksonville, Illinois, was mar- 
ried in 1885 to Hon. Stephen A. Littler of Springfield, Illinois, one of the most 
indefatigable political workers of the day. Their handsome and well appointed 
home was the scene of many magnificent banquets given by Mr. Littler to his 
political friends. Mrs. Littler's presence, personal charm and grace of manner, as 
well as her beauty, won her many friends. Her love and personal care and 
munificent gifts to the suffering infants and children of her tenants, and the 
working classes about her, won for her the love, respect and admiration of all 



Women in Business 895 

those fortunate enough to be within her sphere of influence. Mrs. Littler lived only 
a few years after her father's death to enjoy her share of his fortune, but up to 
that time was interested in keeping her consignment of the cattle, so well known 
as the "Shorthorn Herd of John Dean Gillett" up to its well-known reputation, 
farming and leasing her lands, raising oats, corn, wheat and clover. At her death 
she left her estate not only intact, but greatly increased in value. 

The third daughter, Nina Lemira Gillett, was educated in a convent, and is 
one of the best read women of her time — a woman of fine business ability who, 
after placing her land and property in shape, turned her attention and time to the 
buying of stocks and bonds, being clever enough in the panic of 1903 to throw her 
enormous savings which she had in readiness to invest, into stocks and bonds at 
the opportune moment, holding them several years and disposing of the same, 
thereby realizing a handsome profit, thus showing her ability to be as great in 
financial foresight as in farming. She has also made a great success socially and 
financially in Paris, where she now resides. She has circled the globe more 
than once in her extensive travels, and is a fluent French and Italian scholar. 

Katherine Gillett Hill, fourth daughter of the late John Dean Gillett, was 
educated in a convent at Springfield, Illinois, and was married in 1874 to James 
E. Hill, a cousin of the late John A. Logan. To them four children were born, 
two sons and two daughters, the two sons living to manhood and one daughter to 
womanhood. Edgar Logan Hill, the eldest son, is a graduate of Massachusetts 
Institute of Technology, and holds a prominent position with the American Steel 
& Wire Company, at Worcester, Massachusetts. John Dean Gillett Hill is a 
graduate of Harvard Law School, and Lemira Gillett Hill is a graduate of Miss 
Chamberlain's School in Boston. 

Mrs. Gillett Hill, at the death of her father, took entire charge of her 
farming lands, not even requiring the assistance of an overseer. She has for 
twenty years managed as capably and as systematically as any business man her 
five thousand acres of farm land in and about Lincoln, Illinois, having about fifty 
tenants under her supervision. She is a woman of varied qualifications and 
interests, being artistic and musical, a splendid mother and likewise is greatly 
interested in the woman suffrage movement. Farming with her is not amateurish, 
and not the fad of a rich woman, but with Mrs. Gillett Hill it is at once an art 
and a science, and a very remunerative business, which has made her one of the 
best known farmers in America. She is none the less womanly for her business 
capabilities. From her childhood she has been a fine horsewoman, and having 
been gifted with a beautiful voice, she has done much charitable work with her 
musical voice. With her fine intellect, she has become a writer of some note 
and is withal a splendid entertainer, possessing great natural wit and repartee. 
She has been much sought after in the social world. Mrs. Gillett Hill in the year 
1910 purchased a charmingly artistic home in Washington, and this home, once a 
studio, has proved to be one of the most unique and picturesque residences in the 
city. 

Amaryllis T. Gillett, fifth daughter, was educated in Kenosha, Wisconsin. 
During her school years she devoted herself to the study of history particularly, 
and was always a referee for dates and historical events. She held in trust the 



896 Part Taken by Women in American History 



money presented by her mother, Lemira Parke Gillett, to the Library at Elkhart, 
Illinois, and selected and bought all of the books for this library for about twenty 
years. After superintending her farms in and about the town of Cornland for 
many years, she removed to the City of Washington, in 1908, and bought up a 
great deal of real estate, building handsome houses and selling them at a great 
profit. With keen foresight she realized that real estate at the capital was sure to 
advance. Miss Gillett is one of the prominent women of Washington, and enter- 
tains lavishly in her handsome home during the winter season. She is a member 
of the best clubs of Washington, viz: Chevy Chase Club, Archaeological Club, 
Aviation Club and the Riding Club, and was elected Librarian-General of the 
Daughters of the American Revolution at the last National Congress, on the ticket 
with Mrs. Matthew T. Scott. President-General. By the latter, she has been 
placed on many special commissions to further the improvement of the grounds 
and surroundings of Memorial Continental Hall. 

Jessie D. Gillett is the sixth daughter of John Dean Gillett. A woman who 
runs a 3000-acre farm, takes a prominent part in the management of a National 
Bank and is the founder of a public library, which she presented to the village of 
Elkhart, Illinois, in memory of her mother, in addition to being a shrewd financier, 
and expert stock grower and an accomplished horse-back rider — all of which is 
Miss Jessie D. Gillett — has taken a long step in the direction of proving that no 
nook or corner of what was once the exclusive domain of man is now secure 
against feminine invasion. After taking hold of "Crowhurst," her home farm, 
located near the village of Elkhart, Illinois, she soon showed the surrounding 
farmers what a woman could do with a farm, and the result has caused her male 
competitors not only to envy, but also to adopt many of her improvements. 
"Crowhurst" is now one of the most inviting and attractive country residences in 
the middle west. Miss Gillett believes that if one would be a successful farmer 
the latest and most progressive agricultural principles must be applied. She has 
converted this once old-fashioned farm into a model producing possession, and 
her surroundings are of the most up-to-date character. Her lands being tilled and 
drained in the best manner known to-day, she produces crops that are seldom 
equalled in the state; she makes a great specialty of corn and her farm has been 
made famous in this, the great corn-belt of Illinois. Added to her ability as a 
farmer, Miss Gillett's personality is most charming. She is a very beautiful 
woman, with great tact and a most fascinating manner; is one of the women the 
state of Illinois may well be proud of. 

Charlotte Gillett Barnes was seventh and youngest daughter. She inherited 
her property when quite young, and married the following year, 1891, Dr. William 
Barnes, one of the most-noted surgeons of central Illinois. Her beautiful home 
is in Decatur, Illinois, where she interests herself most enthusiastically in musical 
circles. 

Mrs. Barnes' land lies in and about the cities of Elkhart and Alt. Pulaski. 
She inherited a talent for describing lands and could repeat off-hand and without 
notes, rapidly and without error, proper descriptions of her lands that numbered 
up into the thousands of acres. 

While an interested and enterprising business woman, she has let music be 



Women in Business 897 

her principal work in life, and her talent for music has made her one of the most 
noted pianists of the Middle West. She has two children, Gillette Joan Barnes 
and William Barnes. 

ELLEN ALIDA ROSE. 

Born June 17, 1843, in Champion, New York. In December, 1861, she 
married Alfred Rose, and in 1862 they moved to Wisconsin, where her life has 
been spent on a farm near Broadhead. She is one of the first and most active 
members of the Grange. Through Mrs. Rose's efforts and the members of the 
National Grange Organization, the anti-option bill was passed. She was a prom- 
inent member of the Patrons of Industry and by her voice and pen has done 
much to educate the farmers in the prominent reforms of the day, in which the 
advancement of women is one which has always claimed her first interest. Mrs. 
Rose has been an active worker in the Woman's Suffrage Association, and in 
1888 was appointed District President of that organization. 

MARY A. SAUNDERS. 

Born January 14, 1849, in Brooklyn, New York. Her father, Dr. Edward 
R. Percy, settled in Lawrence, Kansas, where he became so interested in the study, 
growth and culture of the grape and the manufacture of wine, that he gave up his 
practice as a physician. Miss Percy became the wife of A. M. Saunders. Being 
left a widow after two years with a child to support, she endeavored to earn her 
living as an organist in one of the churches in Lawrence, Kansas. While on a 
visit to her husband's relatives in Nova Scotia, she decided to return to New 
York and pursue her musical studies. At this time her attention was drawn to 
a new invention, the typewriter. She was introduced to G. W. N. Yost, the 
inventor of typewriters, who promised that as soon as she could write on the 
typewriter at the rate of sixty words a minute he would employ her as exhibitor 
and saleswoman. In three weeks she accomplished this task, and in January, 
1875, was given employment with the company and was one of the first women to 
step into the field at that time occupied solely by men. She assisted in arranging 
the first keyboard of the Remington typewriter, which is now the keyboard, with 
slight alterations, used on all typewriters. Mrs. Saunders traveled as the general 
agent of this company throughout the West and inaugurated the use of the first 
typewriter in St. Louis, Cincinnati, Chicago, Indianapolis, Detroit and other cities. 
Later she resigned from this position and became corresponding clerk in the 
Brooklyn Life Insurance Company. While here she studied stenography and 
two years later, when the head bookkeeper died she applied for the vacancy, which 
was given her at an advanced salary, she attending to all the correspondence, book- 
keeping, examination of all policies and had charge of the real estate accounts. 
In 1891 the Yost Typewriter Company, Limited, of London, England, was about 
to be formed. They offered her a fine position with them in London, as manager 
and saleswoman, which she accepted. Her position as manager of a school enroll- 
ing more than one hundred pupils gave her ample scope to carry out her long- 
desired scheme of aiding women to be self-supporting in the higher walks of life, 

57 



898 Part Taken by Women in American History 

and she was able to secure positions for men and women. At the expiration of 
her contract she returned to New York to undertake the management of the 
Company's office in that city. 

MARY SOPHIE SCOTT. 

Born October 17, 1838, in Freeport, Illinois. Her father Orestes H. Wright, 
was a native of Vermont, her mother, Mary M. Atkinson, of England. In 1863 
Miss Wright became the wife of Colonel John Scott, of Nevada, Ohio. In 1875 
she was invited to collect and exhibit the work of Iowa women at the Centennial 
Exhibition at Philadelphia. Later she performed a like service for the Cotton 
Exposition in New Orleans. Her most useful work was the publication of her 
book "Indian Corn as Human Food." 

MARY D. LOWMAN. 

Was born January, 1842, in Indiana County, Pennsylvania. In 1866 she 
became the wife of George W. Lowman, and removed to Kansas. In 1885 she 
served as Deputy Register of Deeds in Oskaloosa, and was elected mayor of that 
city in 1888, with a Common Council composed entirely of women and they were 
again re-elected in 1889. During her administration the city was freed from debt 
and many public improvements were brought about. 

MISS C. H. LIPPINCOTT. 

Was born September, i86o ? at Mount Holly, New Jersey. In 1891 she 
entered a new field for women, opening a seed business and issuing a circular 
which in two years brought her twenty thousand orders. She originated the plan 
of stating the number of seeds contained in each packet, which compelled all 
prominent seed houses to follow her example. 

IDA HALL ROBY. 

Was born March 8, 1867, in Fairport, New York. She graduated from 
the Illinois College of Pharmacy in the Northwestern University of Evanston, 
Illinois. Her father's death occurred one year before she graduated, which neces- 
sitated her providing for her own support. Having a natural fondness for 
chemistry, she held a position in a drug house for several years, then started a 
pharmacy in Chicago, attending the college on alternate days. She is the first 
woman to graduate from the Pharmaceutical Department of that institution, and 
has won a unique reputation as a successful woman in a line of business generally 
left to man. 

ANNIE WHITE BAXTER. 

Mrs. Baxter was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on the second of March. 
1864. After graduating from the public schools in 1882, she went to work as an 



Women in Business 899 

assistant in the County Clerk's office of Jasper County, Missouri. She performed 
these duties with such satisfaction to everyone that in 1885 she was appointed 
and sworn in as Deputy Clerk of the County Court, with authority to affix the 
clerk's signature and the county seal to all official documents, and performed other 
official acts. The duties of this office embraced the tax levy and extension 
in a county of five hundred thousand people, the custody, computation and col- 
lection of interest on public school funds of over two hundred and twenty-five 
thousand dollars, keeping of the accounts and making settlements with the State- 
Treasurer, State Auditor, County Treasurer, County Collector, and of the County 
township officers entrusted with the collection and custody of State and County 
revenues, the keeping of the records, and the executing of the acts and orders of 
the County Court. She was found equal to all of these arduous labors and demon- 
strated so high a standard of mental ability, that she was soon appointed and 
qualified as principal deputy. At the time of her marriage in 1888, she withdrew 
from all public work, but owing to the ill health of the County Clerk she was 
persuaded to again resume the duties and in 1890 was nominated for County 
Clerk by the Democrat County Convention and was elected in what had always 
been a strong Republican district. She was the first woman in the United States 
elected by the people and qualified under the law to fill the office of the Clerk of 
Court. Notwithstanding her long occupancy of public office she is a modest, 
refined and retiring woman, and has the respect and admiration of all those who 
know her. 

ELLA MARIA BALLOU. 

Miss Ballou was born in Wallingford, Vermont, November 15, 1852. She 
was educated in +t ie Wallingford schools and commenced life as a teacher, but 
findin -•'*' 50 ' [ L ^ : on for women in this vocation so small, she took up the 
study \ i V^°~\ became so proficient that she went into the courts and 

wrote eviden 1 ..12 ~.guments until she became noted among attorneys, and in 
1885, upon the numerous applications of the Rutland County Bar, Judge W. G. 
Veazey in the Supreme Court of that state appointed her Official Reporter of the 
Rutland County Court. She was the first woman to hold such a position in the 
state of Vermont, and it is believed, in the United States. She has done some 
work in the line of literature, but her particular claim to distinction is in the line 
of her profession. 

MRS. L. H. PLUMB. 

Mrs. Plumb was born June 23, 1841, in Sand Lake, New York, but has been 
a resident of Illinois since 1870. Her husband was a prominent business man and 
politician of Illinois, at one time a member of the Legislature of that State. Her 
husband's death occurred in 1882, when Mrs. Plumb took the active management 
of his large estate. She was elected vice-president of the Union National Bank 
of Streator, Illinois, of which her husband had been president for years. In 1890 
she moved to Wheaton, Illinois, to give greater advantages of education to her 
children. Mrs. Plumb is a woman of liberal education, sound business judgment, 
great tact and wide experience in practical affairs. She has always been one of 



900 Part Taken by Women in American History 

the foremost workers for the cause of Temperance in her state, being one of the 
charter members and originators of the Temperance Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. 

ELLA MAYNARD KELLY. 

Miss Ella Maynard Kelly was born in 1857 in Fremont, Ohio. She began 
telegraphy at the age of fourteen, having been given charge of a night office in 
Egg Harbor on the Lake Shore Railroad. Here for four years she worked as a 
railroad operator and was responsible for the safe running of the trains on that 
road. Later, she was engaged in commercial telegraphy in Atlantic City, N. J., 
Detroit, Michigan, and Washington, D. C, and in the Western Union Office in 
Columbus, Ohio. She has won unique rank as a woman distinguished in active 
telegraphy in the United States, and had charge of the first wire of the Associated 
Press circuit. She was the first woman to use the vibrator in the telegraph service. 

HARRIET WHITE FISHER. 

Harriet White Fisher was born in Crawford County, Pennsylvania. Daughter 
of Oscar A. and Hannah Fisher White. Her first American ancestor was Peregrine 
White, whose parents were passengers on the Mayflower in 1620, from whom the 
line of descent is traced through his son, who married Frances Clark. 

In London, July 20th, 1898, she was married to Clark Fisher, who was 
formerly chief engineer in the United States Navy, afterward proprietor of the 
Eagle Anvil Works, Trenton, New Jersey. During the first year of her married 
life, Mrs. Fisher was engrossed in social duties. She first became interested in her 
husband's factory during a severe illness of her husband, and her interest continued 
after his recovery and return to the factory, so that before and a ''t his death she 
was conversant with many of the business details. On October 8, M '"isher 

and her husband were injured in a railroad wreck which occurn . .. Menlo Park, 
as a result of which Mrs. Fisher was in the hospital for months, and the doctors 
were unanimous in the opinion that she would never again be able to walk, and, in 
fact, for weeks it was thought that she could not live. Her husband, Clark Fisher, 
died as a consequence of the injuries he received at that time, and it was while she 
was partially paralyzed and unable to leave her bed that she continued the manage- 
ment of the Fisher & Norris business, and kept it going until she was able to walk 
without the aid of crutches. Afterward, through the help of able physicians, she 
regained the use of her limbs, so that now one would scarcely believe that she 
had nassed through such an ordeal, and except for the injury to her back and spine, 
she would perhaps forget it herself. 

At her husband's death, instead of turning the plant over to the care of a 
manager, she herself took up the reins and has become one of the best-known 
business women in the United States. The Eagle Anvil Works are now, and always 
have been run under the firm name of Fisher & Norris. Mrs. Fisher is the only 
woman member of the National Association of Manufacturers. She is a member 
of the Geological Society, the Numismatic Society and of the Civic Federation. 
She has received a large amount of notice from the newspapers on account of her 



Women in Business 901 

recent trip around the world in an automobile, which successful trip brought forth 
hundreds of press notices the world round. She was royally entertained on this 
trip, and has written a book since her return, giving a full account of her 
experiences, which book is called "A Woman's Tour in a Motor." Her busi- 
ness necessitates her living in Trenton, New Jersey, during part of the year, but 
she spends the summer months in her beautiful Villa Carlotta, Brio, on Lake 
Como, Italy. 



MRS. WILLARD A. LEONARD. 

Mrs. Leonard, who was for forty-seven years an expert for the United States 
Government in detecting counterfeit money in the United States Treasury Depart- 
ment, has just retired, owing to ill health, at the age of seventy-one years. She is 
a woman of strong character, who has devoted the best years of her life to the 
government, and has done this to educate and place well in life her only son, 
Major Henry Leonard, United States Marine Corps, who lost his arm at the 
siege of Pekin during the Boxer troubles. 

As chief of counterfeit detectors, Mrs. Leonard's position in the Treasury 
Department was one of the most exacting in the service. For thirty-five years 
thousands of dollars a day passed through her hands, bills and bank notes of 
suspicious appearance, and during that time not a mistake has occurred. She left 
the service with a clean record. Mrs. Leonard was the "court of last resort." 
According to the system in the department, should the make-up of a thousand 
dollar bill arouse suspicion, it would be forwarded to the counterfeit detecting 
division. Here it passed under the scrutiny of one of the detectors. Should the 
subordinate be in doubt regarding the genuineness of the bill, it was passed 
on to Mrs. Leonard. 

She was born in Perry County, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Leonard was a wife, 
a mother and a widow in less than two years. Her first husband was killed 
during the Civil War. In 1864 she came to Washington and was given a posi- 
tion in the Treasury under General Spinner, Lincoln's Secretary of the Treasury. 
Later, she married Hiram D. Leonard, of New York, also employed in the 
Treasury Department. Mr. Leonard died soon after, of wounds received in 
the war. 

MARGARET V. KELLY. 

Miss Margaret V. Kelly holds a position in the office of the Director of 
the Mint in the United States Treasury Department, and draws one of the largest 
salaries paid a woman by the government. She is third in rank in the big mint 
establishment presided over by George E. Roberts. She has been for many 
years in the office of the Director of the Mint, and recently Secretary MacVeagh 
designated Miss Kelly as Acting Director in the absence of Mr. Roberts and 
Mr. Preston. This is the first time her position has been officially recognized, 
she being placed on an absolutely equal footing with her chief. 



902 Part Taken by Women in American History 

CHARLOTTE FOWLER WELLS. 

Born August 14, 1814, in Cohockton, New York. Her father, Horace 
Fowler, was an able writer. Her brothers, 0. S. and L. N. Fowler were among 
the first to study and believe the doctrines of Gall and Spuzsheim, and to develop 
an interest in the science of phrenology. Their sister Charlotte became deeply 
interested in this subject, teaching the first class in phrenology in this country, 
and joining her brothers in New York City they established the Fowler- Wells Pub- 
lishing House. O. S. Fowler entered the lecture field, and L. N. Fowler estab- 
lished a branch of their house in London, leaving Charlotte to manage the large 
and complicated business in New York. In 1844 she became the wife of Samuel 
R. Wells, one of the partners in their business. On her husband's death, in 1875, 
she was left sole proprietor and manager, and later when this business was 
made a stock company, she was its president. She was vice-president and one 
of the instructors of the American Institute of Phrenology, which was incor- 
porated in 1866. She was one of the founders and later one of the trustees of 
the New York Medical College for Women, which was founded in 1863. 



HARRIETTE M. PLUNKETT. 

Harriette M. Plunkett was a pioneer in the work of sanitary reform in 
the United States. She was born Harriette Merrick Hodge, February 6, 1826, 
in Hadley, Massachusetts, and this town, though a community of farmers, had 
the unusual advantage of an endowed school, "Hopkins Academy," which afforded 
exceptional opportunities to the daughters of the town, and there Miss Hodge 
received her early education. Her great interest in sanitary matters did not 
develop until after she became the wife of Honorable Thomas F. Plunkett, who 
in 1869 had a very important share in the establishment of the Massachusetts 
State Board of Health, the first state board established in this country. Mrs. 
Plunkett became convinced that if the women of the country would inform 
themselves what sanitary reform was needed in housing and living, and see that 
it was put in practice, there would be a great saving and lengthening of lives, 
and making lives more effective and happy during their continuance. To promote 
that cause she wrote many newspaper articles, and in 1885 published a valuable 
book, "Women, Plumbers, and Doctors," containing practical directions for secur- 
ing a healthful home, and though interrupted in her work by the necessity of 
reading the studies of a college course to her son, who had become totally blind, 
this accomplished, she at once resumed her pen and returned to subjects 
of sanitation, though at the same time producing other articles, educational, 
aesthetic, and political, for various magazines and journals. One article, on the 
increasing longevity of the human race, entitled, "Our Grandfathers Died Too 
Soon," in the Popular Science Monthly, attracted wide attention. Her great 
interest in the prevention and healing of diseases also brought her before the 
public, and she is probably most widely known in connection with the estab- 
lishment and growth of a cottage hospital in Pittsfield, Mass., called the House 
of Mercy, started in 1874, and of which she was the president. It was the first 



Women in Business 903 

one of its clas to be supported by contributions from all religious denominations 
in the country. Mrs. Plunkett always spoke of her own work with extreme 
modesty, remarking at one time, that she merely belonged, "to the great army 
of working optimists." 



ALZINA PARSONS STEVENS. 

The history of Mrs. Stevens, industrial reformer, born in Parsonfield, 
Missouri, May 27, 1849, is, in many of its phases, an epitome of women's work 
in the labor movement in this country during her life. Mrs. Stevens fought the 
battle of life most bravely. When but thirteen years of age she began work 
as a weaver in a cotton factory. At eighteen years of age she had learned the 
printer's trade, at which she continued until she passed into other departments 
of newspaper work. She was compositor, proofreader, correspondent, and editor. 
In all these positions she acquitted herself well, and it was in the labor 
movement that she attracted public attention. In 1877 she organized the Working 
Women's Union of Chicago, and was its first president. Removing from that 
city to Toledo, Ohio, she threw herself into the movement there and was 
soon one of the leading members of the Knights of Labor. Later, she was instru- 
mental in organizing a Women's Society, the "Joan of Arc Assembly, Knights 
of Labor," and was its first master workman, who went from that body to the 
district assembly. In 1890 she was elected district master workman, becoming 
the chief officer of a district of twenty-two local assemblies of knights. She 
represented the district in the General Assemblies of the hour and the conven- 
tions held in Atlanta, Denver, Indianapolis, and Toledo. She represented the 
labor organizations of Cleveland, Ohio, in the National Industrial Conference 
in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1892, and in the Omaha Convention of the People's 
Party that same year. She was always an ardent advocate of equal suffrage, and 
a capable organizer and untiring worker for the cause. For several years she 
held a position on the editorial staff of the Toledo Bee, later became sole owner 
and editor of the Vanguard, a paper published in Chicago, in the interests of 
economic and industrial reform through political action. 



CASSIE WARD MEE. 

Much has been written in recent years of the relative rights and wrongs 
of capital and labor. But there have been few people who could discuss in 
private or from the platform these matters in an unprejudiced way. Yet such 
a platform speaker was Mrs. Cassie Ward Mee, labor champion. She was born 
in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, October 16, 1848. Her parents and ancestors 
belonged to the Society of Friends, and many of them were prominent accredited 
ministers of the society. She came with her husband, Charles Mee, to the United 
States in 1882 and settled in Cortland, N. Y., where she gained considerable 
prominence by her writings. She first appeared on the public platform in the 



904 Part Taken by Women in American History 

cause of temperance. It was in August, 1885, that she first spoke on the labor 
question. On the twelfth of August, 1886, she addressed ten thousand people on 
Boston Common, and she received a splendid illuminated address from the Knights 
of Labor, in token of their appreciation of an address made by her in March, 
1887. After lecturing extensively among the miners of Pennsylvania, she finally 
settled to her life work, which is the education of the members of that powerful 
organization, "The Knights of Labor." 

eva Mcdonald valesh. 

Born of Scotch-Irish parentage, in Orono, Maine, September 9, 1866, 
Mrs. Valesh's interest in the welfare of working women sprang from her own 
experience. After leaving school she learned the printer's trade, and here she 
had supplied to her object lessons to prepare her for the work before her. She 
was employed on the Spectator, and in due time she became a member of the 
Typographical Union, and by a chance recommendation from the district master 
workman of the Knights of Labor of Minnesota, she secured a position on a 
newspaper and began the writing and working which was to occupy the rest of 
her life. A shop girl's strike was in progress, and many of the girls who were 
engaged in making overalls, coarse shirts, and similar articles, applied to the 
Ladies' Protective Assembly, Knights of Labor, into which Miss McDonald had 
been initiated but a short time. So, while not personally interested in the strike, 
she attended all the meetings of the strikers and repeatedly addressed them, 
urging the girls to stand firm for wages which would enable them to live 
decently. This strike was only partially successful, but it opened an avenue for 
the talent of the young agitator. In March, 1887, she began a series of letters 
on "Working Women" for the St. Paul Globe, which were continued for nearly a 
year and attracted wide attention. She began to make public speeches on the 
labor question, about that time making her maiden effort in Duluth, 1887, when 
not quite twenty-one years of age. After the articles on the "Working Women of 
Minneapolis and St. Paul" ceased she conducted the labor department of the Globe, 
besides doing other special newspaper work. She continued her public addresses, 
and was a member of the executive committee that conducted the street car strike 
in Minneapolis and St. Paul in 1888, and subsequently wrote the history of the 
strike and published it under the title of "The Tale of Twin Cities." During the 
political campaign of 1890 she lectured to the farmers under the auspices of the 
Minnesota Farmers' Alliance, and she was elected state lecturer of this society 
on the first of January, 1891, going on the 28th of the same month to Omaha, 
where she was elected assistant national lecturer of the Minnesota Farmers' 
Alliance. Her marriage to Mr. Frank Valesh, a labor leader, occurred in 1891. 
During later years Mrs. Valesh had turned her attention more especially to 
the educational side of the industrial question, lecturing throughout the country 
for the principles of the Farmers' Alliance and in the city for trade unions. By 
invitation of President Samuel Gompers, she read a paper on "Women's Work," 
in the National Convention of the American Federation of Labor, in Birmingham, 
Alabama, December, 1891, and was strongly recommended by that assembly for 



Women in Business 905 

the position of general organizer among the working women. Her strong, sane 
point of view has been kept before the public through her editorship of an 
industrial department for the Minneapolis Tribune, and through her occasional 
magazine contributions on industrial matters. 

JEANNETTE DU BOIS MEECH. 

Daughter of Gideon du Bois, was born in Frankford, Pa., in 1835. She is 
well known as an evangelist, who married a Baptist clergyman. Her work as 
an industrial educator is as practical and effective as that wrought by any other 
educator in America. In 1869, during her husband's pastorate in Jersey Shore, 
Pennsylvania, she opened a free industrial school in the parsonage with one 
hundred scholars, boys and girls. She provided all the materials and sold the 
work when it was finished. In 1870 a larger opportunity to develop her ideas 
came to her when her husband was chosen superintendent of the Maryland 
State Industrial School for Girls. Afterwards in 1887, Mrs. Meech was appointed 
by the trustees of the High School of Vineland, N. J., to superintend a department 
of manual education where the boys were taught to make a variety of articles 
in wood and wire work, and the girls to cook and make garments. This was 
the first introduction of industrial education into public schools. In March, 
1891, the South Vineland Baptist Church granted Mrs. Meech a license to preach, 
and thereafter she held a number of meetings on Sunday evenings in Wildwood 
Beach, N. Y., and in Atlantic City. She had held aloof from temperance up to 
this time, but realizing from her work at these shore resorts the great increase 
of intemperance she joined the Woman's Christian Temperance Union in 1889, 
and she was made superintendent of narcotics the first year. Two years later 
she received an appointment as national lecturer for the Woman's Christian 
Temperance Union, and she continued in active service, at the same time main- 
taining her interest in industrial education, as well as supporting her family 
by a successful business career. 

LUCY STEDMAN LAMSON. 

In defiance of the tradition of women's inefficiency in money and business 
matters, the career of Miss Lucy Stedman Lamson stands out as a woman educator 
and business woman. Born in Albany, N. Y., June 19, 1857 ; in 1886 she 
was graduated from the state normal school in Albany, N. Y., and in the following 
years she studied with special teachers in New York City. In September, 1888, 
she accepted a position in the Annie Wright Seminary, Tacoma, Washington, 
but during 1888-89, much excitement prevailed in regard to land speculations, 
and Miss Lamson borrowed funds and purchased city lots, which she sold at a 
large profit. In March, 1889, she filed a timber claim and a pre-emption in 
Skamania County, Washington, and in June, at the beginning of her summer 
vacation from school, she moved her household goods to her pre-emption and, 
accompanied by a young Norwegian woman, began the six months' residence 
required by the government to obtain the title to the land. Having complied with 



906 Part Taken by Women in American History 

the law and gained possession of the timber claim and pre-emption, Miss Lamson 
sold both at an immense advantage, investing the proceeds in real estate. On 
this, as Tacoma advanced, she also realized handsomely, and the home of this 
shrewd business woman became one of the landmarks in that prosperous, western 
city. 

MINNA E. SHERMAN. 

Among the names of the many remarkable women which America has 
produced must be enrolled that of Mrs. Minna E. Sherman, the owner and 
manager of eleven hundred acres of land in California. She came in possession 
of her original farm in rather a unique way. Her father, becoming disgusted 
with the Raw Hide Mining Company's affairs in which he held stock, one day, 
in a fit of anger, threw the stock certificates into the fire. Minna rescued these, 
and later, when this mine was developed and paying, her father received as his 
share fifty-four thousand dollars, on the presentation of the certificate which had 
been rescued by his daughter. He very generously divided this between his two 
daughters, each receiving twenty-seven thousand dollars. With this sum, Minna 
Sherman purchased an unimproved ranch of 688 acres in the San Joaquin Valley 
of California. To this she has constantly added from her profits until now her 
farm exceeds eleven hundred acres. On this ranch she has a herd of the finest 
Holstein cattle, sixty head of blooded Percherons, a piggery of registered Berk- 
shires, twenty-five hundred rose bushes in thirty varieties, forty acres of olive 
groves; magnificent vineyards. It is said that her vineyards yield the palm to 
no ranch in California, whether managed by man or woman. Assisting her are 
two school teachers — Miss Austin and Miss Hatch. 

Mrs. Sherman's practical common sense has proven her greatest aid and 
brought about her wonderful success. She has frequently gone in direct oppo- 
sition to the advice given her by men of experience. Her first venture in this 
connection was the bringing of sixty head of Arizona cattle to her ranch when the 
prices about her were prohibitive for dairy cows. She sent to Arizona, paid but 
twelve dollars a head, and eventually established one of the finest milk ranches 
in that part of California from these cattle. In other ways she has proven that 
practice is far better than theory, and has frequently demonstrated also that the 
theory held by some of her masculine neighbors are absolutely incorrect. She 
manages personally this great farm, demanding the best results from each crop. 
She owns none but the best animals and plants none but the best seeds, trees, 
and shrubs. 

Mrs. Sherman lectures before farmers' institutes and on demonstration 
trains, is a member of the State Agricultural College faculty, contributes largely 
to horticultural and agricultural publications, and takes an active part in the work 
of California's women's clubs. She was but twenty-five years of age when she 
began this work, and now is an attractive, interesting woman, of middle life, who 
has always insisted that the mental side is the side in which to put one's 
best efforts. 



Women in Business 907 



VIVIA A. MOW AT. 

Mrs. Vivia A. Mowat deserves mention as one of the self-made women of 
America. She has demonstrated her ability by the success which she made of a 
small farm in the San Joaquin Valley, California. On this she has grown the 
grapes which have established for her a large raisin business. The women of 
this valley are among the controllers of this product in our country. 

JESSIE WATERHOUSE. 

Is president of the Women's Association of Retail Druggists. Other 
officers are: Mary S. Cooper, Gertrude Gammon, Winifred B. Woodrow. 



INDEX 



Abell, The Misses 613 

Abbot, Emma 768 

Abell, Mrs. Edwin F 616 

Acheson, Sarah C 384 

Acklen, Mrs 260 

Adair, Ellen 261 

Adams, Abbie Asenath 354 

—Adams, Abigail 214 

Adams, Hannah 793 

Adams, Mrs. John Quincy 229 

Adams, Jane Kelly 7 2 4 

Adams, Maud 772 

Addams, Jane 596 

Adsit, Nancy H 784 

Agnew, Eliza 5*6 

Ahem, Mary Aileen 875 

Aikens, Amanda L 528 

Albani, Marie Louise 616 

Alcorn, Gertrude 613 

Alcorn, Jessie 613 

Alcott, Louisa M 798 

Alden, Cynthia May Westover 846 

Alden, Isabella MacDonald 846 

Alder, Mrs. Emily 374 

Aldrich, Flora L 743 

Alexander, Grace 389 

Alexander, Mrs. Thomas 428 

Alger, Mrs. Russell A 428 

Alkers, Mrs. Albert 429 

Allan, Phebe 312 

Allen, Anna 635 

Allen, Mrs. Guy R. C 399 

Allen, Mary Brook 670 

Allerton, Mary 33 

Allerton, Mary (Norris) 32 

Allerton, Remember 32 

Alphonsa, Mother Mary 532 

Ambrose, Eliza Frances 382 

American, Sadie 642 

Ames, Fannie B 589 

Ames, Mrs. John C 469 

Anderson, Mrs 95 

Andrews, Judith Walker 529 

Andrews, Mary Garard 736 

Andrus, Sallie T 887 

Anglin, Margaret Mary 779 

Anthony, Susan B 570 

Apfelbeck, Mrs>. Aloysius Louis 
(Marie Louise Bailey) 764 



' Armor, Mary Harris 668 

Arms, Julia A 670 

Armstrong, Ruth Allen 670 

Armstrong, Sarah B 743 

Arnold, Margaret 186 

Arnold, Sarah Louise 721 

Asczman, Abelina C 888 

Aston, Mary A 363 

Atherton, Gertrude 805 

Atwood, Ethel 770 

Atwood, Mrs. E. C 399 

Augustine, Mother O. C. D 617 

Austin, Martha W 380 

Austin, Mary Hunter 789 

Austin, Sister Mary 614 

Avary, Myrta Lockett 381 

Averill, Minnie 888 

Avery, Mrs. A. B 398 

Avery, Catherine Hitchcock Tilden. 431 

Avery, Martha Gallison Moore .... 831 

Avery, Rachel Foster 586 

Avery, Rosa Miller 589 

Babcock, Elenora Munroe 561 

Bache, Sarah 150 

Bacon, Rebecca Calhoun Pickens. 383-466 

Bailey, Ann 64 

Bailey, Anna 174 

Bailey, Annie 495 

Bailey, Florence Augusta M 842 

Bailey, Hannah J 529 

Bailey, Lepha Eliza 670 

Baird, Ariette 887 

Baker, Anna H 369 

Baldridge, Elizabeth 364 

Baldwin, Mary Briscoe 514 

Ball, Sarah E 888 

Ballou, Addie L 362 

Ballou, Ella Maria 899 

Baltzell. Virginia C 887 

Bangs, Mrs. I. S 342 

Barbert, Elizabeth Boynton 556 

Barker, Eliza Harris Lawton 408 

Barker, Ellen Blackmar 853 

Barker, Florence E 347 

Barker, Mrs. Richard Jackson 309 

Barker, Mrs. Stephen 311 

Barlow, Arabella G 311 

Barlow, Rebecca 173 



(909) 



910 



Index 



PAGE 

Barnes, Annie Maria 380 

Barnes, Frances Julia 670 

Barnett, Evelyn Scott Snead 380 

Barney, Susan Hammond . '. 669 

Barnum, Charlotte P. Acer 409 

Barr, Amelia 803 

Barrett, Kate Waller 382-532 

Barry, Susan E. (Hall) M. D 374 

Barrymore, Ethel 773 

Bartholemew, Elizabeth 54 

Bartlett, Alice Elinor 844 

Bartlett, Caroline Julia 738 

Barton, Clara 316-387 

Bascom, Emma Curtis 561 

Bass, The Misses 611 

Batcheller, E. Ellen 479 

Bateham, Josephine Penfield Cush- 

man 671 

Bates, Charlotte Fiske 844 

Bates, Mrs. Theodore C 399 

Battle, Laura Elizabeth Lee 617 

Baum, Mrs. A 49* 

Baumer, Bertha and Mary E 888 

Baxter, Alice 501 

Baxter, Annie White 898 

Bayard, The Misses 196 

Baylor, Frances Courtenay 379 

Beach, Mary C 477 

Beale, Lucy Preston 460 

Beatson, Mrs. J. W 342 

Beauchamp, Frances E 662 

Beaumont, Caroline M 832 

Beaux, Cecilia 75° 

Beck, Catherine M 364 

Beckwith, Emma 562 

Beecher, Catherine Esther 725 

Beecher, Zina A 886 

Beekman, Cornelia 19° 

Beekman, Mrs 203 

Beers, Mrs 5 11 

Behan. Kate Walker 617 

Belais, Diana 594 

Belmont. Eleanor Elsie Robson ... 779 

Bell, Lillian 806 

Bell. Mary E 364 

Bellinger, Martha Fletcher 70* 

Benedict. Maria 887 

Benedicta. Sister 615 

Benet, Adelaide George • • 879 

Bengless, Mrs. Catherine H. (Grif- 
fith) 374 

■Renham, Ida Whipple 598 

Benjamin. Anna Smeed 672 

"Rennet. Alice 743 

Benning. Anna 429 



PAGE 

Bentinck, Eliza J 886 

Benton, Louisa Dow 788 

Bergengren, Anna Farquhar 806 

Bernardy, Amy Allemand 855 

Berry, Jennie Iowa 356 

Berry, Martha 539 

Berry, Martia L. Davis 509 

Bethune, Louise 787 

Bickereyke, Mother 326 

Bidford, Dorthy 31 

Billington, Ellen (or "Elen") 34 

Billington, Helen 31 

Bingham, Jemima 510 

Bingham, Mrs 202 

Binswanger, Mrs 633 

Bishop, Emily Mulkin 785 

Bishop, Mary Axtell 832 

Bishop, Mary F 887 

Bittenbender, Ada M 599 

Black, Miss H. L 891 

Black, Sarah Hearst 672 

Blackmar, Miss 312 

Blackwell, Antoinette Brown 737 

Blackwell, Elizabeth 742 

Blair, Elizabeth Lee 428 

Blair, Ellen A. Dayton 672 

Blaisdell, Mary F 888 

Blaisdell, Mary Frances 843 

Blake, Lillie Devereux 578 

Blanchard, Helen A 889 

Blatch, Harriot Stanton 587 

Bledsoe, Mary 69 

Bliss, Mrs. George 533 

Block, Anna Scott 458 

Bloomer, Amelia 576 

Blount, Mrs. Henry 428 

Blount, Lucia A 457 

Blow, Mary Elizabeth Thomas 617 

Bocock, Annie H 500 

Bodge, Harriet J 352 

Bonaparte, Elizabeth Patterson .... 253 

Bond, Elizabeth 727 

Bond, Rosalie B. De Solma 617 

Bones, Marietta 562 

Bonham, Mildred 537 

Boole, Ella Alexander 667 

Boone, Rebecca Bryant 67 

Booth, Agnes 783 

Booth, Elizabeth 36 

Borg, Mrs. Simon 635 

Bork, Florence L. Holmes 832 

Boswell, Helen Varick 420 

Bowers, Mrs. D. P 778 

Bowes, Mrs. Fred 300 

Bowron, Elizabeth Moore 466 



Index 



911 



PAGE 

Boyington, Mary K 364 

Boyle, Josephine Hale 617 

Boyle, Virginia Frazer 383 

Boynton, Helen Mason 460 

Boynton, Mrs. Henry V 428 

Brackenridge, M. Eleanor 420 

Bradford, Dorothy (May) 32 

Bradford, Mrs. William 197 

Bradley, Amy M 311 

Bradley, Ann Weaver 672 

Bradwell, Myra 745 

Braeunlich, Sophia 863 

Braman, Ella Frances 746 

Brandon, Esther Pinto 631 

Brandt, Molly 49 

Bratton, Martha 183 

Breckenridge, Mrs. Clifton C 428 

Breckinridge, Margaret Elizabeth ..311 
Breckenridge, Mary Hopkins Cabell. 68 

Breeden, Marjorie M 399 

Brent, Henrietta 609 

Brent, Margaret 43 

Brewster, Cora Belle 739 

Brewster, Flora, A 739 

Brewster, Kate L 887 

Brewster, Mary 32 

Brewster, Mrs 891 

Bridgman, Laura Dewey 698 

Briggs, Emily (Olivia) 397 

Briggs, Mary Blatchley 862 

Briggs, Mrs. M. M 365 

Bringham, Susan S 437 

Brinn, Isabell IOI 

Brinn, Margaret 101 

Brigham, Emily 395 

Brison, Mrs. William 398 

Bryan, Anna Elizabeth 618 

Bryan, Ella Howard 379 

Bryan, Mary Edwards 380-874 

Bryan, Sarah 95 

Brockett, Mrs. Albert D 428 

Bronaugh, The Misses 61 1 

Brooks, M. Sears 856 

Broomhall, Mrs. Addison F 402 

Brotherton, Alice Williams 811 

Brown, Abbie Farwell 859 

Brown, Elizabeth Carolyn Seymour. 473 

Brown, Corinne Stubbs 593 

Brown, Emma Elizabeth 859 

Brown, Jane 76 

Rt own, Kate Louise 859 

Brown, Martha McClellan 672 

Brown, Mary Buckman 120 

Brown, Nancy M 364 

Brown, Susan L 364 



PAGE 

Browne, Mary Frank 671 

Browne, Nina Elizabeth 719 

Browne, Mrs. Peter Arrell 618 

Bubier, Miss 696 

Buchanan, Anna Elizabeth 832 

Buchanan, Mrs. Roberdean 475 

Buchwalter, Mrs. Edward L 402 

Buckley, Lettie E. C 363 

Buckner, Mrs. Simon E 428 

Buell, Caroline 671 

Buell, Sarah (Mrs. David Hale).. 797 

Buford, Elizabeth 382 

Bugg, Lelia Hardin 833 

Bulkley, Elizabeth H 886 

Bull, Eliza 95 

Bull, Sarah C. Thorpe 671 

Bullard, Jennie Matthewson 365 

Bullock, Emma Westcott 618 

Bullock, Helen Louise 671 

Bunnell, Henrietta S. T 369 

Burdett, Clara Bradley 725 

Burke, E. Ellen 862 

Burlingame, Emeline S 671 

Burnell, Helen M 364 

Burnett, Cynthia S 672 

Burnett, Frances Hodgson 800 

Burns, Pricilla M 887 

Burr, Theodosia 251 

Burrows, Mrs. Julius 294 

Burrows, Mrs. Julius C 428 

Burrows, Mrs. J. C 396 

Burrs, Ann 30 

Burwell. Frances 195 

Burt, Mary Towne 673 

Bush, Katherine Jeannette 880 

Bushnell, Sophie Walker Hynd- 

shaw 457 

Butler, Behethland Foote 142 

Butler, Mrs. Benjamin 286 

Butler, Blanch 612 

Butler, Mrs. William 522 

Cabell, Mrs. William D 428 

Cabot, Ella Lyman 719 

Calahan, Mary A 304 

Caldwell, Anne 789 

Caldwell, Hannah 172 

Caldwell, Rachel 188 

Calkins, Mary W 793 

Call, Annie Payson 859 

Call, Libbie A 888 

Calm, Elizabeth 888 

Cameron, Mrs. Angus 429 

Campbell, Mary Louisa 888 

Canfield, S. A. Martha .^12 

Carey, Alice 810 



912 



Index 



PAGE 

Carey, Annie Louise 768 

Carey, Emma Forbes 833 

Carey, Phoebe 810 

Cardoza, Leah 631 

Carl, Katharine Augusta 758 

Carpenter, Mrs. Philip 403 

Carr, Florence M 886 

Carr, Mary L 353 

Carroll, Emma Ella 875 

Carroll, Suzanne Bancroft 618 

Carroll, Mrs 197 

Carroll, The Misses 611 

Carse, Matilda B 673 

Carson, Luella Clay 717 

Carter, Harriet 887 

Carter, Mary Gilmore 833 

Cartwright, Emily J 368 

Cartwright, Mrs. Robert 594 

Carty, Mother Praxedes (Susan 

Carty) ■ 618 

Carver, Katherine 31 

Cary, Mrs 196 

Casey, Margaret Elizabeth 619 

Cassin, The Misses 611 

Castleman, Virginia 382 

Catt, Carrie Lane Chapman 585 

Chamberlin, Miss 696 

Chanler, Margaret 54° 

Chanler, Mrs. William Astor 759 

Chapeau, Ellen 379 

Chapin, Clara Christiana 673 

Chapin, Sallie F 673 

Chapin, Sylvia 95 

Chapman, Elizabeth 361 

Chapman, Mrs. Wood-Allen 661 

Charles, Mrs 34^ 

Chase, Louise L 673 

Chenoweth, Caroline Van Dusen.. 843 

Child, Lvdia Maria 794 

Chilton, 'Annie H 886 

Chilton, Mary 34 

Chilton, Mrs 34 

Chippewa Indian Woman 303 

Churchill, Sarah 36 

Clares, The Three Poor 608 

Clark, Bell Vorse 365 

Clark, Mrs. Champ 289 

Clark. Charlotte 94 

Clark, Mrs 342-5" 

Clarke, Mrs. Arthur E 428 

Clarke, Mrs. A. Howard 428 

Clarke. Helen Archibald 830 

Clay. Elizabeth 123 

Clay. Mary Barr ? C Q 

Clayton, Anna IT 888 

Clendennin. Mrs 5 1 



PAGE 

Cleveland, Frances Folsom 277 

Cleveland, Rose Elizabeth 275 

Clews, Mrs. James Blanchard 619 

Clinton, Mrs. George 196 

Clopton, Virginia Carolina Clay . . . 381 

Cobb, Zoe Desloge 619 

Coburn, Eleanor Habawell Abbott.. 851 

Cochran, Nannie M 365 

Cochrane, Josephine G 888 

Cockrell, Mrs 431 

Cohen, Katherine 636 

Cohen, Matilda 635 

Cohen, Octavia 496 

Coit, Elizabeth 674 

Colby, Clara B 397 

Cole, Cordelia Throop 674 

Cole, Mrs. Helen Brainard 371 

Cole, Henrietta H 885 

Coleman, Alice Blanchard 517 

Coleman, Merriam 517 

Colfax, Harriet R 312 

Colgan, Eleanor 721 

Collins, Mrs. D. W 399 

Colman, Julia 671 

Colton, Ellen M 429 

Coman, Charlotte B 755 

Coman, Katherine 720 

Conkling, Julia Catherine 472 

Cook, Mary E 888 

Cooke, Grace McGowan 379-847 

Cooley, Emily M. J 674 

Cooley, Mrs. R. C 383 

Coolidge, Mary 847 

Cooper, Emma L 755 

Cooper, Humility 34 

Corbin, Caroline Elizabeth 833 

Corbin, Edythe Patten 619 

Corey, Martha 37 

Cornelius. Mary A 674 

Corning, Lucv A 886 

Corr, Mary Bernardine 721 

Coudert, Amalia Kussner 752 

Counts, Belle 368 

Cowan, Mrs. Andrew 696 

Cox, Lucy Ann 402 

Cozens, Lizzie C 888 

Craddock, Charles Egbert (Mary N. 

Murfee> 802 

Craig, Charity Rusk 349 

Cramer. Harriet L 533 

Cramsie. Mary Isabel 722 

Cranch. Mrs. Richard 131 

Crane, Caroline Bartlett 738 

Crane. Mary Helen Peck 674 

Cranmar. Emma A 675 



Index 



913 



. PAGE 

Critcher, Mrs. Eugene 399 

Crittenden, Mrs. John J 256 

Crittenden, Lucy 258 

Crockett, Mrs. Emma D 399 

Croly, Jennie Cunningham 401 

Cromwell, Mrs. E. S 397 

Cropper, Anna McLane 619 

Crosman, Mrs. J. Heron 457 

Crossan, Clarissa 368 

Crothers, Rachel 792 

Crowley, Mary Catherine 833 

Crowninshield, Mary Bradford 858 

Culbertson, Belle Caldwell 520 

Culver, Helen 532 

Cunningham, Amelia 383 

Cunningham, Mrs 51 

Curran, Mrs. John H 399 

Curry, Sadie 498 

Curtis, Georgina Pell 616-852 

Curtis, Martha E. Sewell 561 

Cushman, Charlotte 770 

Cutts, Adelaide 610 

Dada, Hattie 312 

Dahlgren, Madeleine Vinton 814 

Daff an, Katie 501 

Dandridge, Mrs. Danske 379 

Danforth, Ruth 369 

Daniels, Frances D 368 

Darrah, Lydia 154 

Davis, Clara 312 

Davis, Edith Smith 669 

Davis, Mrs. Jefferson 488 

Davis, Katherine Bement 538 

Davis, Mrs. M. E 469 

Davidson, Lucretia Maria 797 

Davenport, Frances G 865 

Day, Emma 515 

de Fonseca, Miriam Lopez 631 

De Graffenried, Mary Clare 853 

De Reimer, Emily True 476 

De Sales, Mother Mary (Wilhel- 

mina Tredow) 622 

de Torres, Sinha 631 

De Witt, Margaret 888 

Dean, Sara 395 

Deane, Margaret 834 

Dearborn, Mrs. J. H 309 

Decker, Sarah Piatt 420-718 

Deere, Mrs. Charles H 481 

Delafield, Elizabeth Hanenkamp . . . 461 

Delaney, Adelaide Margaret 834 

Deland, Mararetta Wade 859 

Delfino, Mrs. Laborio 696 

Demary, Julia Ann 437 

Denison, Elsa 604 

58 



PAGE 

Dennis, Mrs 51 

Desha, Mary 453 

Deslonde, Miss 610 

Devereux, Marie 428 

Devoe, Emma Smith 561 

Dewey, Mary Elizabeth 859 

Dewhirst, Susan Lucretia 664 

Dibrell, Mrs. Ella Dancy 502 

Dickerman, Julia Elida 765 

Dickins, Marguerite 473 

Dickinson, Anna Elizabeth 831 

Dickinson, Mary Lowe 713 

Dickson, Estelle 612 

Dickson, Josephine 612 

Dieffenbacker, Frances A 368 

Dillingham, Mrs. B. J 399 

Dillon, Hester A 377 

Dix, Beulah Marie 791 

Dix, Dorothea Lynde 523 

Dix, Miss 358 

Dodge, Grace 522 

Dodge, Mary Mapes 851 

Doe, Mary L 694 

Dole, Helen James 829 

Donner, Elizabeth 101 

Donner, Georgiana 101 

Donner, Mary 101 

Dopp, Katherine Elizabeth .... 718 

Doremus, Mrs. R. Ogden 464 

Doremus, Mrs. T. C 512 

Doremus, Mrs 793 

Dormitzer, Anna 887 

Dorsey, Ella Loraine 853 

Dorsey, E. M 613 

Dorsey, Sarah Ann 491 

Dosemus, Mrs. J. W 399 

Douglas, Alice May 857 

Douglas, Jennie 889 

Douglas, Lavantia Densmore 675 

Dow, Cornelia M 675 

Dowd, Mary Hickley 722 

Dowdell, Mrs. Andrew W 383 

Dowel!, Frances S 888 

Downing, Miss 51 t 

Downs, Mrs. George Sheldon (Mrs. 

Georgie Sheldon) 860 

Doyle, Agnes Catherine 834 

Doyle, Mrs. John H 480 

Doyle, Martha Claire 834 

Doyle, Teresa 610 

Drake, Pricilla Holmes 561 

Draper, Mrs. Amos G 469 

Draper, Mary 128 

Drexel, Mother Katherine 722 

DuBoise, Miriam Howard 561 

Dubois, Mrs 259 



914 



Index 



PAGE 

Dudley, Ann 35 

Dudley, Helena Stuart 593 

Dumas, Sarah J 365 

Duncan, Kate 611 

Dunham, Marion Howard 675 

Dunlevy, Mary 55 

Dunning, Mrs. Charles B 399 

Duvall, Mrs. and others 258 

Dye, Clarissa 362 

Earle, Mary Orr 472 

Early, Miss 613 

East, Mrs. Edward H 675 

Eastman, Elaine Goodale 858 

Eastman, Julia Arabella 843 

Eaton, Sarah 34 

Eccleston, Mrs. Sarah (Chamber- 
lain) 374 

Eddy, Mary Baker 701 

Eddy, Sara Hershey 769 

Eddy, Mrs 101 

Edgar, Constance 613 

Edgar, Mrs 196 

Edson, Sarah P 358 

Edwards, Mrs. Ninian 285 

Eldred, Maria 368 

Eliot, Ann 510 

Eliot, Mrs. Samuel 428 

Elkers, Bertha Kahn 651 

Elliott, Ann 142 

Elliott, Anna 204 

Elliott, Mrs. Barnard 204 

Elliott, Gertrude 777 

Elliott, Maxine 776 

Elliott, Melcenia 3 T 2 

Elliott, Sabina 204 

Elliott, Sabrina 131 

Elliott, Sarah Barnwell 380 

Elliott, Susannah 14° 

Ellis, Edith 791 

Ellis, Margaret Dve 666 

Ellison, Mrs. J. F 399 

Elmer, Emily 368 

Elmore, Lucie Ann Morrison 676 

Emig, Lelia Bromgold 663 

Emmet, Mrs. Thomas Addis 259 

Erving, Annie Pricilla (Cella 

Zerbe) 365 

Esmond, Rhoda Anna 676 

Esther, (Queen of Pamunkey) 18 

Etheridge, Emma 612 

Ewing, Elizabeth Wendell 369 

Ewing, Ellen 610 

Ewing, Mary Emilie , 834 

Evans, Martha 5 2 

Everhard, Caroline McCullough ... 560 



PAGE 

Eytinge, Pearl 636 

Eytinge, Rose 636 

Faestel, Annie L 888 

Fairbanks, Mrs. Chas. Warren .... 454 

Fairchild, Mrs 696 

Farham, Mary Frances 733 

Farmer, Fannie Merritt 860 

Farnham, Sallie James 760 

Farrar, Geraldine 766 

Fay, Lydia Mary 514 

Feasley, Maude (Mrs. Louis E. 

Sherwin) 780 

Fenn, Katy 888 

Fensham, Florence Amanda 718 

Fenwick, Sister Stanislaus 607 

Ferguson, Georgiana 888 

Fergusson, Elizabeth 179 

Fethers, Mrs. Ogden H 472 

Fidelis, Mother 615 

Fields, Annie Adams 860 

Field, Mrs. Stephen J 428 

Field, Mrs 203 

Fillmore, Abigail 247 

Fischer, Mother Antonina O. S. D.. 619 

Fischer, Therese R 887 

Fisher, Harriet White 900 

Fisher, Rebecca J' 96 

Fiske, Fidelia 513 

Fiske, Minnie Maddern 774 

Fleming, Lizzie B. 888 

Fletcher, Alice Cunningham 881 

Flintham, Lydia Sterling 834 

Florence, Mrs 635 

Floyds, The 612 

Ford, Harriet 792 

Ford, Mrs. John S 302 

Forest, Mistress 30 

Fosdick, Sarah 101 

Foster, Edna Abigail 860 

Foster, Mrs. John W 454 

Foster, J. Ellen Horton 748 

Foster, Mary F 396 

Foster, Sarah 101 

Forsyth, Mary Isabella 429 

Frank, Abigail 631 

Frank, Rebecca 632 

Franklin, Sarah 202 

Franks, Rebecca 202 

Fraser, Mary Crawford 835 

Fray, Ellen Sulley 561 

Frazier, Martha M 694 

Freeman, Florence 763 

Freeman. Mary E. Wilkins 804 

Frost, The Misses 611 



Index 



915 



PAGE 

Frye, Mrs. William P 429 

Fuller, Margaret (Marchioness D'- 

Ossoli) 812 

Fuller, Marie L 888 

Fuller, Mary 891 

Fuller, Mrs 31 

Gadsby, Mrs. James Eakin 478 

Gage, Frances D 313 

Gannett, Mary Chase 478 

Garden, Mary 779 

Gardner, Adaline 498 

Gardner, Anna 313 

Gardner, Bertha 498 

Gardner, Emily 342 

Gardner, Mary Fryer 366 

Garfield, Eliza 274 

Garfield, Lucretia Rudolph 272 

Garies, Fannie M 887 

Garrett, Eliza 540 

Gaston, Margaret 149 

Gaston, The Misses 611 

Gates, E. N 887 

Gates, Fannie A 887 

Geer, Augusta Danforth 460 

Geiger, Emily 175 

George, Mrs. E. E 312 

Georgetown Convent, Founding of 

the 615 

Gerberding, Elizabeth 599 

Gesterfeld, Ursula Newell 855 

Ghuhac, Beryl 696 

Gibbes, Sarah Reeve 169 

Gibbons, Mrs. A. H 312 

Gibbons, Marie Raymond 478 

Gibbons, S. H 312 

Gilder, Jeannette Leonard 867 

Gildersleeve, Virginia C 732 

Gilman, Mary C 355 

Gilpin, Mrs. Henry D 287 

Gilson, Helen L 331 

Gillespie, Eliza Maria 724 

Gillett, The Sisters 894 

Gilman, Charlotte Perkins 873 

Gilman, Mary L 533 

Gilman, Mary Rebecca Foster 850 

Gilmore, Florence Magruder 534 

Glasgow, Ellen 379 

Glasgoy, Ellen Anderson G 807 

Glass, Mrs 52 

Goessmann, Helena Theresa Fran- 

cesca 730 

Goff, Harriet Newell Kneeland 676 

Goldthwaite, Miss 6q6 

Golterman, Ada V 886 

Good, Mrs. G. Browne 428 



/- r> PAGE 

Good, Sarah 37 

Goodell, Mary 612 

Goodloe, Abbie Carter 379 

Goodloe, Mrs. Green Clay 429 

Goodspeed, Albina E 887 

Goodspeed, J. Edison 887 

Gordon, Anna Adams, 658 

Gordon, Elizabeth P 694 

Goring, Maria W 368 

Gougar, Helen M 583 

Gould, Elizabeth Lincoln 860 

Gould, Helen Miller 537 

Graham, Sister Bernard 614 

Granger, Euphrasia Smith 437 

Grant, Julia Dent 267 

Grant, Mrs 501 

Gratz, Rebecca 647 

Graves, Elizabeth 101 

Graves, Ellen 101 

Graves, Mary 101 

Graves, Nancy 101 

Graves, Viney 101 

Gray, Jennie T 677 

Greble, Mrs. Edward 312 

Greeley, Mrs. A. W 428 

Green, Frances Ninno 382 

Greene, Cathrine 112 

Greene, Maria Louise 841 

Greene, Ruhama 60 

Greene, Sarah Pratt 850 

Greene, Mrs 202 

Greenleaf, Jean Brooks 556 

Greenwood, Elizabeth W 677 

Grenfell, Mrs. Wilfred 522 

Grew, Mary 555 

Grey, Mrs 511 

Gridley, Anna Eliza 370 

Griffin, Etta Josselyn 098 

Griffin, Josephine 314 

Griffin, Mrs 511 

Griffith. Eva Kinney 677 

Gross, Myra Geraldine 382 

Gross, Sarah B 368 

Grouitch, Mme. Slavko 542 

Guerrier, Edith 860 

Hadder, Mrs 696 

Hadley, Piety Lucretia 101 

Hagan, Mrs. Hugh 428 

Hahn, Anna 368 

Haines, Helen 835 

Haines, Sarah Piatt 519 

Hale, Mrs. E. J 399 

Hale, Susan 754 

Hall, Adelaide S 858 

Hall, Mrs. Herman J 411 



gi6 



Index 



PAGE 

Hall, Maria M. C 312 

Hall, Mary E 888 

Hall, Susan A 312 

Halvey, Margaret Mary Brophy.... 862 

Hamilton, Margaret 362 

Hamilton, Stella M 620 

Hamilton, Mrs 195 

Hamlin, Mrs. Teunis S 476 

Hammer, Anna Maria Nichols .... 678 

Hammond, Mrs. John Hays 289 

Hampton, Emma Stark 348 

Hancock, Cornelia 366 

Hancock, Dorothy 123 

Hancock, Mrs. John 201 

Hanna, Mrs. Marcus A 429 

Harby, Miss 636 

Hardey, Mary 625 

Hardin, Julia Carlin 620 

Harland, Marion 381 

Harrell, Sarah Carmichael 678 

Harriman, Mary Averill 893 

Harrington, A. B 886 

Harrington, Cornelia 368 

Harris, Belle C 356 

Harris, Mrs. John 3 T i 

Harris, Mary M 887 

Harrison, Anna Symmes 238 

Harrison, Mrs. Burton 801 

Harrison, Caroline Scott 279-430 

Harrison, Edith Ogden 835 

Harrison, Mother Angela 614 

Hart, Louisa B 635 

Hart, Rebecca C. 1 635 

Hart, Susan 204 

Hartt, Mary Bronson 860 

Harvey, Cordelia A. P 312 

Harvey, Jennie D 887 

Harvey, Maud Clark 664 

Harvey, The Misses 203 

Hatch, Mabel 890 

Hatcher, Georgia H. Stockton 468 

Haugherty, Margaret 3°3 

Hawes, Mrs. C. H 882 

Hawes. Dell M 886 

Hawlcy. Harriet Foote 312 

Hayden, Mary F 368 

Hayes, Ellen 720 

Hayes, Lucy Webb 269 

Hayes, Margaret 334 

Hays, Esther Etting 633 

Hays, Mrs. Moses Michael 633 

Hazard, Caroline 7*5 

Hazard, Rebecca N 556 

Hazen, Fanny Titus 362 

Heald, Rebecca 85 

Hearst, Phoebe Apperson 53° 



PAGE 

Hearst, Mrs 697 

Heck, Barbara 509 

Hekking, Avis 764 

Hemenway, Mary Tileston 525 

Hemsteger, Ida M 887 

Henderson, Lizzie 383 

Henrotin, Ella Martin 532 

Henry, Josephine Kirby Williamson 557 

Henry, Kate Kearney 429 

Henry, Mrs. William Wirt 428 

Hertz, Laura B 594 

Hetzel, Susan Riviere 429 

Hibbard, Julia A 366 

Hichborn, Jennie Franklin 474 

Higbie, Frances 887 

Hill, Agnes Leonard 828 

Hill, Eliza Trask 556 

Hill, Iley Lawson 436 

Hill, Dr. Nancy M 334 

Hills, Mrs 261 

Hines, Rev. Mother Mary Agnes... 722 

Hirsch, Maria R. 888 

Hitchcock, Mary Antonette 678 

Hitt, Agnes 351 

Hobbes, John Oliver (Mrs. Craigie) 805 
Hodgin, Emily Caroline Chandler. . 678 

Hoffman, Clara Cleghorn 094 

Hoge, Mrs. A\ H 336 

Hogg, Mrs. N. B 428 

Hoisington, Lauretta H 369 

Holley, Marietta 873 

Holmes, Jennie Florella 679 

Holmes, Jessie 312 

Holmes, Mary Emma 557 

Holstein, Mrs. Wm. H 312 

Holt, Edith 696 

Homans, Amy Morris 720 

Homer, Mrs. Francis T 620 

Honore, Bertha 612 

Honore, Ida 612 

Hooker, Isabella Beecher 573 

Hooper, Rebecca E 888 

Hooper, Rebecca Lane 79 1 

Hoopes, Mrs. Abner 429 

Hopkins, Mrs. Archibald 59& 

Hopkins, Constance (or Constantia) 33 

Hopkins, Damaris 33 

Hopkins, Elizabeth 33 

Hopkins. Pauline Bradford Mackie 807 

Home, Mrs. William Henry 75. 5 

Horton, Mrs. John Miller 481 

Hosmer, Harriet G 761 

Housh, Esther T 670 

Housman, Mrs. E. A 398 

Houston, Mrs 196 

Howard, Eleanor W 429 



Index 



9 l 7. 



PAGE 

Howe, Julia Ward 798 

Howe, Rena M 886 

Howell, Mary Seymour 557 

Hoxie, Vinnie Ream 761 

Hubbard, Mrs. Adolphus S 428 

Hubbard, Mary 36 

Hugg, Mrs 342 

Hughes, Jennie V 522 

Hull, Mrs. J. A. T 428 

Hull, Sarah 120 

Humphreys, Sarah Gibson 557 

Hunt, Elizabeth P 369 

Hunt, Louise Frances 620 

Hunt, Mary H 679 

Hunter, Mrs. J. W 399 

Hunter, Mrs M. A 544 

Huntley, Amelia Elmore 519 

Huntley, Florence 855 

Huntington, Mrs. E. M 261 

Hurll, Estelle May 843 

Husband, Mary Morris 312 

Hutchinson, Anne 37 

Hyde, Mrs. George Merriam 620 

Hyneman, Rebekah 636 

Ilgen, Susana 887 

Iliohan, Henrica f 680 

Ingalls, Constance 613 

Ingalls, Eliza B 694 

Ingalls, Ethel 613 

Ingalls, Murilla Baker 516 

Ingle, Nancy May 888 

Ingram, Helen K 888 

Innis, Anna 75 

Irene, Mother (Lucy M. T. Gill).. 723 

Irvincr, Katie 611 

Isaacs, Augusta R 887 

Isaacs, Sarah 632 

Ives, Alice 790 

Izard, Alice 176 

Jackson, Fannie 366 

Jackson, Helen Hunt 809 

Jackson, Lillie Irene 301 

Jackson, Mary Anna 382 

Jackson, Rachel 234 

Jacobi, Mary Putman 741 

James, Alice Archer Sewall 811 

James, Annie Laurie Wilson 863 

Jamieson, Mrs. J. Stewart 474 

Janes, Martha Waldron 736 

Jay, Mrs 195 

Jayne, Alice M 886 

Jefferis, Marea Wood 820 

Tefferson, Martha Wayles 217 

Jehu. Margaret E 887 



PAGE 

Jenkins, Therese A 557 

Jewett, Mrs. John N 429 

Jewett, Martha P 886 

Jewett, Sarah Orne 801 

Jeykell, Mrs 195 

Joachimsen, Pricilla 635 

Jobes, Mrs. Mary Adelaide 375 

Johns, Laura M 557 

Johnson, Ada 369 

Johnson, Lady Arabella 35 

Johnson, Electa Amanda 539 

Johnson, Eliza McCradle 265 

Johnson, E. Pauline 826 

Johnson, Lucy 883 

Johnson, Lydia S 366 

Johnson, Mary Hannah 382 

Johnson, Mary Katharine 461 

Johnson, Miss 511 

Johnston, Frances Benjamin 788 

Johnston, Harriet Lane 610 

Johnston, Maria I. . . .' 819 

Johnston, Mary 807 

Johnston, Mary Yellott 69 

Johnston, Sarah R 312 

Jones, Calista Robinson 353 

Jones, Cora L 888 

Jones, Elizabeth Dickson, 529 

Jones, Harriet B 742 

Jones, Irma Theoda 539 

Jones, Mrs. Judge 495 

Jones, Kate E 355 

Jones, Mary C 736 

Jones, Minona Stearns Fitts 411 

Jordan, Cornelia Jane Matthews . . . 819 

Jordan, Elizabeth 835 

Jordan, Kate 793 

Joyce, Eliza Le Brun Miller 620 

Judson, Anne H 507 

Juggins, Elizabeth 51 

Kahn, Ruth Ward 820 

Kaiser, Lucy L 366 

Karnes, Matilda Theresa 723 

Keating, Sister Joseph 614 

Keim, Adelaide 772 

Keim, Mrs. DeB. Randolph 398 

Keim, Jane Sunner Owen 433 

Keister, Lillie Resler 521 

Keith, Mrs. Richard H 534 

Keller, Helen Adams 699 

Kellogg. Clara Louise 767 

Kelly, Ella Maynard 901 

Kelly, Margaret V. 901 

Kendrick, Mary $2 

Kendricks, Ella Baernell 680 

Kennedy, Sarah Beaumont 380 



9i8 



Index 



PAGE 

Kenton, Elizabeth 82 

Kepley, Ada Miser 681 

Kerfoot, Annie Warfield Lawrence 467 

Kidd, Lucy Ann 731 

Kies, Mary 883 

Kiesburg, Mrs 101 

Kimball, Corinne 780 

Kimball, Grace 780 

Kimball, Helen L. McLean 889 

Kimball, Kate Fisher 855 

King, Grace Elizabeth 380-817 

King, Julia Rive 764 

King, Sister Mary Lorelto 614 

King, Virginia Anne 383 

Kingsbury, Emeline D. (Tenney) . . 367 

Kinkead, Eleanor Talbot 380 

Kinkead, Elizabeth 380 

Kinkead, Elizabeth Shelby 786 

Kinne, Elizabeth D'Arcy 348 

Kinney, Clara A 886 

Kinney, Narcissa Edith White 681 

Kirk, Dolly Williams 379 

Kirk, Ellen Olney 827 

Kirkland, Caroline C 890 

Kirkland, Jerusha Bingham 5 T 6 

Knight, Margaret E 886 

Knott, Mrs. A. Lee 455 

Knowles, Ella 746 

Knowles, Mrs. Joseph H 522 

Knox, Adeline Trafton 827 

Knox, Janette Hill 681 

Knox, Myra 611 

Knox, Mrs 201 

Kollock, Florence E 737 

Kripps, Nancy 363 

Kronold, Mme. Selma 767 

Krout, Caroline Virginia 828 

Krout, Mary Hannah 828 

Kumler, Mrs. Charles H 403 

Lacey, Mary E. Roby 360 

La Fetra, Sarah Doan 661 

La Follette, Belle Case 290 

Lafon, Mary 399 

Lalor, Alice 605 

Lamar, Mirabean B 101 

Lamb, Martha Joanna 812 

Lamson. Lucy Stedman 904 

Lane, Harriet 249 

Lane, Lizzie 887 

Lancaster, Anna Randall 613 

Lancaster, Susie 613 

Lang, Margaret Ruthven 770 

Langworthy, Elizabeth 410 

Larcom, Lucy 820 

Lathrop, Clarissa Cladwell 598 



PAGE 

Lathrop, Mary Torans 681 

Latimer, Elizabeth Wormeley .... 817 

Lawrence, Charlotte Louise 459 

Laurence, Mrs. Elmer G 398 

Lautz, Katherine Bardol 534 

Law, Sallie Chapman (Gordon) ... 490 

Lawless, Margaret H. Wynne 836 

Lawton, Elizabeth Tillinghast 292 

Lazarus, Emma 852 

Leader, Oliver Moorman 682 

Leary, Anne 620 

Leavitt, Miss Adelia 375 

Leavitt, Mary Clement 682 

Le Brun, Adele 621 

Lee, Ann 509 

Lee, Jennette 843 

Lee, Mary W 312 

Leese, Mary Elizabeth 292 

Leggett, Mary Lydia 737 

Lemmon, Sarah A. (Plummer) .... 367 

Leocadia, Sister Loyola 615 

Leonard, Anna Byford 596 

Leonard, Cynthia H. Van Name . . 527 

Leonard, Mary Finley 379 

Leonard, Mrs. Willard A 901 

Le Plongeon, Alice D 877 

Leslie, Mrs. Frank 873 

Lester, Mame 887 

Levy, Mrs. Aaron 634 

Levy, Hannah 634 

Levy, Kate 642 

Lewis, Graciana 877 

Lewis, Ida 291 

Lewis, Mary 36 

Lewis, Mrs. Ransom 495 

Lincoln, Jennie Gould 854 

Lincoln, Mary Johnson Bailey 830 

Lincoln, Mary Todd 263 

Lincoln, Mrs. M. D 397 

Lindsay, Mrs. Lilah D 399 

Linton, Laura A 878 

Lippincott, C. H 898 

Lippincott, Sarah Jane 841 

Lippincott, Mrs. (Grace Green- 
wood ) 397 

Litchfield, Marv Elizabeth 71Q 

Littell, Oriella 1 888 

Little. Sarah F. Coles 728 

Littlejohn, Mrs 511 

Livermore, Mary A 59* 

Livermore, Mary Ashton Rice .... 325 

Livingston, Mrs. Robert R 196 

Livingston, Susan 12T 

Livingston, The Misses 106 

Lockwood, Belva Ann 397-?83 

Lockwood, Mary Smith 854 



Index 



919 



PAGE 

Lockwood, Mary S 395-477 

Logan, Celia 824 

Logan, Olive 396 

Logan, Sallie 303 

Longman, Evelyn 759 

Longshore, Hannah E 739 

Loomis, Mary A 334 

Lopez, Miss 631 

Lord, Eleanor Louise 727 

Lord, Elizabeth W. Russell 731 

Lord, Mildred M 888 

Lothrop, Harriet M 824 

Loud, Hulda Barker 874-875 

Louiza, Rachel 631 

Lowden, Florence Pullman 301 

Lowell, Miss Susan R 375 

Lowman, Mary D 898 

Lozier, Jennie de la Montagnie . . . 739 

Lucas, Eliza 106 

Lucas, Nancy and daughters 611 

Lukens, Anne 740 

Lummis, Dorothea 741 

Lummis, Eliza O'Brien 836 

Lupton, Mary Josephine 836 

Lutke, Mrs. Robert 399 

Lybrand, Frances R 891 

Lynch, Mrs 196 

Lynde, Mary Elizabeth Blanchard 544 

Lyon, Mary 511-708 

Lyth, Mrs. R. B 513 

McAllister, Louise Ward 428 

McCabe, Harriett Calista Clark... 682 

McCabe, Lida Rose 730 

McCabe, Margaret 621 

McCa'^iey, Katharine Searle 43 1 

McChesney, Norma Gertrude 837 

McClanahan, Anna 522 

McClellan, Mrs. Robert A 479 

McComb, Mrs 196 

McCrakin, Josephine 844 

McCully, Emma A 891 

McCutcheon, Mrs 99 

McDermott, Ida L 887 

McDermott. Mrs 605 

McElroy, Mary Arthur 274 

McFadden, Margaret B 534 

McFadyen, Agnes 887 

McGee, Anita Newcomb 429 

McGill, Sarah 534 

McGowan, Alice 847 

McGowan, Elizabeth Blaney 723 

McHenry, Mary Sears 349 

McKav. Charlotte E 312 

McKinney, Annie Booth 383 

McKinley, Ida Saxton 281 



PAGE 

McKinney, Mrs. Jane Amy 557 

McKinney, Kate Slaughter 379 

McKissick, Margaret Smyth 595 

McLain, Miss 010 

McLaughlin, Marchioness Sara 621 

McLaughlin, Mary L 886 

McLaws, Lafayette 379 

McLean, Mrs. Donald 438 

McLean, Mrs. Louis 254 

McMahan, Mother Eutropia 621 

McMahon, Ella 837 

McManes, Mrs. James 697 

McMeens, Anna C 312 

McMillan, Mrs. James 428 

McMillan, Mary 93 

McNeir, Mrs 342 

McPhail, Minnie 887 

McShane, Agnes 535 

McSherry, Virginia Faulkner 499 

McVeigh, Columbia 891 

MacComber, Mary L 758 

MacDonald, Mrs. Marshall 428 

Mace, Frances Lawton 825 

Mack, Margaret A 888 

Mackin, Countess Sarah Maria 

(Aloisa Spottiswood) 836 

Mackubin, Florence 754 

Madison, Dolly 221 

Maertz, Louisa 312 

Magdalene, Sister Mary (Sarah 

O. Cox) 837 

Maguire, Mary 611 

Mahoney, Caroline Smith 379 

Maid, Mrs. Carver's 31 

Maidhof, Marguerite 887 

Main, Charlotte Emerson 462-697 

Maish, Jennie (Gauslin) 367 

Mallory, Lucy A 874-875 

Mallory, The Misses 611 

Malloy, Marie Louise 8q8 

Manning, Charlotte R 888 

Manning, Jessie Wilson 670 

Manning, Mary Margaret Fryer . . . 471 

Mannix, Mary E 837 

Mannon, Mary L 367 

Mansfield, Bell A 740 

Marble, Annie Russell 844 

Marble, Callie Bonnev 825 

Marble, Mrs. E. M. S w 

Marcoux, Alida M 888 

Marlowe, Julia 778 

Marot, Helen 600 

Marsh, Susan Ellen 370 

Marshall, Mrs. George W 3QQ 

Marshall, Sister Margaret 607 



920 



Index 



PAGE 

Martin, Elizabeth 156 

Martin, Elizabeth Gilbert 837 

Martin, Mrs. George Madden 379 

Martin, Gertrude S 725 

Martin, Grace 157 

Martin, Rachel 157 

Martin, Sarah J 352 

Martin, Susan 37 

Martin, Mrs 31 

Martin, Mrs 300 

Mary, Sister 607 

Mason, Amelia Gere 855 

Mason, Emily 260 

Mason, Emily Virginia 380 

Mather, Margaret 777 

Mather, Sarah Ann 545 

Mathews, Julia B 886 

Matthews, Frances Aymar 793 

Matthews, Mother Juliana 614 

Maxfield, Mary B 367 

Maxon, Hannah U 361 

Maxwell, Mrs. Lawrence 402 

Maynard, Cora 793 

Mayo, Margaret 789 

Meade, Minnie 611 

Meagher, Katherine Kelly 535 

Meagher, Sister Josephine O. S. D. 621 

Mechtold, Mary Rider 791 

Mee, Cassie Ward 903 

Meech, Jeannette Du Bois 905 

Melton, Mrs. Joanna 366 

Melville, Velma Caldwell 825 

Mendes, Esther Pereira 631 

Mendes, Grace P 651 

Mercedes, Mary Antonio Gallagher 837 

Meriwether, Lide 694 

Merrick, Caroline Elizabeth 682 

Merrick, Mary Virginia 535 

Merrick, Mrs 256 

Merriman, Helen Bigelow 848 

Merritt, Anna Lee 756 

Meyer, Annie Nathan 649 

Michaels, Hannah 631 

Miles, Emma Bell 379 

Miliken, Mrs. D. A 544 

Miller, Adaline 367 

Miller, Mrs. A. Barton 308 

Miller, Addie Dickman 683 

Miller, Annie Jenness 845 

Miller, Dora Richards 825 

Miller, Emily Huntington 871 

Miller, Flo Jamison 342 

Miller, Louise Klein 716 

Miller, Olive Thome 847 

Miller, Maria 367 

Miller, Mary E 747 



PASS 

Mills, Susan Carrie 366 

Mills, Susan Lincoln 724 

Milton, Joanna 367 

Minis, Judy and daughter 632 

Mink, Sarah C 350 

Minot, Fanny E 354 

Mins, Sue Harper 705 

Minter, Desire 31 

Minter, Edith Dowe 830 

Misch, Mrs. Caesar 650 

Mitchell, Ellen E 312 

Mitchell, Maria 876 

Mitchell, Martha Reed 526 

Moise, Penina 636 

Moises family 635 

Molloy, Mary Aloysia 838 

Monroe, Harriet 612 

Monroe, Harriet Stone 841 

Montgomery, Darrie Frances Judd 520 

Montgomery, Helen Barrett 522 

Montgomery, Mrs 195 

Montague, Margaret Prescott 379 

Montholon, Albina 611 

Moore, Aubertine Woodward .... 864 

Moore, Clara Jessup 826 

Moore, Ella Maude 858 

Moore, Idora M. Plowman 827 

Moore, Kate 104 

Moore, Mary 50 

Moore, Mrs. Phillip N 401 

Moore, Sarah 863 

Moody, Helen Waterson 829 

Mooris, Ellen Douglas 683 

Moots, Cornelia Moore Chillson . . . 683 

Mordecai, Rose 650 

More, Ellen 32 

Morgan, Agnes 791 

Morgan, Anne Eugenia Felicia .... 728 

Morgan, Henrietta Hunt 69 

Morgan, Sarah Berrien Casey 432 

Morgan, Mrs. Wm 51 

Morley, Margaret Warner 382 

Morison, Rebecca Newell 621 

Morris, Clara 779 

Morris, Matilda 367 

Morris, Mrs 196 

Morrison, Adele 612 

Morse, Alice Cordelia 751 

Morton, Eliza Happy 857 

Morton, Jane M 367 

Morton, Martha 70O 

Mosher, Edith R 866 

Moseley, Mrs 96 

Mott, Lucretia 5QO 

Mott, Mollie C 367 

Motte, Rebecca 139 



Index 



921 



, PAGE 

Moulton, Louise Chandler 840 

Moulton, Mattie B 342 

Mowat, Vivian A 907 

Mullens, Alice 33 

Mullens, Priscilla 33 

Mulliner, Gabrielle 593 

Munger, Mrs 511 

Munroe, Elizabeth 227 

Munsell, Jane R 312 

Murdoch, Marian 738 

Murf ree, Mary 379 

Murphy, Mary 101 

Mussey, Ellen Spencer 479-749 

Nash, Mary McKinley 47* 

Nash, Clara Holmes Hapgood 744 

Nason, Emma Huntington 866 

Navarro, Mary Anderson 781 

Nave, Anne Eliza Seamans 531 

Neale, Sister Aloysia 607 

Neale, Sister Magdalene 607 

Nealis, Jean Elizabeth Ursula 838 

Neblett, Ann Viola 694 

Neisser, Emma R 696 

Nellis, Samantha Stanton 437 

Nevada, Emma Wixon 766 

Nevins, Georgia Marquis 547 

Newcomer, Miss 612 

Newell, Mrs. F. H 398 

Newell, Harriet 508 

Newman, Angela F 5 21 

Newman, Mrs. Laura A. (Mount) 371 

Newton, Mary 433 

Ney, Elizabeth 763 

Nicholas, Josephine Ralston 684 

Nicholls, Rhoda Carleton Marian 

Holmes 754 

Nichols, Elizabeth B 335 

Nichols, Minerva Parker 786 

Nicholson, Eliza J 872 

Nicholson, Miss 611 

Niehaus, Regina Armstrong 819 

Nielsen. Alice 783 

Noble, Edna Chaffee 728 

Noble, Esther Frothingham 465 

Noble, Harriet L 96 

Noble, Dr. Mary Riggs 522 

Nobles, Catherine 4 1 r 

Nordica. Lillian 766 

North, Mary M 309-308 

Norton, Minerva Brace 732 

Nonrse, Elizabeth 75^ 

Noyes, Mrs. LaVerne 475 

Nurse, Rebecca 37 



PAGE 

O'Brien, Margaret 621 

O'Donnell, Martha B 684 

O'Donnell, Nellie 726 

O'Flanagan, Betty 95 

O'Mahoney, Katherine A 838 

O'Malley, Sallie Margaret 838 

O'Neil, Mrs. Charles 429 

O'Reilly, Gertrude 750 

O'Reilly, Mary Boyle 839 

Oakley, Violet 755 

Oberholtzer, Sara Louisa Vickers . . 828 

Ohl, Maud Andrews 866 

Oleson, Mrs. Rebecca (Lemmon) . . 372 

Oliver, Grace Atkinson 818 

Olmsted, Elizabeth Martha 818 

Ormsby, Mary Frost 819 

Orr, Ora 886 

Orric, Mary Semmes 622 

Osborne, Mrs. Frank Stuart 428 

Osborne, Sarah 37 

Osburn. Mary 670 

Otis, Mrs. Harrison Gray 284 

Otis, Rebecca 372 

Ould, Miss 613 

Ouseley, Lady William Gore 256 

Owen, Mary Alicia 868 

Pacheco, Judith 631 

Page, Lucy Gaston 412 

Paine, Harriet Eliza 850 

Palmer, Anna Campbell 828 

Palmer, Mrs. A. M 594 

Palmer, Bertha Honore 291 

Palmer, Fannie Purdy 829 

Palmer, Hannah Borden 684 

Palmer, Hannah L 363 

Palmiter, Phoebe M. W 437 

Palms, Marie Martin 622 

Pamunkey, Queen of 18 

Papin, Mrs. Theophile Emily Car- 

lin 622 

Parish, Lidia G 312 

Paris. Mrs. (Tituba) 36 

Parker, Alice 745 

Parker, Helen Almina 727 

Parker, Lottie Blair 790 

Parkhurst, Emilv Tracev Y. Sweet 872 

Parks, Anna M." ." 888 

Parlin. Lucy 438 

Parsons, Emilv E 312 

Patterson, Flora W 8t<* 

Patterson, Mrs. Lindsav 480 

Patterson, Mrs. Marshall H 399 

Patterson. Mrs. Sarepta C. 

(McNall) 372 



922 



Index 



PAGE 

Pattern, Abby Hutchinson 868 

Pay, Ellen 342 

Peabody, Elizabeth l8l 

Peabody, Elizabeth Palmer 286-730 

Peabody, Josephine Preston 791 

Peabody, Lucy Evelyn 879 

Peake, Mary S 3*3 

Pealer, Ruth M. Griswold 435 

Pearce, Sister Eulalia 614 

Peck, Annie Smith 880 

Peel, Mrs. Lawson, 383 

Peeler, Mrs 397 

Peeples, Sarah E 886 

Pendleton, Ellen Fitz 733 

Pennock, Miss Caroline C 891 

Pennybacker, Mrs. Percy V 501 

Perkins, Sarah Mariah Clinton 694 

Pesoa, Miss 635 

Peterson, Miss 104 

Pettus, Maria 379 

Pfohl, Katherine Laughlin 622 

Pharr, Sallie S 888 

Phelps, Almira Lincoln 796 

Phelps, Mrs. John S 312 

Phelps, Pauline 792 

Phillips, Ellen 63S 

Phillips, Emaline 370 

Phipps, Lady 37 

Piatt, Sarah Morgan Bryan 840 

Pickens, Lucy Holcomb 103 

Pickett, La Salle Corbell 845 

Pier, Caroline Hamilton 745 

Pier, Harriet Hamilton 745 

Pier, Kate 745 

Pier, Kate Hamilton 745 

Pierce, Elizabeth F 410 

Pierce. Jane Means Appleton 248 

Pike, Harriet 101 

Pike, Miriam 101 

Pike, Mrs 101 

Pitcher. Molly 162 

Pitkin, Louisa Rochester 432 

Planten, July 886 

Plimpton Hannah R 356 

Plumb, Mrs. L. H 899 

Plunkett, Harriette M 002 

Pocahontas r 9 

Polak, Jessamine 767 

Polk, Sarah Childress 242 

Pollard. Mrs. Carrie (Wilkins) ...."372 

Pollock, Louise 7*2 

Pollock. Mrs. Marv P> 372 

Pomerov. Genie Clark 826 

Pond, Nellie Brown 746 

Poole. Fannie Huntincton Runnells 848 
Pope, Cora Scott Pond 540 



PAGE 

Pope, Mrs. Henry Lewis 470 

Poppenheim, Mary B 384 

Poree, Caroline E 296 

Porter, Charlotte 830 

Porter, Delia Lyman 841 

Porter, Eliza C 311 

Porter, Florence Collins 685 

Portundo, Josephine B. Thomas . . . 821 

Post, Amalia Barney Simons 588 

Potter, Margaret Horton 861 

Potts, Anna M. Longshore 742 

Poulsson, Ann Emelie 850 

Powell, Mrs 197 

Powers, Lucy Gaylord 314 

Prang, Mary Dana Hicks 719 

Pratt, Mrs. Malinda A 372 

Preston, Ann 742 

Preston, Margaret Junkin 811 

Preston, Margaret Wickliffe 69 

Price, Rebecca L 370 

Pringle, Mary (Mary Breckel) ... 333 

Pritchard, Esther Tuttle 737 

Prosser, Anna Weed 738 

Provost, Mrs 196 

Pruit, Willie Franklin 544 

Pryor, Mrs. Roger A 434 

Pryor, Sarah 377 

Pugh, Esther 685 

Pulitzer, Mrs. Joseph 642 

Pullman, Mrs. George Mi 303 

Putnam, Ann 36 

Putnam, Mrs. Charles E 428 

Putnam, Mrs. John Risley 428 

Putnam, Mary Steiner 461 

Pyle, Alice A 888 

Pyle, Katherine 842 

Quimby, Harriet 30 1 

Quinton, Amelia Stone 407 

Rambaut, Mary L. Bonney 711 

Ramsay, Lula 685 

Ramsay, Marion 610 

Ransford, Nettie 408 

Rathbun. Mary Jane 878 

Rathnell, Mrs. Maria L 372 

Rauh, Bertha 650 

Read. Carrie R 355 

Read, Lizzie B 558 

Reading:. Mrs. Sarah M 372 

Reed, Caroline Keating 765 

Reed, Elizabeth Armstrong 861 

Reed, Esther 105 

Reed, Pattie ior 

Reed, Virginia 101 

Reed. Mrs 101 



Index 



923 



PACE 

Reel, Estelle 726 

Rees, Mrs. Thomas M 399 

Reese, Mary Bryon 685 

Regan, Mrs. John 102 

Rehan, Ada C 782 

Reinheimer, Sarah A 886 

Reno, Itti Kinney 872 

Repplier, Agnes 864 

Rice, Alice Hegan 379 

Rice, Mrs. Isaac L 602 

Rich, Helen Hinsdale 868 

Richards, Ellen Henrietta 880 

Richards, Janet Elizabeth 784 

Richards, Laura Elizabeth 857 

Richards, Mrs. Maria M. C 371 

Richards, Mary 535 

Richardson, Dorcas 177 

Richardson, Ellen A 848 

Richardson, Harriet 878 

Richardson, Hester Dorsey 718-872 

Richardson, Mrs. Mary A 370 

Richardson, Sarah 75 

Ricker, Marrilla M 559 

Ricketts, Fanny L 312 

Rigdale, Mrs 31 

Rigden, Catherine Ann 608 

Riggs, Anna Rankin 686 

Rinehart, Mary Roberts 792 

Ripley, Martha George 744 

Ripley, Mary A 817 

Rishel, Mary Anne 437 

Risley, Alice Cary 370 

Ritchie, Mrs. John 463 

Rittenhouse, Laura Jacinta 694 

Rives, Amelie (Princess Troubet- 

skoy) 379-8i6 

Rivington, Mrs 203 

Roach, Abby Mequire 379 

Robbins, Margaret Dreier 593 

Robertson, Charlotte 75 

Robins, Julia Gorham 731 

Robinson, Abbie C. B 871 

Robinson, Amv F 887 

Robinson, Fannie Ruth 871 

Robinson, Harriet Hanson 842 

Robinson, Helen A 887 

Robson, Mrs. J. J 390 

Roby, Ida Hall 898 

Roby. Leila P 375 

Roebling, Emily Warren 297 

Rogers, Emma Winner 817 

Rogers, The Misses 611 

Rohlfs, Anna Katherine Greene.... 803 

Roosevelt, Edith Kermit Carow 282 

Rose, Ellen Alida 897 

Rose, Laura Martin 500 



PAGE 

Rose, Martha Parmelee 559-595 

Rosenberry, Mollie R. Macgill 501 

Ross, Anna Maria 312 

Ross, Letitia Dovvdell 497 

Ross, Miss 197 

Roulet, Mary F. Nixon 821 

Roupell, Mary 203 

Rouse, Rebecca 60 

Routt, Eliza Franklin 302 

Rowland, Kate Mason 380 

Rucker, Irene 613 

Rude, Ellen Sargent 818 

Ruffin, Margaret Ellen Henry 821 

Rullann, Maria 314 

Rumsey, Mary Ann 95 

Runkle, Bertha 808 

Runyan, Mrs. P. S 342 

Rush, Mrs. James 283 

Rusk, Mrs. Thomas J 102 

Russell, Elizabeth Ann 437 

Russell, Elizabeth Augusta 370 

Russell, Mrs. E. J 312 

Rutherford, Mildred Lewis 380 

Ryan, Mrs. Thomas F 536 

Ryland, Cally 380 

Sabin, Florence Rena 382-729 

Sacajawea 20 

Sackett, Mrs. Emma A 372 

Safford, Mary J 312 

Safford, Mary Joanna 844 

Sage, Mrs. Russell 545 

Samson, Deborah 143 

Samson, Julia 887 

Sanborn, Kate 869 

Sanders, Sue A. Pike 350 

Sangster, Margaret Elizabeth 869 

Sansom, Emma 304 

Sargent, Ellen C 587 

Sarpy, Adele, and daughters 611 

Sartin, Emily 757 

Sartin, Harriet 757 

Saunders, Mary 612 

Saunders, Mary A 897 

Saxon, Elizabeth Lyle 559 

Schaefer, Louise 888 

Schaumburg, Emilie 295 

Schertz, Helen Pitkin 380 

Schram, Mrs. Anna Maria B 370 

Schoenfeld, Julia 648 

Schoff, Hannah Kent 403 

Schuyler, Catherine 115 

Schuyler, Elizabeth 117 

Schuyler, Mrs 203 

Scidmore, Eliza Ruhamah 856 

Scudder, Vida D 793 



924 



Index 



PAGE 

Scott, Emily Maria 755 

Scott, Mrs. Hector 96 

Scott, Kate M 361 

Scott, Mary 694 

Scott, Mary Anne 437 

Scott, Mary Augusta 720 

Scott, Mary Sophie 898 

Scott, Mrs. Matthew T 44* 

Scott, Sister Mary Emanuel 614 

Scott, Mrs. Winfield 256 

Scott, Mrs 52 

Searing, Laura Catherine 845 

Seawell, Molly Elliot 803 

Sedgwick, Catherine Maria 870 

Segur, Rosa L 559 

Seidell, Mary V. 888 

Semmes, Ada, and sisters 611 

Semmes, Myra E. Knox 536 

Semple, Ellen Churchill 879 

Senn, Margaret Lynch 822 

Sergent, Ellen 686 

Seton, Elizabeth A 623 

Seton, Grace Gallatin 842 

Severance, Caroline Maria 5 2 5 

Severance, Caroline M. Seymour... 413 

Sevier, Catherine 7 2 

Sewall, May Wright 580 

Shanklan, Eugenia 752 

Sharpe-Patterson, Virginia 399 

Sharpe, Mrs 606 

Shattuck, Harriette Lucy-Robinson. 843 

Shaw, Rev. Anna B 581 

Shaw, Annie C 757 

Shaw, Cornelia Dean 560 

Shelby, Sarah 59 

Shelby, Susanna Hart 68 

Sheldon, Mary French 872 

Sheldon, Susan 36 

Shelton, Emma Sanford 665 

Shepherd, Ina 894 

Sherman, Eleanor Boyle Ewing 292 

Sherman, Margaret Stewart 293 

Sherman, Ninna E 9°6 

Sherman, Mrs. Sidney 103 

Sherwood, Emily Lee 814 

Sherwood, Kate Brownlee 347-816 

Sherwood, Mary Elizabeth 815 

Sherwood, Rosian Emment 75 2 

Shetfall, familv 631 

Shields, Mrs. G. H 428 

Shippen, Mrs. William Watson 468 

Shoff, Carrie M 752 

Short. Marion 792 

Shuttleworth, Frances .™8 

Sibley, Jennie E 686 

Sigourney, Lydia Huntley 9/9 



PAGE 

Simon, Miss 632 

Simonds, Emma E 334 

Simpson, Annie 501 

Singleton, Mrs. Richard 203 

Sitgreaves, Mary A 213 

Skelton, Henneriette 686 

Slidell, Mrs 258 

Slocumb, Mary 165 

Small, Mrs. Jerusha R 312 

Smallwood, Delia Graeme 435 

Smith, Mrs. Charles Emory 296 

Smith, Clara A 879 

Smith, Clara E 731 

Smith, Eleanor M 888 

Smith, Emily L. Goodrich 863 

Smith, Eva Munson 816 

Smith, Gertrude 379 

Smith, Mrs. Herbert Knox 398 

Smith, Isabel Elizabeth 751 

Smith, Julia Holmes .. , 815 

Smith, Mrs. J. Morgan . . 465 

Smith, Mary Agnes Easby 822 

Smith, Mary Bede 695 

Smith, Mrs. Mary E. (Webber) 372 

Smith, Mary Stuart 815 

Smith, Rebecca S 363 

Smith, Rosa Wright 428 

Smith, Sophia 711 

Smock, Rose Melville 783 

Smythe, Amanda 371 

Snelling, Abigail 89 

Sommerfeld, Rose 646 

Southwick, Charlotte Augusta 259 

Southworth, Emma D. E. N. . . 397-813 

Spalding, Anne 536 

Spalding, Mrs 185 

Sparks, Ruth 58 

Sprague, Mrs. Sarah J. (Milliken). 372 

Sprague, Mrs. Susannah 373 

Speed, Mrs. Joshua 285 

Spencer, Mrs. Emily P 372 

Spencer, Mrs. R. H 312 

Sperry, Hannah B 397 

Sperry, Mrs. N. D 428 

Spilman, Mrs. Baldwin Day 463 

Spofford, Harriet Prescott 839 

Spray, Ruth Hinshaw 531 

Springer. Rebecca Ruter 861 

Sproat, Sarah W 62 

Squire. Mary F 361 

St. Clair, Mrs. F. 428 

St. John, Cvnthia Morgan 870 

Stakelev, Mrs. Charles Averette . . . 429 

Standish, Rose 31 

Stanford, Jane Lathrop 543 

Stanislaus, Sister (Sister Stanny) . . 614 



Index 



9 2 5 



PAGE 

Stanley, Mrs. Cornelia M. (Thomp- 

kins) 373 

Stanton, Elizabeth Cady 566 

Stearns, Betsey Ann 889 

Stephenses, the 612 

Stephenson, Mrs. Sophia 373 

Stevens, Alice J 822 

Stevens, Alzina Parsons 903 

Stevens, Emily Pitt 687 

Stevens, Lillian M. N 687 

Stevens, Mrs. Mary 371 

Stevenson, Mrs. Adlai 448 

Stevenson, Matilda Coxe 881 

Stewart, Eliza Daniel 687 

Stewart, Mrs. Mary E 373 

Stewart, Salome M 361 

Stewart, Mrs 197 

Stille, Mary Ingram 695 

Stimson, Mrs. E. K 342 

Stoddard, Anna Elizabeth 688 

Stokes, Missouri H 689 

Stone, Cornelia Branch 383-492 

Stone, Lucinda H 412 

Stone, Lucy 562 

Storer, Maria Longworth 758 

Story, Mrs. William Cumming .... 399 

Stowe, Harriet Beecher 808 

Stowell, Louise M. R 880 

Strachan, Grace Charlotte Mary 

Regina 616-732 

Stranahan, Clara Harrison 293 

Streeter, Emma A 887 

Strong, Harriet W. R 887 

Strong, Julia 887 

Strout, Mrs. Joseph M 399 

Stuart, Katharine 399 

Stuart, Ruth McEnery 381-806 

Stubbs, Mrs. Annie Bell 371 

Sudderley, Mrs. J. E 399 

Surriage, Agnes ; 36 

Swain, Adeline Morrison 560 

Swartz, Dr. Vesta M 373 

Sweet, Ada Celeste 831 

Swenning, Rebecca T 886 

Swett, Sophia Miriam 859 

Switzer, Lucy Robins Messer 689 

Swormstedt, Mabel Godfrey 465 

Szold, Henrietta 642 

Talbot, Ellen Bliss 720 

Taliaferro, Mabel 780 

Tall. Lida Lee 382 

Taft, Helen Herron 283 

Taney, Mary Florence 822 

Taney, the Misses 892 

Tanner, Mrs. James 299 



PAGE 

Taplin, Mrs. Horatio N 429 

Tappen, Elizabeth 85 

Taylor, Betty (Mrs. Bliss) 244 

Taylor, Catherine L 360 

Taylor, Kiturah Leitch 67 

Taylor, Lodusky J 353 

Taylor, Nellie Maria 311 

Taylor, Susan Lucv Barry 69 

Taylor, Mrs. Zachary 244 

Telford, Mrs. J. M 342 

Temple, Mary Boyce 429 

Teresa, Sister 60s 

Teresa, Sister M. Imelda (Susie 

Teresa Forrest Swift O. P.)... 536 

Terhune, Mary Virginia 799 

Terhune, Mrs 381 

Terrell, Mrs. Alexander W 103 

Thacher, Ella Hoover 668 

Thackara, Ellen Sherman 611 

Thanet, Octave (Alice French) .... 804 

Thayer, Mrs. Charles S 604 

Thayer, Lizzie E. D 901 

Thomas, Edith Matilda 811 

Thomas, Mrs. E 312 

Thomas, Jane 181 

Thomas, Mrs 51 

Thompson, Caroline Wadsworth . . . 823 

Thompson, Charlotte 689 

Thompson, Mrs. Charlotte Marson. 373 

Thompson, Eliza J 689 

Thompson, Mrs. Pauline 373 

Thompson, Sarah 202 

Thompson, Mrs 196 

Thorndyke, Rachel Sherman 611 

Thorpe, Rose Hartwick 842 

Thorpe, Sarah 84 

Townsend, Miss Eliza L 373 

Thurston, Ida Treadwell 854 

Thurston, Mrs. John W. 428 

Thurston, Lucy Meachem 379 

Tiernan, Mrs. Frances (Christian 

Reid) 615 

Tiernan, Frances Fisher 823 

Tingley, Katherine 294 

Tinker, Mrs 31 

Tilley, Bridget (Van der Velde) . . 34 

Tilley, Elizabeth 34 

Tilley, Mrs 31 

Tilton, Lydia H 695 

Tittman, Mrs 431 

Todd, Minnie Terrell 560 

Tomkies, Mrs. Hoyle 398 

Tompkins, Cornelia M 312 

Tong, Eleanor Elizabeth 823 

Touro, Reyna 633 

Trader, Mrs. Georgie 531 



926 



Index 



PAGE 

Trader, Misses 696 

Trout, Grace Wilbur 408 

Truitt, Anna Augusta 090 

Tucek, Mary 888 

Tucker, Mary Logan 295-612 

Tucker, Miss 195 

Turnbull, Mrs. Lawrence 379 

Turnbull, the Misses 611 

Turner, Lizabeth A 351 

Turner, Nancy L 887 

Tuttle, Diana H 886 

Tutweiler, Julia S 382 

Tyler, Adeline 312 

Tyler, Amelia 891 

Tyler, Julia Gardiner 241 

Tyler, Letitia Christian 240 

Tyler, Pearl 612 

Tyson, Mrs. Laura R 373 

Van Buren, Angelica Singleton 237 

Valesh, Eva McDonald 904 

Van Kleeck, Mary 603 

Van Meter, Mrs. I. C., Jr 457 

Van Ness, Cornelia 255 

Van Ness, Marsia Burns 262 

Vanvoce, Elizabeth V 887 

Van Zandt, Marie 7^7 

Venturing Countess Mario (Char- 
lotte Stern) 769 

Vinton, Madeline 611 

Vogt, Mary M 887 

Wade, Jennie 3*5 

Wait, Anna C 560 

Walker, Alice Brebard Ewing 462 

Walker, Annie Kendrick 380 

Walker, Harriett G 695 

Walker, Mary 36 

Walker, Dr. Mary E 579 

Walker, Sarah B 888 

Walker, Susan Hunter 865 

Wallace, Emma R 350 

Wallace, Susan 214 

Wallace, Susan Arnold Elston 851 

Wallace, Zerelda Gray 575 

Walling, Mary Cole 376 

Walsh, Honor 823 

Walsh, the Misses 611 

Walter, Mary Jane 670 

Walters, Jennie 613 

Walworth, Ellen Hardin 441-752 

Ward, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps .... 800 

Ward, Genevieve 7%3 

Ward, Mary Alden 849 

Ward, Sallie 262 

Ware, Angeline D 890 



PAGE 

Ware, Mary 379 

Warner, Anne 793 

Warnoch, Mrs. Susan (Mercer) ... 373 

Warren, Emily 611 

Warren, Mary 36 

Warren, Mary Evalin 690 

Warren, Mercy 124-200 

Wharton, Mrs. William H 104 

Washington, Eugenia 453 

Washington, Mrs. Joseph 428 

Washington, Lucy H 690 

Washington, Martha 207 

Washington, Mary 205 

Washington, Virginia 429 

Waterhouse, Jessie 907 

Watts, Margaret Anderson 690 

Weatherby, Delia L 691 

Webster, Mrs. Daniel 256 

Webster, the Mother of 254 

Weedon, Mrs. Howard 379 

Wells, Charlotte Fowler 902 

Wells, Mrs. Shepard 312 

Welsh, Mrs. Andrew, Sr 622 

West, Mary Allen 691 

Westmore, Elizabeth Bisland 848 

Weston, Hannah 158 

Wetherell, Mrs. E. F 312 

Whaley, Eleanor M 594 

Wharton, Deith 829 

Wheeler, Amey Webb 300 

Wheeler. Candace 753 

Wheelock, Dora V 692 

Whipple, Alice A 887 

White, Caroline Earle 537 

White, Mrs. Cynthia (Elbin) 374 

White, Sister Genevieve 614 

White, Mrs. James W 258 

White, Mrs. Lovell 399 

White, Nettie L 893 

White, Susanna 33 

Whitehead, Mrs. Amos 496 

Whitelock, Louise Clarkson 379 

Whiteman, Mrs. Lydia L 373 

Whiteside, Mrs. H. R 398 

Whitford, Mrs. Reid 399 

Whitney, Anne 760 

Whitney, Gertrude 763 

Whiting, Lillian 849 

Whitthorne, Ella 612 

Widmayer, Adeline 886 

Wiedinger, Mary D 888 

Wigrgin, Kate Douglas (Mrs. Riggs) 804 

Wilbur, Mrs. Joshua 428 

Wilcox, Mrs. Collier 370 

Wilcox. Eliza 886 

Wilcox Ella Wheeler 842 



Index 



927 



PAGE 

Wilcox, Margaret A 888 

Wilcox, Mary 613 

Willcox, Mary Alice 879 

Wilcox, Mary R 206 

Wilde, Jennie 752 

Wilkinson, Eliza 152 

Willard, Electa 368 

Willard, Emma 706 

Willard, Frances E 288 

Willard, Frances Elizabeth 653 

Willard, Mary Bannister 692 

Willard, Mary Thompson Hill 288 

Willard, Sister Paulina 615 

Williams, Alice 693 

Williams, Pamela 261 

Williams, Theresa A 665 

Willing, Jennie Fowler 693 

Willis, Pauline 823 

Wilson, Augusta J. Evans 839 

Wilson, Mrs. George H 383 

Wilson, Martha 131 

Wilson, Mrs. Robert 203 

Wilson, Sarah 84 

Winans, Sarah D 353 

Winslow, Elizabeth 32 

Winslow, Helen Maria 850 

Wister, Sallie 159 

Wittenmeyer, Anna 349 

Wittenmyer, Annie 693 

Wolcott, Ann Louise 718 

Wolfinger, Mrs 101 

Wood, Edith Elmer 854 



PAGE 

Woodbridge, Mary Brayton 694 

Woodey, Mary Williams Chawner.. 695 

Woodley, Mrs. Emile Wilson 369 

Woods, Bertha G. Davis 842 

Woods, Kate Tannatt 849 

Woods, Mary A 3°2 

Woodsey, the Misses 3 12 

Woodward, Caroline M. Clark 694 

Woodworth, Miss Mary A. E 375 

Woolley, Mary Emma 721 

Wooster, Lizzie E 861 

Wormeley, Katharine Prescott 312 

Wright, Elina M 886 

Wright, Mrs. Leonore (Smith) 374 

Wright, Emma Scholfield 753 

Wright, Louise Sophie Wigfall . . . 382 

Wright, Mrs. Luke E 300 

Wright, Mrs. S. J 405 

Wynne, Madeline Yale 861 

Yandell, Enid 763 

Young, Ella Flagg 733 

Young, Mrs. John Russell 697 

Young, Mrs. Lucy A 374 

Young, Mary Vance 7 20 

Young, Rida Johnson 790 

Yturbide, Madame 615 

Zane, Betty 160 

Zeigler, Matilda 696 

Ziegler, Mrs. William 53* 



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